To God Be the Glory Fanny J. Crosby, 1875
3 verses and a refrain, meter 11.11.11.11.12.12.11.11, public domain, free to print and project.
The words
Verse 1. To God be the glory! great things He hath done:
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son;
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the Life-gate that all may go in.
Refrain Praise the Lord! praise the Lord! Let the earth hear His voice!
Praise the Lord! praise the Lord! Let the people rejoice!
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son;
And give Him the glory—great things He hath done!
Verse 2. O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood,
To every believer the promise of God;
The vilest offender who truly believes,
That moment from Jesus a pardon receives.
Verse 3. Great things He hath taught us, great things He hath done,
And great our rejoicing through Jesus the Son;
But purer, and higher, and greater will be
Our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see.
Sing the refrain after every verse.
Words copied from Sacred Songs and Solos: Twelve Hundred Hymns (1921). They were published in 1875, so they are in the public domain in the United States, and your church may print them, show them and sing them without a license.
The hymn library's slide and print features are made by Church Posting.
The story behind To God Be the Glory
Fanny Crosby wrote the words and William H. Doane wrote the music. Crosby lost her sight as an infant and went on to write thousands of hymn texts, many of them for Doane. The date most books give is 1875, when the hymn appeared in Brightest and Best under the title Praise for Redemption. UMC Discipleship Ministries points out that it was already in Doane's Songs of Devotion in 1870. Ira Sankey included it in Sacred Songs and Solos. Sources disagree on which edition, 1875 or 1903. British congregations sang it for decades while American churches largely ignored it. Billy Graham and Cliff Barrows learned it during British campaigns in the early 1950s, and Barrows introduced it to American congregations at the 1954 Nashville crusade. The Psalter Hymnal Handbook notes that the refrain borrows its praise from the Psalms. Hymnary.org lists the key as Ab in the 1975 Baptist Hymnal and G in the Psalter Hymnal.
Fanny J. Crosby
1820-03-24 to 1915
Fanny Crosby was born in Southeast, Putnam County, New York, on March 24, 1820. She lost her sight at about six weeks old after an illness and poor medical treatment. She began writing Sunday school hymns for William B. Bradbury in 1864, and her first hymn appeared that year in The Golden Censer. On March 5, 1858, she married Alexander Van Alstyne, a blind musician she had met at the New York Institution for the Blind. Hymnary counts about eight thousand poems, including more than four thousand hymns for Biglow and Main, and she used nearly two hundred pen names. Julian's Dictionary of Hymnology gives her birth year as 1823, which differs from the other sources.
William H. Doane
1832-02-03 to 1915
William Howard Doane was born in Preston, Connecticut. He ran a large woodworking machinery plant in Cincinnati and led civic work there. He supported the evangelistic work of Dwight L. Moody and Ira D. Sankey and helped endow Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and Denison University in Granville, Ohio. He wrote more than 2,200 hymn and gospel song tunes and edited more than forty songbooks. His first Sunday school hymnbook, Sabbath Gems, appeared in 1861. He set many texts by Fanny J. Crosby, including To God Be the Glory.
- UMC Discipleship Ministries, History of Hymns: To God Be the Glory , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Psalter Hymnal 473 , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Baptist Hymnal 1975, 33 , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, Fanny Crosby , read 2026-10-16
- Hymnary.org, TO GOD BE THE GLORY , read 2026-10-16
Scripture in To God Be the Glory
The Bible passages behind the words.
- Psalm 126:2-3
- John 3:16
- 1 John 2:2
- Matthew 7:13-14
- John 14:6
To God Be the Glory videos
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To God be the glory Northern Baptist Association , Congregation
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To God Be The Glory • Congregational Daniel Baptist, Congregation
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To God Be The Glory ( Royal Albert Hall, London) Jack N Poy, Choir
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To God Be the Glory Acapeldridge, A cappella
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To God Be the Glory - piano instrumental hymn with lyrics Kaleb Brasee, Piano
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To God be the Glory (modern version) worship video TheIslandSing, Modern arrangement
Videos play from YouTube, and nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. A video may sing different verses from the ones printed on this page.
Downloads, printing and slides
Sheet music files
- Sheet music PDF 106 KB. Words and all four parts, ready to print.
- Lead sheet PDF 87 KB. Melody, words and chord symbols for piano or guitar.
- MusicXML score XML 108 KB. Opens in MuseScore, Finale, Sibelius and Dorico to change the key or print parts.
- MIDI, all parts MIDI 4 KB. Plays the four-part harmony in any MIDI player or notation app.
- MIDI, melody only MIDI 1 KB. The tune alone, for learning it.
Practice tracks for each voice part, as MIDI: Alto , Tenor , Bass .
Chords and keys
Hymnals print it in A♭ or G.
Questions people ask
Who wrote To God Be the Glory?
Fanny Crosby wrote the words and William Doane wrote the tune. The tune is also named TO GOD BE THE GLORY.
When was To God Be the Glory written?
The date most books give is 1875, from Brightest and Best. UMC Discipleship Ministries notes it was already printed in Doane's Songs of Devotion in 1870.
How did To God Be the Glory become popular in America?
Billy Graham's team learned it in Britain, and Cliff Barrows introduced it to American congregations at the 1954 Nashville crusade.
What Bible verses does the hymn echo?
Hymnary.org lists Psalm 126:2-3, John 3:16, 1 John 2:2 and Matthew 7:13-14 for stanza 1, and John 14:6 for the refrain.
Is To God Be the Glory in the public domain?
The words are public domain in the United States. They were first published in 1875 and Doane's tune dates from the same year.
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