SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 22 OF 22 - I AM RESOLVED

Cattle Call, a mix between a bison and a Scottish Highland Cattle, Chattanooga Zoo.

 

I am resolved no longer to linger, 

Charmed by the world's delights;

Things that are higher, things that are nobler,

These have allured my sight.

I am resolved to go to the Savior, 

Leaving my sin and strife;

He is the True One, He is the Just One, 

He hath the words of life.

I am resolved to follow the Savior, 

Faithful and true each day;

Heed what He sayeth, do what He willeth, 

He is the living way.

I am resolved to enter the Kingdom,   

Leaving the paths of sin;

Friends may oppose me, foes may beset me, 

Still will I enter in.

I am resolved and who will go with me? 

Come, friend, without delay:

Taught by the Bible, led by the Spirit, 

We'll walk the heavenly way.

I will hasten to Him, Hasten so glad and free;

Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

 

NOTES ON HYMN:

• As usual with hymns with a chorus, the last paragraph is the chorus.
• I thought this would be an excellent hymn for New Year's Day, and this song probably gives better ideas for New Year's resolutions that we would on our own.
• This is my favorite hymn. No, I didn't save it for last for this reason - it's that, as I said above, this is the most fitting for New Year's Day.
• I know I won't have a voice about it, but if anyone asked me, I'd like this song sung at my funeral.
• The meter of this song is 10, 6, 10, 6. Yes, the chorus doesn't keep the meter.
• In the hymnal I'm used to, it only included the first four verses. I later saw one with the fifth. A lot of times, the missing verse is the weakest verse, but to me, this completes the thought. I love the move of emphasis from personal to corporate walk.
  
• Hope this series has been a blessing for you. Starting next week, I'll be doing a new series.
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 21 OF 22: HARK! THE HERALD ANGELS SING (MERRY CHRISTMAS)

 

"All of Creation Worships" by Jeff Reynolds

Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King;

Peace on earth and mercy mild - 

God and sinners reconciled!"

Joyful, all ye nations, rise, 

Join the triumph of the skies;

With th'angelic host proclaim,

"Christ is born in Bethlehem."

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

Christ, by highest heav'n adored,

Christ, the everlasting Lord:

Late in time behold Him come, 

Offspring of a virgin's womb.

Veiled in flesh the Godhead see,

Hail th'incarnate Deity!

Pleased as man with men to dwell,

Jesus, our Emmanuel.

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

Hail the heav'nborn Prince of Peace!

Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings, 

Ris'n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, 

Born that man no more may die;

Born to raise the sons of earth,

Born to give them second birth.

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

Come, Desire of Nations, come!

Fix in us Thy humble home;

Rise, the woman's conq'ring seed, 

Bruise in us the serpent's head.

Adam's likeness now efface,

Stamp in thine image in its place;

Second Adam from above, 

Reinstate us in Thy love.

 Hark! the herald angels sing, 

"Glory to the newborn King!"

 

NOTES ON HYMN

• First off, Merry Christmas! Or for you guys, Joseph Christmas! 
• How many of you following have read through the first three verses, and then pause to see a fourth you've never seen before? Growing up with the Worship & Service Hymnal, I only knew the first three.  But then I attended a church whose hymnal (Praise! Our Songs and Hymns) included the fourth verse. Cyberhymnal includes a fifth.
• This is another hymn written by Charles Wesley. I had a Calvinist joke that Wesley believed you had to earn your salvation so he made the music for this song hard to sing. Uh, not Wesley's fault. I don't know what tune they sang this to during Charles' lifetime, but he died before the composer to this song was born. That composer? Felix Mendelssohn. And do you expect Classical composers to write easy songs to sing? By the way, Mendelssohn was raised Lutheran and also composed the Reformation symphony.
• By the way, my favorite hymn word writer is Charles Wesley. My favorite classical composer is Mendelssohn. No wonder I love this song.
• This song's meter is a 7,7,7,7 double. One interesting thing? Another Wesley song, "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" has a 7,7,7,7 meter, which adds a lot of "Alleluia"s ot it. So you could sing "Christ The Lord is Risen Today" to Mendelssohn's tune, dropping the alleluias and using two verses for each round. Or you can sing "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" to the tune of "Christ the Lord is Risen Today, with the alleluias and doubling the verse number. 
  

 

 

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 20 OF 22: COME, THOU LONG EXPECTED JESUS

Arlington Avenue Baptist Church, Indianapolis. Note at the base of the tree are shoebox gifts. We donate these to the Metropolitan Baptist Center every Christmas, which they take to women's shelters for their children (each box has the gender and age range listed).

