“We Give Thee but Thine own”

William Walsham How wrote the words for the hymn “We give Thee but Thine own”, which is Hymn 175 in the 2002 Christadelphian hymnbook. William How was born in England in 1823 and died in 1897. At the time of the Industrial Revolu­tion a substantial number of people left rural areas in England and moved to the cities in order to obtain employment in factories and dockyards. Many of these people endured long work hours with little remuneration. Child labor, poverty and difficult living conditions were common issues for working-class people in London in the mid-nineteenth century. William How took an active interest in assisting many of the poor people with whom he came in contact.

William How was prompted to write the words of Hymn 175 by David’s prayer in 1 Chronicles 29:14:

“But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

David’s prayer was offered in thankfulness to God for the willing offerings made for the house of God. David recognized that it was because God had first abundantly blessed him and the people of Israel that they were now able to give back to God. What they gave were contributions for the House of the LORD that Solomon, David’s son, would build.

With the words of David in his heart and the dire, physical distress of numerous people on his mind, William How wrote the words of Hymn 175. In our hymnbook there are only two verses, but How wrote six verses for this hymn:

We give Thee but Thine own,
Whate’er the gift may be;
All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.

May we Thy bounties thus
As stewards true receive,
And gladly, as Thou blessest us,
To Thee our firstfruits give.

O hearts are bruised and dead,
And homes are bare and cold,
And lambs for whom the Shepherd bled
Are straying from the fold.

To comfort and to bless,
To find a balm for woe,
To tend the lone and fatherless
Is angels’ work below.

The captive to release,
To God the lost to bring,
To teach the way of life and peace,
It is a Christ-like thing.

And we believe Thy Word,
Though dim our faith may be;
Whate’er for Thine we do,
O Lord, We do it unto Thee.

This hymn is sung to at least three well-known hymn tunes. The tune used in the 2002 hymnbook was written by Sir Arthur Somervell and is called “Windermere”, after the town in the United Kingdom where he was born.