Month: August 2021

Before the throne of God above

Image from everipedia.com
original source unknown

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Before the throne of God above”.  I have sung this plenty of times in churches, and as the music is in contemporary style (actually credited to Vikki Cook, 1997) I assumed the words were also recently written, even if some words such as “graven” and “thence” are a bit archaic – but then there are ‘contemporary’ churches that still use the Lord’s Prayer in its old form. The language is otherwise quite similar to that used by Stuart Townend, for example, as the theme is that of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross for our redemption. 

But no, the words were written as a poem by Charitie de Chenez who was born as long ago as 1841. You can hear it read as a poem online. Wikipedia tells us that she was born Charitie Lees Smith (a less exotic name for this Victorian Irishwoman), and she was a well known religious poet of her time. This particular poem was written in 1863 in response to the 1859 Ulster Revival (of which I admit I had not heard previously). The modern tune fits well with the mood of the old words, the high notes of the middle lines being set to phrases such as “my name is written on his heart”, “my sinful soul is counted free” and “my life is hid with Christ on high”. I enjoy singing this hymn, and can well imagine it being belted out at a revival meeting.

I come with joy

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “I come with joy, a child of God” by Brian Wren. Two tunes are offered: I know this hymn better to the first, “St Botolph”.

It is in fact a communion hymn, so might better have been picked for a Sunday. But then, there is in the Catholic tradition a custom of receiving communion, or at least attending Mass, daily, if one’s life circumstances permit. Certainly what we do in church on a Sunday should stay with us through the week, so this celebration of what the sacrament means to us can be sung at any time.

The first two verses begin “I come…”, a reminder that we should come prepared for the sharing in the bread.  Firstly, at a personal level, in the words of the hymn recalling the life of Jesus laid down in love, by which I am “forgiven, loved and free”, thus I come with thankfulness.  And then, “with Christians far and near”, for the one body that we become in Communion is that of the whole Church in all times and places, not just the few gathered in one building.

The remaining verses build on that idea of unity. “Each proud division ends” is a message that sadly needs to be repeated, for there are far too many divisions in the Church, whether of culture, practice or belief. As we become friends through Christ’s love (moving into verse 4), the Spirit of Christ is “better known, alive among us here”.

The last verse is a dismissal, an important part of the service and which according to some sources gave its name to the name of “mass”: “Together met, together bound, by all that God has done, we’ll go with joy, to give the world the love that makes us one”. An ideal, yes, but without ideals is there ever action?

Like a mighty river flowing

Riding the Severn Bore
cc-by-sa/2.0 – © Ian Capper

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Like a mighty river flowing” by Michael Perry, coincidentally the same composer as yesterday, to a tune by Noel Tredinnick. Its five verses all take the same form: “Like… is the perfect peace of God”.  What that peace is compared to is mostly nature at its most peaceful: flowing rivers, flowers, hills, clouds, summer breezes and trees in the wind, morning sun and evening scent, ocean and jewels. There’s nothing specifically Christian about that, of course: these may all be aids to meditation or mindfulness whether you have religious faith or not. 

Some of the lines are more about our inner life: “like the heart that’s been forgiven”, “like the lips of silent praying”, “like a friendship never ended”. Again, not specifically Christian, although you might say more specifically spiritual.  The peace of God, then, as described here, might equally well be called ‘wholeness’ or ‘inner peace’.   Nothing wrong with that, of course, but I’m surprised it finds a place in a Christian hymn book without something more specific to our faith.

O God beyond all praising

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “O God beyond all praising” by Michael Perry. Its two long (12-line) verses are set to a tune from Holst’s Planets Suite, better known to the words “I vow to thee my country”. The first verse gives the reasons why God is worthy of praising – his many gifts, blessings and mercies – and something of how we go about praising him – “we lift our hearts before you, and wait upon your word, we honour and adore you”.

