Notes on the Notes – August 20, 2017
This week’s music:
“O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” (VU #326)
“O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King, the triumphs of God’s grace.
Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease;
‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears, ’tis life and health and peace.
He speaks, and listening to his voice, new life the dead receive,
The mounrful broken hearts rejoice, the humble poor believe.
Hear him, you deaf; you voiceless ones, your tongues again employ;
You blind, behold your Saviour comes, and leap, you lame, for joy!
My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad the honours of your name.”
Charles Wesley (1707-1788) wrote this hymn in 1739 to commemorate the first anniversary of his conversion to Christ. The stanza that begins “O for a thousand tongues to sing” is verse seven of Wesley’s original poem. Wesley’s original hymn had 18 stanzas celebrating the freedom gained through spiritual conversion. John Wesley created this five-stanza cento which he used as the opening hymn in his “Hymns for a People Called Methodist” (1780). It has maintained this pride of place in most Methodist hymnals since that time.
Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns. In addition to hymn writing, Charles and John founded the movement which became the Methodist denomination.
The melody AZMON, is by Carl Gotthelf Glaser (ca 1828). It is a German tune collected by Lowell Mason during his European tour in 1837. It was used as the setting for Wesley’s hymn in “Songs for a Gospel People” (1987).
Hear the song sung with pipe organ at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7XVwxOfG1oY
“Great is thy faithfulness” (VU #288)
“Great is thy faithfulness, God our Creator;
There is no shadow of turning with thee;
Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not;
As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.
Great is thy faithfulness!
Great is thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed thy hand hath provided.
Great is thy faithfulness, ever to me!
Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.
Great is thy faithfulness!…
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow –wondrous the portion thy blessings provide.
Great is thy faithfulness!…
Thomas O. Chisholm, a Methodist minister, wrote the poem in 1923 about God’s faithfulness over his lifetime. William Runyan set the poem to music, and it was published that same year and became popular among church groups. The song was exposed to wide audiences after becoming popular with Dr. William Henry Houghton of the Moody Bible Institute and Billy Graham who played the song frequently on his international crusades. The version in Voices United is from the Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren (1957).
Listen to Chris Rice singing this hymn with guitar at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k1WhFtVp0o
Hear a quiet instrumental version of the hymn at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MoFJzsEF3ZM
Watch the Gaither version of the hymn with Wes Hampton at: https://youtu.be/yNZS5H9aNlY
“All My Relatives”
“Listen my sister, listen my brother,
So many features, so many colors;
I have not love you like I should love you if I believe that God is love.
Every face, all my relatives.
Every race, all my relatives.
Every place, all my relatives
Hear creation sing, one with everything.
Where there is hurting, we share the hurting,
Where there is justice, we share the justice.
Where there is mercy, we share the mercy if we believe that God is love…
Where there is suffering we share the suffering
Where there is praising, we share the praising
Where there is freedom, we share the freedom if we believe that God is love…”
This song was written by Larry Olson and Karol Baer in 1992.
“Love Us into Fullness” (MV #81)
“Love us into fullness, touch us with your grace;
Jesus, in your mercy, draw us to your face.
Love us into fullness, hold us in your care,
Cheer us with your presence here and everywhere.
Love us into fullness, and we will be strong;
Jesus, walk beside us, fill our hearts with song.”
This hymn has words and music by Daniel Charles Damon. It was written in 2002.
“We are Pilgrims (The Servant Song)” (VU #595)
“We are pilgrims on a journey, fellow travellers on the road;
We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.
Sister, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.
I will hold the Christ-light for you in the night-time of your fear;
I will hold my hand out to you, speak the peace you long to hear.
I will weep when you are weeping, when you laugh I’ll laugh with you;
I will share your joy and sorrow, till we’ve seen this journey through.
When we sing to God in heaven, we shall find such harmony,
Born of all we’ve known together of Christ’s love and agony.
Brother, let me be your servant, let me be as Christ to you;
Pray that I may have the grace to let you be my servant too.”
This hymn, written in 1974 by Richard Gillard, was first published in Songs of the Kingdom (1977).
Hear the hymn at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdmgpMfnjdU
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