The Lord is here

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is “The Lord is here” by Christopher Ellis. I picked it for a Sunday as it’s in the Holy Communion section of the book, and the title is taken from one of the priest’s acclamations in the service.

There is, however, only one direct reference to communion in the hymn (verse 2, “in offered peace, in shared-out bread and wine”). Other references are more subtle and indirect, such as “he gives himself just as he gives his Word”, “he meets us as we share”, and “the Lord is here inviting us to go”.  But then, although the communion service is special in some ways, whatever the nature of our worship we should be inspired (literally, ‘in-breathed’ or ‘in-spirited’) to “go and share the news with people everywhere … intent to seek and find, living this hope that God is always near”.

So it may be better to think of this as a missionary hymn rather than a eucharistic one. The set tune is called “Beacon Hill” but was unfamiliar.  John chose to play it to ‘Woodlands’ instead, maybe because it’s more familiar, but perhaps because that tune is best known to the words “Go forth and tell” on a similar theme.

One thought on “The Lord is here”

  1. Writing a good tune for a 10.10.10.10 hymn is a lot harder than it looks, and it is very hard to avoid splitting lines 1 and 3 with very distinct pauses on the 4th syllables. But in the case of these lyrics, the pause on the 4th syllable is built into structure. The words themselves almost cry out for “Woodlands” for this reason, and that’s why I chose it.

    I think the other reason I eschewed the set tune “Beacon Hill” for this hymn is the irregularity in the numbers of beats per bar in that tune: I’ve nothing against irregularities in rhythms provided there is a clear rationale behind them, but in this hymn the rationale which seems to hold for lines 1 and 2 is discarded in line 3 for no particularly good reason, and its reinstatement in line 4 is distorted with the extensions of the 8th and 9th syllables. Line 3 seems very meandering and its ending especially weak. And I didn’t really think that there was sufficient consistency about the use of the phrase which makes the first three notes of each line. Stephen says the tune is “unfamiliar” – I think my verdict would be “hard to get the hang of in four verses”.

    About the words: as I read the lyrics before singing them, I first thought that this would be a hymn which immediately preceded the eucharistic prayer (as that prayer often starts with the dialogue “The Lord is here / his Spirit is with us”) – but actually, as verses 1 and 2 move swiftly through a quick overview of the communion, the weight of the hymn falls in verses 3 and 4 with the post-communion “go in peace to love and serve the Lord”. I think Stephen is right: this hymn is more intended to be the final hymn in the Communion service, speaking to us of going out and sharing good news with others.

    (Must stop writing as my wife says I shouldn’t be “working” on a bank holiday!)

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