Upon Thy Table Lord

This offertory hymn about the Eucharist was written by English lawyer poet and Church of Ireland member, Maurice Frank Campbel (MFC) Wilson (1884-1944).

It was first published as a hymn in the Church of Ireland Hymnal in 1960 with seven verses using traditional ("thy table") language. It has since featured in many other hymn-books including

100 Hymns for Today—a Supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern, Hymns Ancient & Modern Ltd, England, 1969
More Songs of the Spirit Kevin Mayhew Ltd, England 1981
Hymns Ancient and Modern - New Standard, England, 1983 (and likely other editions)
Celebration Hymnal for Everyone, McCrimmon Publications, England 1994 and 2012
Hymns Old and New 2009 (and possibly earlier versions), Kevin Mayhew Ltd, England

and there have been a number of variations of the lyrics with these publications.

The hymn was translated into Finnish by Pekka Turunen in 1993, and is included in the hymnbook of the Church of Sweden, set to a Swedish folk tune from Siljansnäs (ref).

Also, the hymn We Place Upon Your Table Lord was adapted from it and has been published in several American hymnals, set to different tunes.

With meter 8.8.8.8 (LM), tunes that the original hymn has been set to in English hymnals include:

DAWBY - a traditional English tune, composer unknown
ELY (Turton) - by Thomas Turton, 1844
BROCKHAM by Jeremiah Clarke (1701)
WOODBRIDGE ROAD by John Wilson (b. 1905) - published by Oxford University Press

The hymn is definitely in the public domain in countries where copyright is based on the author's date of death + 70 year. In other countries, especially the USA, it will depend on what copyright registrations were made, and also when the text was first published.

Downloads

PowerPoint slides

Lead sheet (melody + guitar chords)

Examples

MIDI-based example of the tune DAWBY - this will be replaced as soon as a better recording becomes available:

Lyrics

Traditional language

Upon thy table, Lord, we place
These symbols of our work and thine,
Life's food won only by thy grace,
Who giv'st to all the bread and wine.

Within these simple things there lie
The height and depth of human life,
Our prayer and thought, our tears and toils,
Our hopes and fears, our joy and strife.

Accept them, Lord; from thee they come;
We take them humbly at thy hand.
These gifts of thine for higher use
We offer, as thou dost command.

All life is thine: O give us faith
To know thee in the broken bread,
And drink with thee the wine of life,
Thou Lord supreme of quick and dead.

To thee we come; refresh thou us
With food from thy most holy board,
Until the kingdoms of this world
Become the kingdom of the Lord.

Modern English

Upon Your table, Lord, we place
These symbols of our work and yours,
Life's food won only by your grace,
Who gives to all the bread and wine.

Within these simple things there lie
The height and depth of human life,
Our prayer and thought, our tears and toils,
Our hopes and fears, our joy and strife.

Accept them, Lord; from You they come;
We take them humbly at Your hand.
These gifts of Yours for higher use
We offer, as You do command.

All life is Yours: O give us faith
To know You in the broken bread,
And drink with You the wine of life,
O Lord supreme of quick and dead.

To You we come; refresh us Lord
With food from Your most holy board,
Until the kingdoms of this world
Becomes the kingdom of the Lord.

ABC Notation

About ABC notation

X:1 T:Upon Thy Table

    C:Author:  M F C Wilson

    C:DAWBY - traditional English 
Z:abc-transcription www.GodSongs.net
    
M:3/4 
L:1/8 
K:G 
D "D7"GF |"G"G3 D "F"=FE | "G"D3 D
    "D7"GF | 
"Em"G3 A/2B/2 "C"cB | "D"A3 G "D7"Ad | "Bm"d2 (cB) "C"AD |
    
"Em"G3 G "D"AB | "Am"A3 E "D7"DD | "G"D3 |]