A little something for the Queen’s birthday. The tune is Praise my soul, the king of heaven.
You are welcome to use this hymn, attributing it as follows:
“Edited by Ally Barrett, with contributions from Julie Bacon, Gill Robertson, Leah Vasey-Saunders, Sheridan James and Cate Williams. Used by permission.”
Praise the Lord for faithful service,
offered through each passing year,
Steadfast prayer, ‘May God preserve us’
Through the times of joy and fear.
Bless our Queen and bless her people,
Give us strength to persevere.
Praise the Lord for faithful vision,
keep life’s journey fixed in sight,
seek God’s will in each decision
Pray to choose the good and right.
Bless our Queen and bless her people,
In God’s way our shared delight.
Praise the Lord for faithful duty,
God has called: to this we cling,
live it out with grace and beauty,
in the tasks each day may bring.
Bless our Queen and bless her people,
As we seek to serve the King.
Praise the Lord for faithful living:
Seeking peace and just accord,
Trusting, hoping, still believing,
sharing faith in deed and word.
Bless our Queen and bless her people,
Fellow servants of One Lord.
This feels like we might be finished – I’ve been loving the collaborative approach. Thank you so much!
reverendally.org 
Hi Ally, So loving this! I liked the “cling” bit in Julie’s verse – How about, “God has called, to that call cling” ??
And, if you aren’t having lines 1 and 3 rhyming in Julie’s verse, you could put “uphold” in verse 1! and I think the bit about beauty is fine – we say to children that they did something beautifully.
Thank you – I think I got in a muddle trying to incorporate more than one batch of suggestions at once – the double rhyme is tighter, but means I need a synonym for duty in verse 2 instead.
I think cling will be reinstated – I’ll incorporate these now, and see how it looks 🙂
and I wonder whether in the second verse ‘keep the lifelong way in sight’ might not have scripturally appealing resonances.
…and it’s rather clumsy – any suggestions? Has to rhyme with ‘ight’!
wonder a bit if something softer along the lines of ‘seek the good may each decision lead us onto paths of light’ (so many choices aren’t wrong or right but simply left or right – not in a political sense but just in the sense of choosing pathways)?
or even ‘upright’ which feels Queenly to me and wouldn’t make ‘delight’ feel too ‘light’
‘of right’ somehow paths in the plural of right doesn’t feel so prescriptive – sorry I’m warbling out loud rather than thinking and then offering!
Keep thinking – and I will too! I’m sure we’ll get there.
Vs 2 …. “keep life’s journey fixed in sight” seek God’s choice; with each decision, pray to choose the good and right.” Etc.
Or, “in each decision…”
Oh, that’s even better!
Even better! One tiny tweak – could the first verse be “joy or fear”… I wonder if it separates them better.
And… (Sorry!) would the end of v2 be better as “In God’s way is our delight” or “In God’s plan is our our delight”… That might fit better with the rest of the verse.
Thank you so much, Gill, and everyone. I think we’re done! Feel free to share and use and promote the finished product!
We are planning on using your hymn in our evensong for the Queen’s birthday, so it will be heard on the west coast of Canada as well as in the UK. Thank you!
Wonderful news, thank you! And every blessing on you and your ministry.
It will be sung in St Michael and All Angels, Thursley, Surrey this Sunday with full attribution. Wonderful words. Well done! Rev Peter Muir (COIN)
Thank you! I hope your congregation enjoy it!