Category: Sing Praise

Advent candles

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘Advent candles tell their story’ by Mark Earey.  It has five verses but each of them is specific to one of the Sundays of Advent, the fifth being for Christmas Day. It would appear to be the intention either that just one verse is sung each week, or another verse added each week, rather than as a regular all-through hymn. In fact it’s neither: I found the answer in the liturgical responses Mark wrote to go with the song – the idea is to sing verse 1 on week 1, then 1+2, 1+3, 1+4 and just verse 5 at Christmas.

The first week of the season is traditionally focussed on the Patriarchs, but the first verse here is expressed in more general terms of praying for the Lord’s coming.  The second is about the Prophets, the third John the Baptist, and the fourth Mary, according to tradition.  There’s not much in the words that grabbed my attention, other than that the verse for Mary has a possibly unexpected reference to Easter: ‘Who could guess the final story? Cross and glory; Easter Day!’

As an aside, we have been unable to find an Advent candle, of the sort that counts the days, in the shops this year.  The fairtrade company Traidcraft also used to do them, but seem to have stopped.  I did find that John Lewis were selling them online, but I’m always reluctant to order online for one cheap item to be delivered. In the end we took a standard purple dinner candle and with a ruler and knife simply marked it into 28 sections.  But it’s only burning a few minutes each day, after saying grace at the start of the evening meal.

Come, light of the world

Picture from Salvation Army Canada. Artist unknown.

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘Come, Light of the World’ by Paul Inwood. It was new to me, and not easy to sing from sight unaccompanied, so I needed to hear John playing and singing it to pick up the tune properly. 

The five verses each begin with that invocation ‘Come’, which places it firmly within the spirit of Advent.  The five ways in which Christ is addressed are ‘Light of the world’, ‘Strength of our days’, ‘Joy for the world’, ‘Hope of the world’ and ‘Spirit of God’ (the last not being strictly addressed to Christ, except in so far as the Spirit ‘proceeds from the Father and the Son’ – but let’s not reopen that old argument!) 

Likewise, in the course of these five verses we ask him to bless us in various ways: to dispel our darkness and be our light; to fill us with courage to follow him; to bring us together with singing, laughter and warmth in our lives; to heal our sorrow and bring us peace; and for the Spirit to fill us with truth, lighten our lives and inspire all we do.

It is, as John remarked, a very positive hymn, not at all in the penitential style of many Advent hymns, yet consistent with the Advent hope of one who is coming to change things for the better. Perhaps it’s just what we need at the moment, when the world is full of fear, hatred and disaster: not another reminder that we are sinners but a reminder that Christ comes to bring fulness of life.

Come and see the shining hope

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘Come and see the shining hope that Christ’s apostle saw’ by Christopher Idle. It’s based on some of the scenes in the Book of Revelation, and set to an American tune ‘Marching through Georgia’.  We sang it at our church on Advent Sunday to bring a stirring start to the season.

The contrast in the first verse is between ‘confusion on the earth, and in heaven an open door’.  Confusion is indeed all around the earth as at the moment, what with uncertainties around the Covid pandemic and climate change, as well as wars and famines in many places – just the sort of thing Jesus said would have to happen before he comes again. The second verse is about the gifts that God gives, Jesus being the greatest of them, by which we can cope with these confusing times.  The third verse returns the scene to heaven where the ‘mighty multitudes’ forever sing praise to God.

The last line of each verse is the same, effectively forming a bridge to the chorus: ‘Love has the victory for ever!’ The chorus with its repeated Amens celebrates justice being restored and ‘the kingdoms of the world become the kingdom of the Lord’.  The overall message is that whatever the confusion and challenges around us, at the same time there is another kingdom, which Jesus said is among us or within us, where all the world’s problems cease to exist. 

The ‘open door’ of the first verse may perhaps be identified with Jesus who called himself ‘the Way, the Truth and the Life’. The way into the heavenly kingdom.  But he also warned that the way is narrow and few enter the door.  So although Advent is full of hope, it’s also full of challenge. The message of repentance and of waiting in holiness goes hand in hand with the expectation of being among those restored to eternal life when Jesus finally returns.

Now all the world belongs to Christ

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is ‘Now all the world belongs to Christ our Lord’ by Michael Perry.  Thus the title: the first line of the refrain is ‘Fling wide the gates’ which gives a better clue to the content.  The phrase is taken presumably from Stainer’s oratorio ‘The Crucifixion’, but is based on ‘lift up your heads, O ye gates’, a verse of Psalm 24 on which the whole hymn is based.  It is a paraphrase or adaptation of the psalm, rather than a literal rendering. 

