from freebibleimages.org
Today’s hymn from Sing Praise, “Blessed, those whose hearts are gentle”, is not dissimilar to the Gospel chants of the last few days, as suggested also by the words in the refrain “Raise the Gospel over the earth!” However, both the verses and the ‘alleluia’ refrain are longer than in the others, and it would work as a congregational hymn.
The six verses come in two pairs, and the thrust of the words is typical of the composer, Bernadette Farrell, most of whose hymns are about issues of social justice and inclusion. First are two verses with the repeated statement “Blessed are…”, which immediately recalls the Beatitudes of Jesus. But these are not directly quoting the Beatitudes. Here, those who are blessed are ‘those whose hearts are gentle, whose spirits are strong, who choose to bring forth right where there is wrong, who work for justice, who answer the call, who dare to dream of lasting peace for all’.
In the third and fourth verses, “Blessed” is replaced with “Tremble”. This is about the privileged who should be in fear of God for failing to meet his standards of justice. ‘You who build up riches, with opulent lives’ should ‘tremble … when you meet the poor and see Christ in their eyes’. And ‘you who thirst for power, who live for acclaim’ should ‘tremble… when you find no comfort in your wealth and fame’. This seems highly relevant in the context of current British politics, with the Government and its advisers increasingly criticised not only for becoming wealthy at the expense of the poor, but for lies and corruption.
The final pair of verses turns back to God and ascribes glory to him, as Word of Justice, Spirit of Peace and God of Love. But glory is also said to be “upon all people equal in God’s eyes”. To sing this hymn is to remind ourselves that God’s call is never only to live for him in our own lives but to strive for these divine qualities of justice, equality, peace and so on in the lives of others.
As Stephen says, the verses come in pairs; and it seemed to me best to sing the chorus after each pair of verses rather than after each verse. I confess I was a bit disappointed by the way the tune finished on a G with a G7 chord (which naturally leads back to the C minor of the verse) rather than a B-flat with a Bb7 chord which would lead back to the E-flat major tonality of the chorus. Maybe this is part of the design, but to me it felt like a mistake or misprint?
And, leading on from that, somehow I felt that the verses “Blessed …” and “Glory …” should have been cheerful whereas “Tremble …” is threatening. I know it is a brave composer who actually writes different tunes for different verses according to their moods (I suppose an example of this is “I bind unto myself this day” to the St Patrick’s Breastplate setting by C H Wood), but somehow I expected a hymn book like “Sing Praise”, which has explicitly claimed to include some more complex items aimed at choirs, to grasp this nettle instead of ducking it.