“The God of Abraham Praise” is attributed to 14th century Italian poet Daniel ben Judah. The Trinity Psalter Hymnal adds two more verses (#4-5) that I haven’t seen before and are not recorded above.
1 The God of Abraham praise, who reigns enthroned above, Ancient of everlasting days and God of love. Jehovah! Great I AM! by earth and heav’n confessed; I bow and bless the sacred name, forever blest.
2 The God of Abraham praise, at whose supreme command from earth I rise and seek the joys at his right hand. I all on earth forsake, its wisdom, fame, and pow’r, and him my only portion make, my shield and tow’r.
“Be Still, My Soul” performed by the Norton Hall Band
Catharina Amalia Dorothea von Schlegel, an 18th century German, wrote the original of this marvelous hymn, “Be Still, My Soul.” The tune is “Finlandia,” originally a tone poem by the brilliant Jean Sibelius of Finland.
1 Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide; In ev’ry change he faithful will remain. Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heav’nly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.
Englishman Samuel Trevor Francis (1834-1925) gave us this hymn. It’s one of the hymns I feel I’ve always known. The tune is Welsh.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus! Vast, unmeasured, boundless, free, rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me. Underneath me, all around me, is the current of thy love; leading onward, leading homeward, to thy glorious rest above.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus! Spread his praise from shore to shore; how he loveth, ever loveth, changeth never, nevermore; how he watches o’er his loved ones, died to call them all his own; how for them he intercedeth, watcheth o’er them from the throne.
O the deep, deep love of Jesus! Love of ev’ry love the best: ’tis an ocean vast of blessing, ’tis a haven sweet of rest. O the deep, deep love of Jesus! ‘Tis a heav’n of heav’ns to me; and it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to thee.
“Fierce Raged the Tempest,” sung by the Lloyd Family
I can’t recall ever singing today’s hymn, but its tone and message would fit my congregational singing habits. “Fierce Raged the Tempest” was written by Englishman Godfrey Thring (1823-1903) and appears to be found in only a handful of hymnals.
1. Fierce raged the tempest o’er the deep, Watch did Thine anxious servants keep But Thou wast wrapped in guileless sleep, Calm and still.
2. Save, Lord, we perish, was their cry, O save us in our agony! Thy word above the storm rose high, Peace, be still.
3. The wild winds hushed; the angry deep Sank, like a little child, to sleep; The sullen billows ceased to leap, At Thy will.
4. So, when our life is clouded o’er, And storm winds drift us from the shore, Say, lest we sink to rise no more, Peace, be still.
I’m sure you’re familiar with Augustus Toplady’s hymn “Rock of Ages,” written in 1776. I don’t know how many believers are singing this hymn with James Ward’s arrangement, written in 1985. Ward lives in Chattanooga and served for many years as the music director at a church in my denomination. This arrangement is printed on the page opposite of the traditional Toplady tune in the Trinity hymnal, which is the hymnal PCA congregation use.
If this is a new tune for you, I hope you enjoy it.
Rock of Ages, cleft for me let me hide myself in thee; let the water and the blood, from thy riven side which flowed, be of sin the double cure, cleanse me from its guilt and pow’r.
“Wide Open Are Thine Hands,” sung by the Norsemen Quartet
The words of this hymn are attributed to Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153), an influential abbot who wrote many meditations. I found that attribution questioned by Garcia Grindal on her blog dedicated to hymns. She says Arnulf of Leuven, Abbot of Villers-la-Ville, (1200-1250) is the author of the original poem, and it sounds so much like Bernard who could blame us for misattributing it to him.
Dr. Charles Porterfield Krauth of Martinsburg, Virginia, a Lutheran scholar and musician, translated the poem into English.
Wide open are Thy hands, Paying with more than gold The awful debt of guilty men, Forever and of old.
Ah, let me grasp those hands, That we may never part, And let the power of their blood Sustain my fainting heart.
Wide open are Thine arms, A fallen world t’embrace; To take to love and endless rest Our whole forsaken race.
Lord, I am sad and poor, But boundless is Thy grace; Give me the soul transforming joy For which I seek Thy face.
Draw all my mind and heart Up to Thy throne on high, And let Thy sacred Cross exalt My spirit to the sky.
To these, Thy mighty hand, My spirit I resign; Living, I live alone to Thee, And, dying, I am Thine.
“How Can I Keep From Singing?” by Keith & Kristyn Getty
“How Can I Keep from Singing?” is an anonymously written hymn that began appearing in hymn books in the mid-1800s. That’s the report from my standard source on hymns, Hymnary.org. Some attribute it to Robert Lowry, but I see details suggesting he only arraigned the words with a melody and did not claim to have composed the whole work.
The video shared here is by modern hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty, who have spent years encouraging Christians to sing their faith in meaningful modern songs as well as traditional and ancient hymns. Ours is an ancient faith. Let’s join the faithful musicians of the past in singing of that faith and “catch the sweet, though far-off hymn that hails a new creation.”
Amazing Grace, sung by Carl Ellis with over 200 bagpipes
John Newton’s 1779 hymn is sung the world over. I believe some congregations sing it every Sunday. My congregation sings it after every communion, which we celebrate on the first Sunday of each month. Despite all of that singing, it’s still a good hymn for the new year.
The Hartford Selection of Hymns (1799) offers these three verses as 4-6, which may be where the most of the variations come in (they are not in the video above either).
The Lord has promis’d good to me, His word my hope secures; He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail, And mortal life shall cease; I shall possess within the vzil, A life of joy and peace.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow, The sun forbear to shine; But God, who call’d me here below, Will be forever mine.
The Azusa Pacific University Men’s Chorale in 2009
“Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” was originally a Latin poem by Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (AD 348-410), titled “Corde natus ex parentis.” It was translated by in the 1850-60s by J. M. Neale and H. W. Baker and paired with the Latin plainsong melody of “Divinum mysterium.”
Verse three of the lyric copied here is omitted in the video above.
1 Of the Father’s love begotten ere the worlds began to be, he is Alpha and Omega, he the source, the ending he, of the things that are, that have been, and that future years shall see evermore and evermore.
2 Oh, that birth forever blessed when the virgin, full of grace, by the Holy Ghost conceiving, bore the Savior of our race, and the babe, the world’s Redeemer, first revealed his sacred face evermore and evermore.
“God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” has no known author or melody smith. It’s listed as a traditional 18th century carol and appears in many hymnals with many variations in lyric. The recording above uses five verses that seem mostly familiar and a little unfamiliar. I don’t think I’ve ever sung the fourth verse offered here or this verse I see in Hymns for a Pilgrim People:
“Fear not, then,” said the angel, “Let nothing you affright; This day is born a Savior Of a pure virgin bright, To free all those who trust in Him From Satan’s pow’r and might.”
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