Thomas Tomkins' considerable output of church music comprises 62 full anthems, 56 verse anthems and 7 services as well as a handful of other smallscale pieces. Much of this was published in the monumental Musica Deo Sacra (1668), a collection which was almost certainly seen through the press by his son, Nathaniel. However the importance of the published church music should not be allowed to overshadow the other works - notably 8 full anthems (the majority being 'sacred madrigals'), 13 verse anthems and 2 verse services - since a number of these are worthy of inclusion in the standard repertoire.

The Lord bless us is a setting of a familiar 'benediction' text and survives only in manuscript sources. The index of the tenor part-book lists the solo voices as Cantos, Altus and Tenor, and these voices share most of the verse material. Although only the tenor, bass and organ parts survive, the editorial completion of the work is not difficult given the unusually detailed organ part as well as the information in the tenor book.

This edition marks the first appearance of The Lord bless us in print.