Come, Thou long expected Jesus, 

Born to set Thy people free;

From our fears and sins release us, 

Let us find our rest in Thee.

 

Israel's strength and consolation, 

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear desire of every nation, 

Joy of every longing heart.

 

Born Thy people to deliver, 

Born a child and yet a king.

Born to reign in us forever, 

Now Thy gracious kingdom bring. 

By Thine own eternal Spirit 

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all sufficient merit, 

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

NOTES ON HYMN

• This is an Advent hymn. By now, I think you all might know the difference between an Advent song and a Christmas song? I had chose 5 songs I wanted to use for the Advent and Christmas seasons, and putting them with the weeks seemed natural for most of them. This one is not as obvious with the theme "Adevent of Love", but it definitely fits.
  
• The tune of this song is Hyfrydol, written by Rowland Huw Pritchard. Hyfrydol is the only thing Cyberhymnal lists Pritchard writing, which I find hard to believe because of how good that tune is. The Worship & Service Hymnal included three songs besides this one with the tune, the best known of those I'd guess to be "Our Great Savior" (with the chorus, "Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a Friend!"). Additionally, it suggests this tune as an alternate for Charles Wesley's "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," and Elton Trueblood suggested this tune for a song he wrote he called "Baptism By Fire" which is printed in his excellent book "The Incindiery Fellowship." (I learned about the book when the Baptist Hymnal 1991 set the lyrics to a different tune and used the first line "God Whose Purpose Is To Kindle" as the title.
• The lyrics to this song are written by Charles Wesley. It's not unusual to see hymns with Wesley's words have music composed by musicians not yet born when Wesley died. 
• One question I have for Mr. Wesley is how many verses this song has. There are only two verses to this song, but was Wesley's original thought for a pair of verses to be set to a 8,7,8,7 Doubled tune, or a quartet set to 8,7,8,7? Honestly, looking at the words, it gives me an impression it was written with four verses. Yet combining the verses to this tune produces a beautiful song.
• Final comment: I will admit I have questions on whether Christmas trees should be on a church's platform. However, in the case of the one at Arlington Avenue Baptist Church (above photo), it also serves as a reminder of preparing shoe-box gifts for the Baptist Center where they are distributed to the children of mothers in rescue shelters. This fits Advent of Love, does it not?
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 19 OF 22: JOY TO THE WORLD (ADVENT OF, YOU GUESSED IT, JOY)

At Arlington Avenue Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN

Joy to the world! The Lord has come!

Let earth receive her King!

Let ev'ry heart prepare Him room,

And heaven and nature sing!

Joy to the earth! The Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ!

Let field and flood, rock hill and plain

Repeat the sounding joy!

No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The wonders of His righteousness 

And wonders of His love.

NOTES ON THE HYMN

• I know. I didn't do the repetitions of the last line of each verse. Sorry.
• One of the best known songs of the Christmas season, but this actually is an advent hymn. In fact, it's based on Psalm 98 and is focused on the 2nd Advent (Christ's return) rather the 1st Advent (Christ's birth). 
  
• The third week of Advent is the Advent of Joy. So I spent a lot of time trying to decide which song would be most appropriate. A who tenth of a second. 
• I started this series with a Watts song. Time for another one. The only other author I had repeated was Charles Wesley. 
• By the way, did you know the music was written by George Frederick Handel? (I just saw a picture of him; to me, he looks like he'd fit in a hard rock band.) The music was adapted from the Messiah.
• The meter is the common meter (8,6,8,6). By the way, the other Watts song in my series - "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?" - is also common meter. So 
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 18 OF 22: O LITTLE TOWN OF BETHLEHEM (ADVENT OF PEACE)

Cincinnati Zoo Nativity Scene

 

O little town of Bethlehem,
    How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
    The silent stars go by.
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
    The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
    Are met in thee tonight.

For Christ is born of Mary,
    And gathered all above,
While mortals sleep, the angels keep
    Their watch of wondering love.
O morning stars together,
    Proclaim the holy birth,
And praises sing to God the King,
    And peace to men on earth!

How silently, how silently,
    The wondrous Gift is giv’n;
So God imparts to human hearts
    The blessings of His Heav’n.
No ear may hear His coming,
    But in this world of sin,
Where meek souls will receive Him still,
    The dear Christ enters in.

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
    Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin, and enter in,
    Be born in us today.
We hear the Christmas angels
    The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
    Our Lord Emmanuel!

