Sabbath Day
148

Text: Paul L. Anderson (b. 1946; LDS)
Music: Lynn R. Carson (b. 1942; LDS)
Tune name: CELESTIA

Worship is not limited to our church meetings; the Sabbath brings opportunities for other kinds of worship also, including family and private devotion. Each verse of this hymn ends with a prayer asking our Father in Heaven to bless us throughout the Sabbath day, as we worship him in these various settings.

Author Paul L. Anderson stated: “This is really a hymn about the consolidated meeting schedule. Many people were concerned about what would happen when Latter- day Saints were in Sunday meetings for only three hours. What would we do with the rest of the time? The first verse mentions gathering in the house of the Lord, and then verses two and three refer to other appropriate Sabbath activities— sharing time with friends and family ‘in our homes,’ and finding a ‘quiet hour’ for individual reading and contemplation.” He noted further, “This was my first serious attempt at hymn- writing, and I was pleased when it won first place in the 1983 Ensign hymn- writing contest.” It was first published in the Ensign in March of that year.

When composer Lynn Carson was traveling in South Africa in 1981 on assignment for the Church Genealogical Department, he composed a hymn tune in the form of “a nineteenth- century Anglican- style chant.” When his friend and fellow ward member Paul Anderson showed him the “Sabbath Day” hymn text, he realized that his tune would need only slight modification to fit these words. Paul Anderson noted that the steady, marching, “heartbeat” rhythm of the bass line gives the music a dignity and quiet strength that makes it a satisfying match for the text. Text and tune became part of Latter- day Saint hymnody with the publication of the 1985 hymnbook.