Faith of Our Fathers–I can hardly believe we used to sing this in assembly at high school, until the Supreme Court clued us in that “religion,” except for secular humanism, is not allowed in public places. Later they decided abortion was all right. Then some other things I will not mention.
Was it a different world? What happened to it while I slept?
Anyway, here’s the hymn, sung by the kids at Fountainview Academy.
Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus, here performed by the Royal Choral Society, is about the best way I know of proclaiming the glory of Our Lord Jesus Christ and His sovereign right to the lordship of heaven and earth. We long for that day when He shall set His throne upon the mountains of the earth, and reign with judgment and with justice, with goodness and with mercy, forever. “The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” –Isaiah 9:7
I couldn’t decide what I most wanted in a hymn this morning: to invoke the Lord’s might in our defense, or to proclaim His glory and His right to rule. So I’m going to do both.
King Alfred’s War Song says what needs to be declared: For the Lord is our defense–Jesu defend us! That will do for a prayer.
Here’s a Charles Wesley hymn I haven’t heard before: Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown, performed the old-fashioned way by Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band.
For newcomers to this blog, we like to start each blogging day with a hymn, and we take requests. So if you have a favorite hymn or worship song you’d like to see posted here, just let us know.
This is a classic hymn, Sweeping Through the Gates of New Jerusalem, and yet no one seems to know exactly when it was first published. It’s also known as Washed in the Blood of the Lamb, and I first heard it on a “Lord Peter Wimsey” episode. This at-home version is by Darby and Orby Jack.
This beautiful old hymn from the 1860s still moves us today. I don’t know about you, but I need God’s guiding hand: need it every day.
This is performed here by the kids from Fountainview Academy. If the background scenery looks strange, it’s because they’re not in British Columbia, but visiting Hawaii.
O Light of the World, light thou my path!
When this old Irish hymn was new, the calendar had just passed the year 800 A.D. Christians are still singing it today, over a thousand years later: Be Thou My Vision, here sung by the Lebanon County Youth Choir. This hymn was played at my father’s funeral, and never fails to stir my soul.
Create in Me a Clean Heart is taken from Psalm 51–the Psalm David wrote when he repented the terrible sin he had committed in taking Uriah the Hittite’s wife, Bathsheba, and arranging for Uriah to be killed in battle: adultery plus murder. This is what the human heart does when it rebels against its Maker and Redeemer. And only God by Jesus Christ can cleanse it.
Performed by some of the kids at Fountainview Academy.
This hymn has been around since 1828, and yet I never heard of it until this morning, when Susan suggested it. I discover a lot of people love this hymn, which is also known as The Mercy Seat. This a cappella performance is by the Mennonite Hour Singers.
To me this will always be the hymn for a bright and sunny morning–All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name. May the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord blaze forth this day in glory, He whose right it is to rule Creation. May that day come soon when every knee shall bow to Him, and every tongue confess Him Lord. The sooner, the better, O God! Amen.