 

NOTES:

• This song is being posted on the 2nd Sunday of Advent - Advent of Peace. I mentioned last week about the differences between Advent songs (expecting Christ's coming) and Christmas songs (about Christ's birth). This is definitely a Christmas song, but I thought it would be appropriate looking at God's peace.
• Did you notice anything not completely typical about this nativity scene photo? It was a mild December day, and the person who kept the rabbit decided to let him out while she was cleaning up that area. I thought that the rabbit added to the peaceful look.
  
• You may have noticed, but "sin" is rarely mentioned at Christmas time (and not much if any more the rest of the year). What I like about this carol is it doesn't keep up with that (should I say sinful) tendency. It mentions in the third verse that we're "in this world of sin," and in the last verse it exhorts us to "Cast out our sin." 
• Speaking of verses, I consulted Cyber-hymnal to see if there were any besides the four I'm familiar with. The answer is "yes." The fourth verse is not included in my post, as it isn't in the hymnals I'm familiar with. You can click here to see the missing verse.
• One other bit of info on the Cyber-hymnal page (besides a picture at the bottom of the Church of the Nativity) is this about Phillips Brooks (who wrote the words to this hymn): "Brooks wrote about his horse­back jour­ney from Je­ru­sa­lem to Beth­le­hem, where he as­sist­ed with the mid­night ser­vice on Christ­mas Eve, 1865:
   
  
  'I re­mem­ber stand­ing in the old church in Beth­le­hem, close to the spot where Je­sus was born, when the whole church was ring­ing hour af­ter hour with splen­did hymns of praise to God, how again and again it seemed as if I could hear voic­es I knew well, tell­ing each oth­er of the Won­der­ful Night of the Sav­ior’s birth.'
  
  
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 17 OF 22: O COME, O COME, EMMANUEL (ADVENT OF HOPE)

Angels, live nativity scene, Castleton United Methodist Church, Indianapolis

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Wisdom from on high,
Who orderest all things mightily;
To us the path of knowledge show,
And teach us in her ways to go.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Day-spring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here;
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,
And death’s dark shadows put to flight.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Desire of nations, bind
In one the hearts of all mankind;
Bid Thou our sad divisions cease,
And be Thyself our King of Peace.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.
 

NOTES ON HYMN 

• Raise your hands if you realize we're in Advent season? The last 16 weeks I've shared songs in, with one exception, alphabetic order. For the next four weeks, I'll be dealing with the four weeks of Advent, which will be followed by Christmas and New Year's Day.
• What is the difference between an Advent Hymn like this and a Christmas Hymn like "Silent Night?" The former anticipates the coming of the Promised Messiah, the latter focuses on the event of Christ's birth.
• There are different ways of looking at Advent. Some break it up into various actors in the Christmas story (e.g. Prophets, Angels). Others look at various things Christ has brought into our lives. This week, I chose "O Come O Come Emmanuel" for the Sunday that's the Advent of Hope.
  
• How many hymnals have eight verses to any hymn? Not many. Most hymns are trimmed to four or at the most five, and what gets trimmed is fairly uniform. But not always. This hymn, as well as "Crown Him With Many Crowns," "Anywhere With Jesus," and to a lesser extent "Take My Life And Let It Be" often have varying verses, with different hymnals having a different list of verses. So I went to Cyberhymnal and posted all eight verses (which was more than I thought - for some reason, I thought it was seven!) By the way, there are other hymns that have that many verses - "Soldiers of Christ Arise" have 16 long verses.
• This song is what's called plainsong. In those days, a lot of music was sung in unison aca pella without large jumps in the melody.
• Anybody start trying to figure out the meters after I talked about them? If you have, you'd notice the verses are long meter (8,8,8,8). You can take another long meter song (e.g. "All Creatures of Our God and King", "When I Survey The Wondrous Cross", or the Doxology), and sing it to this tune, adding the chorus.
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 16 OF 22: TAKE TIME TO BE HOLY

Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center, Conservatory, Nashville TN

 

Take time to be holy, Speak oft with thy Lord;

Abide in Him always, And feed on His Word.

Make friends of God's children; Help those who are weak; 

Forgetting in nothing His blessing to seek.

 

Take time to be holy, The world rushes on; 

Spend much time in secret With Jesus alone;

By looking to Jesus, Like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

 

Take time to be holy, Let Him be thy Guide,

And run not before Him, Whatever betide;

In joy or in sorrow, Still follow thy Lord,

And, looking to Jesus, Still trust in His Word.

