"Give to the Winds Thy Fears" is a traditional Christianhymn inshort metre[1] with words written byJohn Wesley.[2]
Its first verse is:
Give to the winds thy fears;
Home and be undismayed;
God hears thy sighs, God counts thy tears;
God shall lift up thy head.[1]
It is one of two hymns that Wesley published in 1739 that he had translated from "Befiehl du deine Wege", a longer 1653 hymn by German hymnwriterPaul Gerhardt, the other being"Commit thou all Thy Griefs".[2]The latter has 8 out of the original 12 verses by Gerhardt, and "Give" has 4 verses.[2]Wesley encountered Gerhardt's hymn sung by Moravians on his travels in the United States, and compiled it into the hymnal that he compiled for the people in Georgia where he lived for a while.[3]In his diary for 1737-05-07 he records "translated six hymns from the German while on a journey to another plantation".[3]
In hymnals such as the U.S.Armed Forces Hymnal (1959) andThe Presbyterian Hymnal (1990) it is set to the tuneSt Bride composed by Samuel Howard.[3][4]
TheWoman's Christian Temperance Union adopted the hymn as its "Crusade Hymn"; to be sung at meetings at local, state, and national levels of the organization.[5]
| "God Will Lift Up Your Head" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byJars of Clay | ||||
| from the albumRedemption Songs | ||||
| Released | 2005 | |||
| Recorded | 2005 | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 4:22 | |||
| Label | Essential Records | |||
| Songwriters | Dan Haseltine,Charlie Lowell,Stephen Mason,Matt Odmark | |||
| Producer | Jars of Clay | |||
| Jars of Clay singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Christian rock bandJars of Clay recorded the hymn, slightly altering Wesley's lyrics, as "God Will Lift Up Your Head", released on its albumRedemption Songs.[6]The song is the first of tworadio singles in promotion of the album which hit number one on the Christian CHR radio charts in 2005.[citation needed]