The second verse starts by asking Jesus (presumably, as he’s addressed as Saviour) to accept our love and service, which are also forms of praise, for it’s not all about words and loving actions towards others in God’s name are part of our praise.  Importantly, we praise God “whether our tomorrows be filled with good or ill”, because with God we, like God himself, should make covenants (unconditional promises) rather than bargains of the “If I… then you must…” sort that feature in the ‘prosperity gospel’ of some sects. 

The last pair of lines is also important, to “make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise”.  A duty and sacrifice in the sense of keeping that promise to make the time and effort to praise God, but a joyful one in that we should feel better for doing so.

Now let us from this table rise

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Now let us from this table rise” by Fred Kaan. Its theme is the dismissal at the end of the Communion service, when Christ’s disciples, fed by his body, are sent out to continue his work in the strength of his spirit (verse 1: “with Christ we die and rise again, his selfless love has made us whole”). 

Actually I didn’t receive communion or even attend church today, as we were away visiting family, but it’s still a good reminder at the start of a new week of what my priorities should be: “to spread the word in speech and deed” (v.2), “to fill each human house with love” (v.3) and “to choose again the pilgrim way” (v.4).  At the start of the week we “accept with joy the challenge of tomorrow’s day”. 

Creator God, the world around

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Creator God, the world around” by Brian Hoare. The suggested tune is ‘Melita’, better known to the words “Eternal Father strong to save” (the sailors’ hymn). 

Like yesterday’s hymn, the focus is on God as creator, the beauty of the natural world being celebrated in the words of the first verse. But here he is also hailed as Composer in verse 2, celebrating the use of God-given musical talents in worship, and as Designer in verse 3, as the visual arts in their various forms also play their part in our places of worship, as well as on Christian retreats and so on.

The last pair of lines of each of these verses begins “Yet…”, to express the idea that however much we appreciate natural or human-made beauty, and although they undoubtedly play their part in enhancing worship, they must always be inadequate to understand the creator fully.  So the last verse offers a contrast: “Mysterious God … in Jesus Christ you show your face: a God of love and truth and grace”.  

Yes, we believe Jesus to have been fully divine as well as fully human.  But can this one life lived on earth, however perfectly, show the fullness of God any more than the ways listed above?  Surely the full majesty of Jesus Christ was shown only through his resurrection, ascension and giving of the Holy Spirit? Others may beg to differ.

Beyond all mortal praise

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Beyond all mortal praise” by Timothy Dudley- Smith. In the book it’s set to a tune by Wayne Marshall, but John used the better known ‘Darwall’s 148th’ usually used for “Ye holy angels bright”.  This hymn shares the general theme of that one, namely the praise of God the creator.

The first verse presents God in the way many people still think of him – remote, unsearchable and all-powerful. The second, “our times are in his hand” also give the impression that everything, whether the seasons of the year or the fates of empires, are the result of God’s will.  These ideas, unless you take a rather extreme view of predestination, are not really compatible with the intimately present God we see in Jesus, but then the hymn is said to be based on an Old Testament passage (Daniel chapter 2).   

The third verse, “He gives to humankind, dividing as he will, all powers of heart and mind, of spirit, strength and skill”, also keeps God firmly in control, although it is compatible with the idea in the New Testament that the Holy Spirit gives different gifts to different people as he wishes. The last verse is again a praise of God the Father, rather than the usual Christian doxology of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This is therefore a hymn that might be suitable for an ecumenical occasion as the words would seem to be acceptable to Jews and Muslims, but seems rather odd in a Christian hymn book where Jesus usually get a mention by one of his names or titles.

We cannot measure how you heal

Philip Ilott (1936-2010)

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “We cannot measure how you heal” by John Bell and Graham Maule.

The whole area of spiritual healing is one in which attitudes vary among Christians, from those who dismiss the idea that God can intervene at all in natural processes to those who believe that any physical or mental illness can be healed with prayer if only we have enough faith. But most of us, I hope, would accept that God can and does heal, and that an apparent lack of healing in response to prayer is not the fault either of the sufferer or the one who prays for them. 