 

Take time to be holy, Be calm in thy soul; 

Each thought and each motive Beneath His control;

Thus led by His Spirit To fountains of love,

Thou soon shall be fitted For service above.

 

NOTES ON HYMN

• I find it interesting comparing this song with "More Holiness Give Me" (see Part 9). Both songs have a 6,5,6,5 double meter, which alone means they can be interchangeable. Not only that, but both are in 6/8 time, and have the rhythm of dotted quarter note, three eight notes, two dotted quarters, repeat, with the even lines combining the two dotted quarters at the end. And is it coincidence both talk about holiness?
• I mentioned my pattern of going in alphabetic order, and made a slight variation of moving "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" forward a couple of weeks so it would be posted by Reformation Day/All Saints Day. This song happens to fall on the week before Thanksgiving. But isn't there a connection between gratitude and holiness, especially if that gratitude is to God for all He does? If we are truly grateful, wouldn't we separate ourselves to Him and His purpose?
• I mentioned doing the first sixteen hymns in alphabetic order (again, with one variation). Yet there are half a dozen more installments! What will I be doing with those? Well, you'll find out next week!   
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 15 OF 22: SPIRIT OF GOD, DESCEND UPON MY HEART

 

Dove statue, Peace Garden, Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden

Spirit of God, descend upon my heart;    

Wean it from earth, through all its pulses move;

Stoop to my weakness, mighty as Thou art, 

And make me love Thee as I ought to love.

I ask no dream, no prophet ecstasies, 

No sudden rending of the veil of clay,

No angel visitant, no opening skies; 

But take the dimness of my soul away.

Hast Thou not bid us love Thee, God and King? 

All, all Thine own, soul, heart and strength and mind.

I see Thy cross - there teach my heart to cling; 

O let me seek Thee, and O let me find.

Teach me to feel that Thou art always nigh; 

Teach me the struggles of the soul to bear,

To check the rising doubt, the rebel sigh; 

Teach me the patience of unanswered prayer.

Teach me to love Thee as Thine angels love, 

One holy passion filling all my frame;

The baptism of the heaven descended Dove, 

My heart an altar and Thy love the flame.

NOTES ON HYMN

• This song is in the Worship and Service hymnal that was a major part of my life (used by two churches I attended while growing up and at chapel at Bible College) and probably in others also which I was unaware of until we sang it once at Arlington Avenue Baptist Church no sooner than 2018. It has become a favorite.
• The end of the song is called "modal." Typically, a verse/song ends on the root note of the key. For example, this hymn is in the key of C, and thus the root note is C. However, this song ends on the G note; it still ends with the notes of a C major triad (C,E,G), but not the root note. This is called a modal ending, and you'll notice a different tone because of it.
• The meter of this song is 10,10,10,10. Becky and I sing this to the tune of "Abide With Me." You can also sing it to the tunes of "Search Me, O Lord" (aka "Cleanse Me) and, if you want to add trumpets or not, "God Of Our Fathers."
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 14 OF 22: PRAISE THE SAVIOR, YE WHO KNOW HIM

 

Finches at the Cincinnati Zoo.

Praise the Savior, ye who know Him!

Who can tell how much we owe Him?

Gladly let us render to Him

All we are and have.

Jesus is the name that charms us;

He for conflict fits and arms us;

Nothing moves and nothing harms us

While we trust in Him.

Trust in Him, ye saints, forever;

He is faithful, changing never;

Neither force nor guile can sever

Those He loves from Him.

Keep us, Lord, O keep us cleaving

To Thyself and still believing,

Till the hour of our receiving

Promised joys with Thee.

Then we shall be where we would be, 

Then we shall be what we should be;

Things that are not now, nor could be,

Soon shall be our own.

NOTES ON HYMN:

• While this is in the Worship & Service hymnal, I was introduced to the first verse by singing the first verse to the tune of "Alleluia", though the last line is a little edited to fit the Long Meter (8,8,8,8) of "Alleluia."
• One thing I like about the words to this hymn is that it flows from one verse to the next.
  
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 13 OF 22: STAND UP, STAND UP FOR JESUS

At Faith Family Church, Cookeville, TN

Stand up! Stand up for Jesus, Ye soldiers of the Cross!

Lift high His royal banner, It must not suffer loss. 

From victory unto victory, His army shall He lead

Till every foe is vanquished And Christ is Lord indeed.

 

Stand up! Stand up for Jesus, The trumpet call obey.

Forth to the mighty conflict In this His glorious day.

