Music for the Church of God -> Hymnal Index

All People That On Earth Do Dwell

Words: William Kethe, 1561.   (See notes on authorship below)

Music:    "Old 100th," Genevan Psalter, 1551 
In our opinion this is still the best tune for these words.

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Here are some alternate tunes:
  "All People that On Earth Do Dwell" by Dwight Armstrong
  "Tallis Cannon" Thomas Tallis c. 1567

   1  All people that on earth do dwell,
      Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice.
      Him serve with mirth, His praise forth tell;
      Come ye before Him and rejoice.
   2  Know that the Lord is God indeed;
      Without our aid He did us make;
      We are His flock, He doth us feed,
      And for His sheep He doth us take.
   3  O enter then His gates with praise;
      Approach with joy His courts unto;
      Praise, laud, and bless His Name always,
      For it is seemly so to do.
   4  For why! the Lord our God is good;
      His mercy is forever sure;
      His truth at all times firmly stood,
      And shall from age to age endure.

Who wrote these words?
These words first appeared in the Sternhold and Hopkins Psalter around 1561. They are an excellent example of the care taken by the early Protestant reformers to create as exact a rendition of the Word of God as possible. The Scottish Metrical Psalter contains this same rendition of Psalm 100.

Old 100th
The tune known today as "Old 100th" is attributed to Louis Bourgeois (1510-1561). It is not known when this tune became popular as the doxology, but it has apparently been associated with Psalm 100 since the first complete metrical Psalter was published in 1562 


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