That seems to be the starting point of this hymn: we cannot understand the “how” or “why” of healing, yet “we believe your grace responds where faith and doubt unite to care”.  The second part of this first verse refers to Jesus’ blood on the cross, which is an essential part of a specifically Christian attitude to healing: Jesus, the “wounded healer”, suffered both physical and mental pain, to an extent that few humans are unlucky enough to share, and only the truly evil would wish on anyone else.

The second verse acknowledges what is increasingly understood by medical practitioners as well as faith healers, that good health and effective healing are heavily dependent on psychology and on a person’s past experience. Pain, guilt, fear and bad memories are indeed “present as if meant to last”, preventing us from achieving health in the roundest sense of that term.  The antidote to that is explained here as “love which tends the hurt we never hoped to find”.  The third verse also makes reference in the phrase “some have come to make amends” to the fact that lack of forgiveness, either for our own sins or for the ways that others have hurt us, can also lead to ill health and prevent healing.  

Many people have testified to the healing work of God’s Holy Spirit in uncovering past experiences that are at the root of later suffering.  I recently read “A smile on the face of God”, by Adrian Plass, a biography of the Revd Philip Ilott who experienced this as part of his own healing as well as being given the spiritual gift of bringing God’s healing to others.  The process was not a pleasant experience for him, and his story is certainly not one of ‘happy ever after’ (in fact he died of multiple sclerosis) but it does illustrate many of the points made above, and along the way he discovered the peace of God that can be present even though pain, which sometimes is in fact the healing that is needed.

Sing of the Lord’s goodness

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Sing of the Lord’s goodness” by Ernest Sands and dated 1981.  I have come across it before, but thought it was by Geoff Weaver. It’s a traditional style hymn of four verses with chorus, but the music is far from traditional in its use of syncopation and unusual 12.7.12.7 metre.

Although not stated to be a psalm setting, the last verse is clearly taken from Psalm 150 with its call to praise God with singing, trumpet, lute, harp, cymbals and dancing. Nowadays, guitar and drums are far more common than lutes and cymbals, but the principle is unchanged.  The chorus continues the theme of praising God with music. This just makes me realise how much I have missed the congregational singing in church with Covid restrictions.  A few times during the spring and summer we’ve sung a final hymn outdoors after the service, but so far that’s all. 

Some of the other words (verses 1-3) are at least in the style of the Psalms even if not direct quotations. God’s mercy and everlasting love, faithfulness, power, honour and splendour are certainly found there, also his ability to give “courage in our darkness, comfort in our sorrow”.  Verse 2 is clearly referring to Jesus: “Risen from the snares of death, his word he has spoken, one bread he has broken, new life he now gives to all”.

Dear Christ, uplifted from the earth

Inclusive Church logo

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “Dear Christ, uplifted from the earth” by Brian Wren.  The theme is that of Christ’s universal call to humanity.  The first verse continues “Your arms stretched out above through every culture, every birth, to draw an answering love”.  It’s an easy trap to fall into to think that “our” way of being Christian is the only or best one, or that the Bible was written with our time and culture in mind.  The second verse continues with the theme of his love extending “east and west, near and far”.

If travel broadens the mind, as they say, then engaging (in whatever way we can) with Christians from other cultures is equally important to broaden our understanding of Christ and his Church.  I’ve not travelled as widely as many people, but I have at least had the privilege of joining in worship with Christians in some other countries (mainly European but also in India). I’ve also been in churches in the UK with mainly African or West Indian  members, and met believers from other parts of the world such as Nepal, Ethiopia and South America and seen what Christ means to them.

The third verse looks at inclusivity within our own communities. “Where age and gender, class and race divide us to our shame” is a challenge to each church congregation in its own locality.  My own local parish has recently signed up to the Inclusive Church organisation to show our commitment particularly to disabled people and those of varying sexuality or gender identity. The last verse calls us to recognise ourselves as accepted by Christ as we are, then to reach out to others with that same healing love.