Ye that are men, now serve Him Against unnumbered foes;

Let courage rise with danger And strength to strength oppose.

 

Stand up! Stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone;

The arm of flesh will fail you, Ye dare not trust your own.

Put on the Gospel armor, each piece put on with prayer;

Where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there.

  

Stand up! Stand up for Jesus, the strife will not be long:

This day the noise of battle, The next the Victor's song.  

To him that overcometh, A crown of life shall be;

He with the King of Glory Shall reign eternally. 

 

NOTES ON THIS HYMN

• For those paying attention: Yes, I did deviate from my original format of going in alphabetic order for the first 16 installments. Why? Well, those who know me know two of my favorite holidays are Reformation Day (Oct. 31) and All Saints Day (Nov. 1). (You probably know some other holiday I won't name that shares the date with Reformation Day is one of my least.) Out of the songs on my list, I thought this was most fitting for Reformation Day and All Saints Day. I'll resume in alphabetic order where I left off next week.
  
• In the hymnal I grew up with, the lyrics were included to two different tunes. Hymn #459 is to the tune Geibel, which had the words to verses 1, 2, and 4, and included a chorus (which lyrically consisted of the first two lines); this was the newer tune. #460 is to the tune Webb, which I hear more often and is the tune I normally see in hymnals, which included all four verses, but no chorus.
• You can call the meter of this hymn either 7, 6, 7, 6 doubled or 13, 13, 13, 13. 
• I know I have no role in planning my funeral, but if you asked me what songs I'd like sung at my funeral, this would be one.   

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 12 OF 22: ONLY TRUST HIM

 

Crossroads Baptist Church, Indianapolis, IN

Come every soul by sin oppressed, 

There's mercy with the the Lord,

And He will surely give you rest 

By trusting in His word.

For Jesus shed His precious blood, 

Rich blessings to bestow;

Plunge now into the crimson flood 

That washes white as snow.

Yes, Jesus is the Truth, the Way, 

That leads you into rest:

Believe in Him without delay, 

And you are fully blest.

Come, then, and join this holy band, 

And onto glory go,

To dwell in that celestial land, 

Where joys immortal flow.

Only trust Him, only trust Him, 

Only trust Him now.

He will save you, He will save you, 

He will save you now.

NOTES ON HYMN     

• This is my favorite invitational hymn, though when I was a teen-ager, I considered it to be just as much as trusting Jesus in day-to-day life as opposed to the decision leading to salvation, and thus connecting it to "Trust and Obey."
• The verses to the song are written Common Meter (8,6,8,6) and can be interchanged with several other songs. The chorus has an 8,5,8,5 meter.
• As a music lover, I enjoyed the line, "join this holy band." It also makes me think of the line from "Onward Christian Soldiers," "Onward, then, ye people, Join our happy throng," as well as from "I Am Resolved", "I am resolved and who will go with me? Come, friend without delay."
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 11 OF 22: OH, TO BE LIKE THEE

Painting of Jesus by Kerry Jackson, at Arlington Avenue Baptist Church.

Oh, to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer, 

This is my constant longing and prayer.

Gladly I'll forfeit all of earth's treasures, Jesus,  

Thy perfect likeness to wear.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Full of compassion, 

Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,

Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, 

Seeking the wandring sinner to find.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Lowly in spirit, 

Holy and harmless, patient and brave; 

Meekly enduring cruel reproaches, 

Willing to suffer others to save.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! While I am pleading, 

Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love; 

Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, 

Fit me for life and heaven above.

 

Oh, to be like Thee! Oh, to be like Thee, 

Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!

Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; 

Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

 

NOTES ON HYMN

• This is another song in the Worship & Service Hymnal I grew up with that I didn't know until later in life; in this case, Becky - who grew up with this song - introduced it to me.
• If you are not familiar with this song, the final stanza is the chorus. It has the same meter as the verses. My hunch is that the lyricist, Thomas Chisholm, wrote a poem with multiple verses and the musician decided to make one verse the chorus. The same is true of another song Chisholm wrote the lyrics to that you're probably more familiar with: "Great Is Thy Faithfulness."
• In case you're interested in the meter, it's 10,9,10,9. You can interchange tunes between this song, "I Must Tell Jesus," and "Heavenly Sunlight." I also wrote a poem I intended to be a song (nobody ever attempted to set it to music) called Sola Scriptura."
• As I mentioned, Becky grew up with this song while in the Church of Christ. I included the four verses from the Worship & Service Hymnal, but there's a fifth verse in the Church of Christ hymnal.     