The original is a ‘song of ascents’ to be sung as pilgrims climb the hill into Jerusalem and enter the Temple with its massive doors.  In Christian use it is associated, as John reminded us this morning, with Holy Week and in particular Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on a donkey.  The tune suggested is also associated with Holy Week, through the hymn ‘Lift high the Cross’.

So what’s it doing in the Advent section of the book?  It makes sense if you look from the other side of the door, so to speak.  In the Psalm and on Palm Sunday we are with a crowd outside the city, outside the Temple (symbolic of heaven), longing to go in.  Whereas in Advent we are trapped in this increasingly Godless world and longing for Jesus to fling open the gates from heaven and break into our world in triumphant return. 

So, whereas in the Psalm, those who have ‘clean hands and pure hearts’ are counted worthy to stand on the holy hill, i.e. in the Temple, in the hymn such people win the right to worship Christ.  The ‘vindication from the God of their salvation’ that the psalmist promises becomes ‘He will declare them free from guilt and shame’. Of course we know that our sins can already be forgiven even in this life, but Christ’s return will be for his true followers a complete vindication in him.

Come now, O Prince of Peace

Today’s song from Sing Praise is ‘Come now, O Prince of Peace’ by Geonyong Lee (a Korean classical composer) and Marion Pope. I read somewhere that Korean music uses the same Pentatonic scale as Scottish folk music, which is why it sounds more familiar than other Asian styles.  

The song is from the Advent section of the book. The appeal to ‘come now’ (very much part of Advent) is addressed to the Lord variously as ‘Prince of Peace’, ‘Lord Jesus’, ‘God of love’, ‘God our Saviour’ and ‘Hope of unity’. What we ask him to do when he comes is to ‘Make us one body’, ‘reconcile your people’ and ‘reconcile all nations’. Only the last of these is strictly an Advent hope. Looking at the words as a whole with their reference to ‘one body’ and ‘your people’, it seems to be more suited to Christian Unity week or any other ecumenical gathering, or indeed with its gentle melody would be suitable for a music group to sing during Communion.

Into the darkness of this world

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is another Advent themed one, ‘Into the darkness of this world’ by Maggi Dawn.  It’s one of those pieces somewhere in style between ‘hymn’ and ‘worship song’, with the structure of the former but the informal sound and enthusiasm of the latter. But the theme is unmistakable: a plea to Jesus Christ to come to the world again and change it for the better.

The first verse starts by looking back to the Incarnation: ‘Into the darkness of this world, into the shadows of the night, into this loveless place you came’ but finishes with the appeal ‘Into the darkness once again O come, Lord Jesus, come’.  The chorus (identical in the second verse) asks Jesus to come with love and light to drive darkness far from us.

The second verse switches from ‘the world’ to the individual with an appeal to come to ‘the longing of our souls, the heavy hearts of stone’ and ‘order our lives and souls aright’. The third both looks back by addressing him as Emmanuel (a title used mainly in the Advent/Christmas season) and also asks him to visit ‘this broken place’ which could be understood either locally or universally as you prefer. The last chorus has different words, finishing with ‘We long to see you face to face: O come, Lord Jesus, come’.

Overall I think this makes a good advent hymn as it makes us think of personal, local and global concerns, the coming of Jesus into the individual and his eventual return to rule the world.

Longing for light

The hymn I chose for today from Sing Praise is ‘Longing for light, we wait in darkness’ by Bernadette Farrell.  Although included in the Advent section of the book, It isn’t specifically an Advent hymn in the way that ‘O Come, Emmanuel’ is for instance, or ‘Lo he comes’. It’s one that I have sung or heard at any time of year, as its theme is the things that people long for, of which light is only one example.  As I mentioned in the blog for 7 April, it is a variation of Farrell’s Easter Eve hymn  ‘This is the night of new beginnings’.  But it is appropriate for the start of Advent, perhaps especially this year as yesterday was also the start of Hannukah, the Jewish festival of light.

What, then, do we long for?  The first four verses each list some of the longings that people share, in our own families or around the world.  For light and truth; for peace and hope, for food and water, for shelter and warmth.  To each there is a response as we ask Christ to make us, his Church, a light for others. ‘Light for the world to see’, ‘Your living voice’, ‘Bread broken for others’, ‘Your building, sheltering others’.  Finally we ask that we be ‘servants to one another, making your Kingdom come’.  

