A selection of traditional and modern hymns. This week, a morning hymn (to ease you into the start of Daylight Saving), hymns inspired by the Psalms and by Nature, and a favourite hymn by American Quaker John Greenleaf Whittier - Dear Lord and Father of Mankind.
Tolaga Bay, East Coast, New Zealand. Photo: Phillip Capper, Creative Commons
SONG: GOD BLESS OUR LAND
Artist: Viva Voce, John Rosser (dir), Michael Bell (organ)
Words/Music: Murray/Brinson
Recording: NZ Hymnbook Trust 941300
God bless our land, in every generation,
God bless our people, growing as one nation,
God bless our islands, home and whenua,
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
God give us hope in common cause and caring,
each bringing treasures, baskets for the sharing,
grieving the wrongs of history no more –
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
God bless our land, its beauty and its blending
into communities of warm befriending,
proud in the cultures settled on our shore –
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
God bless the child whose feet are firmly planted
here in our place of freedoms daily granted,
seedbed and soil for peace and aroha –
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
SONG: WHEN MORNING GILDS THE SKIES
Artist: Choir of Belfast Cathedral
Words/Music: Anon trans Caswall/Barnby
Recording: Priory PRCD 722
When morning gilds the skies my heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer, to Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The sacred minster bell it peals over hill and dell,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
O hark to what it sings, as joyously it rings,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
My tongue shall never tire of chanting in the choir,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring in hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When sleep her balm denies, My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
When evil thoughts molest, With this I shield my breast:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Does sadness fill my mind? A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss? My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day when from the heart we say:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The pow’rs of darkness fear when this sweet chant they hear:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
In heav’n’s eternal bliss the loveliest strain is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Let earth, and sea, and sky From depth to height reply,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this, while life is mine, my canticle divine:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Sing this eternal song through all the ages long:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
SONG: FOR THE BEAUTY OF THE EARTH
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Composer: Pierpoint/Evans
Recording: Hyperion 711210
For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
over and around us lies:
Refrain:
Lord of all, to thee we raise
This our joyful hymn of praise.
For the beauty of each hour
Of the day and of the night,
Hill and vale, and tree and flower,
Sun and moon and stars of light:
Refrain:
For the joy of human love,
Brother, sister, parent, child,
Friends on earth, and friends above,
For all gentle thoughts and mild:
Refrain:
For each perfect gift of thine
To our race so freely given,
Graces human and divine,
flow'rs of earth and buds of heav'n:
Refrain:
SONG: MY SHEPHERD WILL SUPPLY MY NEED
Artist: Cathedral Choral Society, Washington Cathedral
Words/Music: Watts/Trad
Recording: Gothic G49112
My shepherd will supply my need --
Jehovah is his name.
In pastures fresh he makes me feed
Beside the living stream.
He brings my wand'ring spirit back
When I forsake his ways
And leads me, for his mercy's sake,
In paths of truth and grace.
When I walk thro' the shades of death
Thy presence is my stay;
One word of Thy supporting breath
Drives all my fears away.
Thy hand, in sight of all my foes,
Doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows,
Thine oil anoints my head.
The sure provisions of my God
Attend me all my days;
O may Thy house be my abode,
And all my work be praise.
There would I find a settled rest,
While others go and come;
No more a stranger, nor a guest,
But like a child at home.
SONG: IN THE LORD IS MY JOY AND SALVATION
Artist: St Thomas Music Group, Margaret Rizza (dir)
Words/Music: Rizza
Recording: Alliance Music
In the Lord is my joy and salvation
He gives light to all his creation.
In the Lord is my joy and salvation,
He gives peace and true consolation.
SONG: DEAR LORD AND FATHER OF MANKIND
Artist: Choir of King’s College, Cambridge
Words/Music: Whittier/Parry
Recording: EMI 948306
Dear Lord and father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow thee,
Rise up and follow thee.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace,
The beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm,
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm,
O still small voice of calm!
SONG: CHRIST IS MADE THE SURE FOUNDATION
Artist: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Words/Music: Anon trans Neale/Purcell
Recording: Griffin 224018
Christ is made the sure foundation,
Christ the Head and Corner-stone,
Chosen of the Lord, and precious,
Binding all the Church in one,
Holy Sion's help for ever,
And her confidence alone.
All that dedicated city,
Dearly loved of God on high,
In exultant jubilation
Pours perpetual melody;
God the One in Three adoring
In glad hymns eternally.
To this temple, where we call Thee,
Come, O Lord of Hosts, to-day;
With Thy wonted loving-kindness,
Hear Thy servants as they pray;
And Thy fullest benediction
Shed within its walls alway.
Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants
What they ask of Thee to gain,
What they gain from Thee, for ever
With the blessèd to retain,
And hereafter in Thy glory
Evermore with Thee to reign.
Praise and honour to the Father,
Praise and honour to the Son,
Praise and honour to the Spirit,
Ever Three, and ever One,
One in might, and one in glory,
While unending ages run.
