A Puritan Prayer in Congregational Worship

I’ve just come across Bob Kauflin’s hymn, O Great God, from Sovereign Grace Ministries. It is based on a prayer from The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotion.

It made me turn from research to prayer and worship. I think it has all the marks of an excellent congregational hymn. There is good theology in it, the music expresses the sense of the lyrics well and is appropriately composed for congregational use. Its striking quality is not the depth of theological expression as one may find in say Charitie Bancroft’s Before the Throne of God Above, but rather the honesty and inevitable posture of humility that one is led into in its use. The first verse goes:

O great God of highest heaven
Occupy my lowly heart
Own it all and reign supreme
Conquer every rebel power
Let no vice or sin remain
That resists Your holy war
You have loved and purchased me
Make me Yours forevermore

Click here to listen to how it’s sung and here for the other verses. What do you think?