April 30, 2005
49R Come, Mighty Spirit, Penetrate
Original Title: "Come, Mighty Spirit, Penetrate," Horatius Bonar (1861), TALLIS' ORDINAL, C.M., Thomas Tallis (1567); New Title: Same hymn title, no changes to lyrics, same hymn tune. Bonar (1808-1889) was a Presbyterian, who eventually joined the Free Church of Scotland. He wrote of 600 hymns, and thus is aptly called "the prince of Scottish hymnwriters." At his memorial service, it was said "His hymns were written in very varied circumstances, sometimes timed by the tinkling brook that babbled near him; sometimes attuned to the ordered tramp of the ocean, whose crested waves broke on the beach by which he wandered; sometimes set to the rude music of the railway train that hurried him to the scene of duty; sometimes measured by the silent rhythm of the midnight stars that shone above him." 2 Timothy 1:7 (NRSV), "God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." "Uphold me with thy free spirit," Psalm 51:12 (KJV). "Spirit of might," Isaiah 11:2. Psalm 68:9, "Thou, O God, didst send a plentiful rain, whereby thou didst confirm thine inheritance, when it was weary," see also Psalm 72:6, Hebrews 6:7, Psalms 104:8. Psalms 4:6, "Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us," see also Isaiah 2:5. Matthew 5:8, "Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God." Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." The hymn is not included in Singing the Living Tradition nor in The New Century Hymnal.
1. Come, Migh-ty Spir-it, pe-ne-trate
this heart and soul of mine,
and my whole be-ing with thy grace
per-vade, O Life Di-vine!
2. As this clear air sur-rounds the earth
thy grace a-round me roll
as the fresh light per-vades the air,
so pierce and fill my soul.
3. As from these clouds drops down in love
the pre-cious sum-mer rain,
so from thy-self pour down the flood
that fresh-ens all a-gain.
4. Thus life with-in our life-less hearts
shall make its glad a-bode,
and we shall shine in beau-teous light,
filled with the light of God. A-men.
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August 30, 2005
151R Hail Holy God's Anointed
Meter, 7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6., Tune, ST. THEODULPH or ELLACOMBE
1. Hail ho-ly God's a-noint-ed, great Da-vid's great-er child!
Hail in the time ap-point-ed, when souls are re-con-ciled!
Who comes to break op-pres-sion, to set the cap-tive free;
To take a-way trans-gres-sion and rule in e-qui-ty.
2. Who comes in suc-cor speed-y to those who suf-fer wrong;
To help the poor and need-y, and bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sigh-ing, their even-ings filled with light,
Whose souls, con-demned and dy-ing, are pre-cious in God's sight.
3. The child comes down like show-ers upon the fruit-ful earth;
Love, joy, and hope, like flowers, spring in the path to birth;
And lead-ing, on the mountains, shall peace, the herald, go;
As life re-new-ing foun-tains, from hill to val-ley flow.
4. A-ra-bia's des-ert ran-ger, who wills to bend the knee;
The E-thi-o-pian stran-ger, true glo-ry come to see;
The Ma-gi, prayers im-plor-ing, who gold and in-cense bring;
The na-tions soon a-dor-ing, high praise they long shall sing.
5. O'er eve-ry foe vic-tor-ious, on high-est throne shall rest;
From age to age more glo-rious, all bless-ing and all blest.
The tide of time keeps ev-er the cov-en-ant a-bove;
That name shall stand for-ev-er, whose name to us is love.
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153R As With Gladness, Those of Old
Meter, 7.7.7.7.7.7., Tune, DIX
1. As with glad-ness, those of old
did the guid-ing star be-hold;
As with joy they hailed its light
lead-ing on-ward, beam-ing bright:
So, most glor-ious one, may we
Ev-er-more be led to thee.
2. As with joy-ful steps they sped
to that low-ly mang-er bed;
There to bend the knee be-fore
one whom heaven and earth a-dore;
So may we with will-ing feet
ev-er seek thy mer-cy seat.
3. As they offer-ed gifts most rare
at that mang-er rude and bare;
So may we with ho-ly joy,
pure and free from sin’s al-loy,
all our cost-liest treas-ures bring,
Christ, to thee, and heav-en sing.
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156R O Come All Ye Faithful
Meter, Irregular; Tune, ADESTE FIDELES
1. O come, all ye faith-ful, joy-ful and tri-um-phant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Beth-le-hem.
Lo, bless-ed Christ-child, born to rule the an-gels:
O come in a-dor-a-tion,
O come in a-dor-a-tion,
O come in a-dor-a-tion,
Christ is born!
2. Lo, hum-ble shep-herds, sum-moned to the cra-dle,
leav-ing their flocks, draw near to gaze.
We too will glad-ly fol-low dus-ty foot-steps:
O come in ce-le-bra-tion,
O come in ce-le-bra-tion,
O come in ce-le-bra-tion,
Love is born!
3. Sing, choirs of an-gels, sing in ex-ul-ta-tion;
O sing, all ye cit-i-zens of heaven a-bove!
Glo-ry to God, all glo-ry in the high-est:
O come in ex-ul-ta-tion,
O come in ex-ul-ta-tion,
O come in ex-ul-ta-tion,
Life is born!
4. Bright skies led ma-gi to the child, a-dor-ing,
with gifts of in-cense, gold, and myrrh.
We to the man-ger bring our hearts’ true ques-tions:
Now come in ex-pec-ta-tion,
now come in ex-pec-ta-tion,
now come in ex-pec-ta-tion,
Christ is born!
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September 02, 2005
160R What Means This Glory Round Our Feet
Meter, L.M., Tune, ERFURT (VON HIMMEL HOCH)
1. “What means this glory round our feet,”
The ma-gi mused, “more bright than morn!”
And voic-es chant-ed clear and sweet,
“The roy-al child of peace is born!”
2. “What means this star,” the shep-herds said,
“That bright-ens through the rock-y wall?”
And an-gels an-swering o-ver-head,
sang “Peace on earth, good will to all”
3. All round a-bout our feet shall shine
a light like that the ma-gi saw,
if we our lov-ing wills in-cline
to that sweet life which is the law.
4. So shall we learn to un-der-stand
the sim-ple faith of shep-herds then,
and kind-ly clasp-ing all in all,
sing “Peace on earth, good will to all."
5. And they who to their child-hood cling,
and keep at eve the faith of morn,
shall dai-ly hear the an-gels sing,
"The roy-al child of peace is born."
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