The chorus after each verse is “Christ be our light, shine in our hearts, shine through the darkness. Christ be our light, shine in your church gathered today”. This is another reminder that we are part of a larger whole, the worldwide Church. This is another aspect of Advent: seeing the needs of the world around, and not just praying that God will do something about it but that we his people may be part of the solution.

Wait for the Lord, whose day is near

Today is Advent Sunday, and the song I chose from Sing Praise is titled ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’. It’s a phrase often used in Advent, as it sums up what the season is about, not only getting ready for Christmas but also for the final return of Christ in glory, whenever that may be.

But the song, one of the chants from the Taizé community, is actually better known by the start of its refrain or ostinato, ‘Wait for the Lord, whose day is near. Wait for the Lord, keep watch, take heart’.  This also describes the spirit of Advent: waiting for future fulfilment while at the same time being encouraged in the faith (‘take heart’) and making the most of the present time (‘his day is near’).

I made a mistake in sight-reading it at first, wondering why the first line of the ostinato is repeated, then the second, as that’s not how I’ve normally heard it. But then I realised the music staves carry on across the double page spread on each line, which is an odd way of setting it out.

The cantor’s verses, as often with a Taizé chant, don’t follow a fixed metre but fit in and around the ostinato.  The phrases are a mixture of familiar Biblical verse (‘Rejoice in the Lord always’, ‘God heard my cry’, ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God’) and what I presume are fresh ones (‘Joy and gladness for all who seek the Lord’, ‘O Lord show us your way, Guide us in your truth’).  But they all fit in with the atmosphere of this season, when we seek better knowledge of God and ourselves, balancing the sober introspection of a time of penitence with the joy of forgiveness (and of course unless you spend the whole four weeks on retreat it’s not possible to ignore the ramping up of festivities in the world around).

Who can measure heaven and earth?

The image above may be a riddle to you. Goat and Compasses? This is in fact the name of a pub in Hull, believed to have been altered from the older name ‘God encompasseth’, and it is a clue to today’s hymn from Sing Praise…

‘Who can measure heaven and earth?’ by Christopher Idle.  The words celebrate the Wisdom of God as personified in the first chapter of the book of Ecclesiasticus / Koheleth. There are six lines to each verse, for which a tune is provided in the book, but it’s not well known, and John used the better known ‘England’s Lane’.

‘Wisdom’ is portrayed in Ecclesiasticus and some other places in the Bible as a female character very close to the creator God.  A such, she is sometimes identified with the Word of God (Christ) and sometimes with the Holy Spirit.   In this hymn, what is celebrated are the wisdom of God shown in the complexity of creation, the secret knowledge of God that we can never know, his gift of wisdom to people in general and to those who love him in particular, and wisdom’s eternal nature outlasting earthly things.

The only quibble I would have is with the first couplet of verse 4, which surely needs some qualification. “Wisdom gives the surest wealth, brings her children life and health”. Neither wealth in the usually understood sense of money and possessions, nor health in the sense of physical and mental well-being, necessarily go with wisdom, although the wise person makes careful use of what wealth they have, and faith does help with mental health.  So the verse should perhaps be understood in the light of Jesus’ teaching about not worrying for tomorrow and making friends with the wealth that we have.

There is a Redeemer

Today’s song from Sing Praise is ‘There is a redeemer’ by Keith and Melody Green. Dated 1982 on the copyright, I’ve known this song since probably not long after that. 

The song praises Jesus by several of his Biblical titles: Son of God, Lamb of God, Messiah (Christ), Holy One, Redeemer, Name above all names, King for ever.  The chorus invokes all three persons of the Trinity: ‘Thank you O my Father for giving us your Son, and leaving your Spirit till the work on earth is done’.

My only criticism would be that there is an inconsistency whether we are singing to God (‘Jesus my Redeemer’, ‘Thank you O my Father’) or about him (‘There is a Redeemer’, ‘I will see his face’).  It’s an inconsistency that we have found in other songs, but I prefer it if a song or hymn is clearly one or the other: are we encouraging our fellow singers in the faith or expressing a personal faith directly to God? The style of the music suggests the latter. So why not reword it ‘You are the Redeemer’, ‘I will see your face’?