The Voice That Breathed O’er Eden

Words: John Keble (b. Apr. 25, 1792; d. March 29, 1866)
Music: Matrimony, by John Stainer (b. June 6, 1840; d. March 31, 1901)

Note: This wedding hymn was written in 1857, by request, for the Salisbury Hymn Book. The Wordwise link at the bottom of this post provides some biographical information on Keble, and a note on his more familiar hymn, Sun of My Soul.

The Cyber Hymnal gives the interesting historical note that this hymn was used at the wedding of Lucy Maud Montgomery, author of the Anne of Green Gables books. The Cyber Hymnal offers several possible tunes for the song.

The opening line in (2), in Keble’s original was “Be present awful Father…” Perfectly fine if one understands the word to mean One who fills us with awe. But modern readers have so altered or misused the term that hymn editors substitute “heav’nly.”

(1) The voice that breathed o’er Eden, that earliest wedding day,
The primal wedding blessing, it hath not passed away.
Still in the pure espousal of Christian man and maid
The Holy Three are with us, the threefold grace is said.

(2) Be present, heav’nly Father, to give away this bride
As Thou gav’st Eve to Adam, a helpmate at his side.
Be present, Son of Mary, to join their loving hands
As Thou didst bind two natures in Thine eternal bands.

(Stanza numbers in brackets below refer to the stanza number in The Cyber Hymnal. Find the link at the bottom of the article.)

Perhaps there’s a wedding in your past. If so, it may have taken place quite recently. Or, like mine, it may be an event that occurred many years ago. In any case, memories linger, of a sacred time when vows were made, and of a time of romance and of hope, blended with fits of nervousness, and also moments of hilarity and fun.

It’s sobering to consider that this uniting of husband and wife has been taking place for thousands of years. Though precise traditions may differ, millions of wedding ceremonies have taken place down through history, all over the world.

Who officiated at the very first wedding? God did. The Lord realized that man (Adam) needed a companion. One like him in some ways, yet also compatible and complementary to him (Gen. 2:18, 20). So, from a part of Adam’s own body, God formed a woman (Eve), “a helper comparable [suited] to him” (vs. 20). Then we read, “He brought her to the man” (vs. 22).

In a real sense, that was the first marriage. And the Word of God declares that, in such future unions, “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (vs. 24). In this union there is both a leaving and a “cleaving” (the latter word is used by the King James Version of 1611). There’s a departure from the former family unit to begin a whole new family unit.

The Hebrew word for “cleave” (be joined or united) is dabaq. It indicates a bonding that is so powerful it cannot be broken apart without serious damage to both parts–like two pieces of wood fastened together with some kind of super glue. In the book of Job, the word is used to describe the scales of a sea monster called Leviathan. His scales “are joined [dabaq] one to another, they stick together and cannot be parted” (Job 41:17).

In the Bible, the marriage union of a man and a woman is presented as a permanent relationship–in the words of the traditional ceremony, “as long as they both shall live” (cf. Mk. 19:8-9). Death certainly breaks the bond, and sadly, so does divorce. God hates divorce (Mal. 2:16); it’s not His ideal. Yet, through marital unfaithfulness, spousal abuse, or desertion, it is sometimes considered to be the best of two painful options.

Divorce is hurtful because it is destructive of the family unit, tearing apart that which God has joined together. The Bible accommodates these destructive effects of sin, in allowing for a marriage break-up in certain cases (cf. Matt. 19:7-9; I Cor. 7:12, 15). Even so, the couple should make every attempt to restore a loving relationship and a happy home.

John Keble, though a brilliant scholar, and an Oxford professor, was a humble and unassuming man. Keble authored several hymns that are still in use. But in 1857 he created this beautiful Trinitarian wedding hymn that is virtually unknown today. In it he unites past, present, and future, summoning the three Persons of the Trinity to bless a marriage.

The hymn carries us from the past, in Eden, through a current marriage ceremony, and on into eternity, referring to the time when Christ, the Lamb of God and the heavenly Bridegroom, will be united with His Bride, the church, in heaven, an event called “the Marriage of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7-9; cf. II Cor. 11:2).

(3) Be present, Holy Spirit, to bless them as they kneel,
As Thou for Christ, the Bridegroom, the heav’nly Spouse dost seal.
O spread Thy pure wing o’er them, let no ill power find place
When onward to Thine altar their hallowed path they trace.

(4) To cast their crowns before Thee in perfect sacrifice,
Till to the home of gladness with Christ’s own Bride they rise.
To Father, Son, and Spirit, eternal One and Three,
And was and is forever, all praise and glory be.

Questions:

1. What are several factors that should be considered as foundational to a successful marriage?
2. Are there other hymns that you feel are appropriate to a wedding service?

Links:

• 25 April 1792 – John Keble Born
• The Voice That Breathes O’er Eden (The Cyber Hymnal)
• The Voice that Breathed Over Eden (Hymnary.org)