This is by Charles Wesley in the 18th century–Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown, sung by Maddy Prior and played, old-style, by the Carnival Band: a hymn about Jacob wrestling with the angel. Not the kind of thing we hear much of, these days.
May the music of God’s word fortify our spirits for the day.
I just discovered this hymn this morning–And Can It Be That I Should Gain, written by Charles Wesley and published in 1738, here sung by Maddy Prior.
It’s quite a wonderful old hymn, and let me see if I can get the lyrics for you.
Ah, here they are ( http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/c/acanitbe.htm ). Thank you, dear old Cyberhymnal.
This is what Love Divine would have sounded like when Charles Wesley wrote it–if he could have had Maddy Prior to sing it, and the Carnival Band to play the music. It’s a very soothing hymn, full of comfort. I almost think I should have saved it for the end of the day instead of at the beginning: but I like to start my blog off with a hymn.
Here’s a fine old 18th century hymn to pump you up–Soldiers of Christ, Arise, sung by Maddy Prior to the old, perhaps original, musical arrangement.
Again on the hymn’s youtube page I find wistful comments by atheists, who love the music but remain standing on the outside, looking in.
But you can come in! The door is open. And the good things that you see inside, more valuable than anything you could pay for them, are already yours–the free gift of God. For Jesus Christ has already paid the bill, and you are free and clear.
As are we all who gather in His presence.
I love this glorious old hymn, and I love the way Maddy Prior and the Carnival Band perform it.
The melody in this version was published in 1815, but there are other melodies used from 1708 and 1621. And who knows? There may be more yet to come.
You might not quickly recognize this as the traditional hymn, O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing–because this is the way it was sung 300 years ago.
Thanks to reader “Fiat Lux,” I now know that the lead singer here, Maddy Prior, is also the woman who sang that wonderful rendition of To Be a Pilgrim, which I posted yesterday. She is an English folk singer with a career that started way back in the 1960s. Oh, what a voice!