Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is another in the set on the theme of mission, and one that is widely known across the churches: “I the Lord of sea and sky” by Daniel Schutte. Its refrain of “Here I am, Lord, is it I, Lord? I have heard you calling in the night” is taken from Isaiah chapter 6, and the final verse with the reference to God providing a feast for all peoples is from Isaiah 25.
Essentially the message is that when we see people suffering, whether it’s from their lack of understanding of God’s ways (symbolised as being in darkness and needing light) or from the physical hardships of poverty and injustice, we should be able to hear God calling us to do something about it in his name, to be part of the solution that God himself has planned.
The middle verse is difficult: it reminds us that Jesus has borne the pain even of those who reject him, and weeps for them. Only he can ‘break hearts of stone’ and he calls us to be part of that task too, but first it may need my own ‘heart of stone’ breaking in order to see and feel compassion for those God would call me to serve.
In the book this hymn is set out very awkwardly, with the verses on one page-spread and the chorus on the next page – so the pianist has to turn forwards and backwards five times through the hymn. There are, of course, some hymns for which this is the only possible way of setting out the music, but the judicious use of repeat marks and first- and second-time bars could easily solve this problem. And there’s also the famous rhythmical mistake which Schutte makes half way through the verse, which has led to widespread confusion about how to sing this hymn.
But, as Stephen says, it’s still a great hymn, and I enjoyed singing it. It has a great combination of setting out God’s riches and inviting our response to be part of his team for sharing them with others.