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 10 OF 22: O FOR A HEART TO PRAISE MY GOD

Kookaburas, Louisville Zoo

O for a heart to praise my God, 

A heart from sin set free,

A heart that always feels Thy blood 

So freely shed for me!

 

A heart resigned, submissive, meek, 

My great Redeemer's throne,

Where only Christ is heard to speak, 

Where Jesus reigns alone;

 

A lowly, humble, contrite heart, 

Believing, true, and clean,

Which neither life nor death can part 

From Christ who dwells within.

 

A heart in every thought renewed, 

And full of love divine;

Perfect, and right, and pure, and good, 

A copy, Lord, of Thine!

 

Thy nature, gracious Lord, impart; Come quickly from above,

Write Thy new name upon my heart, Thy new, best name of Love.

 

NOTES ON HYMN

• This is the second hymn by Charles Wesley included in this series. It won't be the last. Wesley is only one of two hymn writers I'll be including more than one song by, the other being Isaac Watts.
• Does this song at all make you think of another of Wesley's classics, "O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing?" Both of them are written Common Meter (8,6,8,6). In the Worship and Service Hymnal I grew up with, both songs are set to the tune Azmon, though for this song it also suggests a couple of other tunes, including Arlington, which is usually associate with "Am I A Soldier Of The Cross."
• In the above mentioned hymnal, it only included four verses for this song, omitting the third verse I included. The Cyberhymnal lists nine verses for "O For A Thousand Tongues" and eight for this one, so I selected one of the other verses to include when Becky and I sing it.
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 9 OF 22: MORE HOLINESS GIVE ME

Southeastway Park, Indianapolis

More holiness give me, More strivings within,

More patience in suff'ring, More sorrow for sin,

More faith in my Savior, More sense of His care,

More joy in his service, More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me, More trust in the Lord, 

More zeal in His glory, More hope in His word,

More tears for His sorrows, More pain at His grief,

More meekness in trail, More praise for relief.

More purity give me, More strength to o'ercome,

More freedom from earth stains, More longings for home;

More fit for the kingdom, More useful I'd be,

More blessed and holy, More, Savior, like Thee.

NOTES ON HYMN:

• This hymn was written by Phillip Bliss, whose contributions include lyrics ("I Will Sing Of My Redeemer"), music ("It Is Well With My Soul") or both (this song, "Wonderful Words Of Life). Bliss worked with Moody and Daniel Whittle in the late 1800's. He died in a train wreck in 1876; actually, he was thrown from the train and survived but ran into the fire to rescue his wife. Shortly before that, he had written a letter to his friend James McGranahan encouraging him to minister to the Lord in music rather than having a career in opera; McGranahan wrote the music for "I Will Sing Of My Redeemer" and several songs with evangelist Daniel Whittle (including "Showers of Blessing" and "I Know Whom I Have Believed."
• Becky introduced me to this song from a Church of Christ hymnal, Christian Hymns Vol. 2. Even though Bliss' songs are in the other songbooks we regularly use, this song isn't in most of the others we use.😭

• An exception to the above - We have a hymnal titled Gospel Hymns Nos. 1-6 Complete, published in 1894, and featuring songs from Moody era musicians like Phillip Bliss, Ira Sankey, and James McGranahan. In the Church of Christ hymnal above, it's titled by the first line "More Holiness Give Me;" in the 1894 hymnal, it was titled "My Prayer." 
  
• For those interested, the meter is 6,5,6,5,Doubled. I will mention more about that meter later in the series.
  

SUNDAY HYMNS, PART 8 OF 22: MORE ABOUT JESUS

Sacred Heart Model School, Louisville, KY

 More about Jesus would I know,

More of His grace to others show,

More of His saving fullness see,

More of His love who died for me.

More about Jesus let me learn, 

More of His holy will discern:

Spirit of God, my teacher be,

Showing the things of Christ to me.

More about Jesus in His Word,

Holding communion with my Lord,

Hearing His voice in every line,

Making each faithful saying mine.

More about Jesus on His throne,

Riches in heaven, all His own;

More of His kingdom's sure increase,

More of His coming, Prince of Peace.

More, more about Jesus,

More, more about Jesus.

More of His saving fullness see,

More of His love who died for me.

NOTES ON HYMN

• The verses to this song are Long Meter, or 8,8,8,8. Other songs with the Long Meter include "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "All Creatures of our God and King," "He Leadeth Me," "Higher Ground", and the Doxology.
• Only other comment -why don't we sing this song more often?