Hymns on Sunday, 4 March 2018

We're celebrating St David's Day (1 March), as well as the commemoration day for the founders of Methodism, John and Charles Wesley (3 March).

Charles Wesley, John Wesley, Francis Asbury (Memorial Chapel, Lake Junaluska, North Carolina) Photo: Wikimedia Commons

SONG: YE SERVANTS OF GOD

Artist: Choir of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Catherine Palmer (dir), Ronald Jordan (organ)
Words/Music: C Wesley/C H Parry
Recording: Marquis

Ye servants of God, your Master proclaim,
and publish abroad his wonderful name;
the name all-victorious of Jesus extol;
his kingdom is glorious and rules over all.

God ruleth on high, almighty to save;
though hid from our sight, his presence we have;
the great congregation his triumph shall sing,
ascribing salvation to Jesus our King.

"Salvation to God, who sits on the throne!"
let all cry aloud, and honour the Son;
the praises of Jesus the angels proclaim,
fall down on their faces and worship the Lamb.

Then let us adore and give him his right:
all glory and power, all wisdom and might,
all honour and blessing with angels above
and thanks never ceasing for infinite love.
Amen.

SONG: JESU, LOVER OF MY SOUL

Artist: St Chad’s Cathedral Choir
Words/Music: C Wesley/J Parry
Recording: Priory PRCD 723

Jesu, lover of my soul,
let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high.
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none,
hangs my helpless soul on thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
still support and comfort me.
All my trust on thee is stayed,
all my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenceless head
with the shadow of thy wing.

Plenteous grace with thee is found,
grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
freely let me take of thee;
Spring thou up within my heart;
rise to all eternity.

SONG: DEEP IN THE HUMAN HEART

Artist: Jubilate Singers
Words/Music: Bill Wallace/Ellor
Recording: Private

Deep in the human heart
The fires of justice burn;
With visions of a world renewed
Through radical concern.
As Christians we are called
To set the captives free,
To overthrow the evil powers
And end hypocrisy.

This is our task today,
To build a world of peace;
A world of justice, freedom, truth,
Where kindness will increase;
A world from hunger freed,
A world where people share,
Where every person is of worth
And no-one lives in fear.

Taking the step of faith,
We leave the past behind
And move into the future’s world
With open heart and mind.
By grace we work with Christ,
As one community,
To bring new hope and fuller life
To all humanity.

SONG: LET JUSTICE ROLL DOWN LIKE A RIVER

Artist: Otago Girls’ High School Choir
Words/Music: Gibson/Gibson
Recording: RNZ CD 816

Refrain:
Let justice roll down like a river,
let justice flow  down to the sea;
let justice roll down like a river
let justice begin through me.

Justice for all who go hungry,
crying to God to be fed,
left in a world of abundance
to beg for a morsel of bread.
Refrain:

Justice for those who are homeless,
victims of war or of need,
trapped on the borders of nowhere,
lost in the canyons of greed.
Refrain:

Justice for all who are powerless,
yearning for freedom in vain,
plundered and robbed of their birth-right,
silently bearing their pain.
Refrain:

SONG: O LOVE OF GOD, HOW STRONG AND TRUE

Artist: Choir of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills
Words/Music: Bonar/Hampton
Recording: Gothic 349074

O love of God, how strong and true!
Eternal, and yet ever new;
Uncomprehended and unbought,
Beyond all knowledge and all thought.

O wide-embracing, wondrous love!
We read thee in the sky above,
We read thee in the earth below,
In seas that swell, and streams that flow.

We read thee best in Him who came
To bear for us the cross of shame;
Sent by the Father from on high,
Our life to live, our death to die.

We read thy power to bless and save,
E'en in the darkness of the grave;
Still more in resurrection light
We read the fullness of thy might.

SONG: THERE’S A WIDENESS IN GOD’S MERCY

Artist: Choir of Belfast Cathedral
Words/Music: Faber/Stainer
Recording: Priory PRCD 722

There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in his justice,
Which is more than liberty.

There is no place where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given.

For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man’s mind;
And the heart of the eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.

But we make his love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify his strictness
With a zeal he will not own.

There is plentiful redemption
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
In the sorrows of the head.

There is grace enough for thousands
Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh creations
In that upper home of bliss.

If our love were but more simple,
We should take him at his word;
And our lives would be all goodness
In the joy of Christ our Lord.

SONG: HOLY SPIRIT, EVER LIVING

Artist: Choir of All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills, Thomas Foster (dir), Craig Phillips (organ)
Words/Music: Rees/Taylor
Recording: Gothic 349074

Holy Spirit, ever living
As the Church's very life;
Holy Spirit, ever striving
Through us in a ceaseless strife;
Holy Spirit, ever forming
In the Church the mind of Christ;
Thee we praise with endless worship
For thy fruits and gifts unpriced.

Holy Spirit, ever working
Through the Church's ministry;
Quick'ning, strength'ning, and absolving,
Setting captive sinners free;
Holy Spirit, ever binding
Age to age and soul to soul
In communion never ending,
Thee we worship and extol.

SONG: CALON LÂN

Artist: Bryn Terfel (bbar), Bryan Davies Black Mountain Chorus, Risca Male Choir, Welsh National Opera Orch
Words/Music: James/Hughes
Recording: DG 463 593