Category: Retuned hymn

Update: Sheet music for this song is now available at gregscheer.com.

Charles Wesley originally titled this text simply “Morning Hymn.” Indeed, the text is filled with images of morning, light, and day. Of course, Jesus Christ, the Light of the World, is praised as the true source of all light.

Even though Charles Gounod wrote one of the more famous tunes for this hymn, I’ve never felt like any of the tunes do the text and theme justice. This wide-eyed, joyful text needs something that makes you feel the refreshing hope of a new sunrise.

I hope my tune captures some of that vitality. It is a simple folk song with a melody that rises and sets like the sun. Though the song itself is simple and singable, I’ve added a challenging and exciting instrumental verse that can be played by either keyboard or two solo instruments. In this recording, I used the keyboard solo as an intro and the duet as an instrumental verse between verses 2 and 3.

1 Christ, whose glory fills the skies;
Christ, the true, the only light;
Sun of Righteousness, arise;
triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Daystar, in my heart appear.

2 Dark and cheerless is the morn
unaccompanied by thee;
joyless is the day’s return
till thy mercy’s beams I see;
till they inward light impart,
cheer my eyes and warm my heart.

3 Visit then this soul of mine;
pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
fill me, radiancy divine;
scatter all my unbelief;
more and more thyself display,
shining to the perfect day.

Pastor Nate preached from Luke 14:15-24 last Sunday. The parable of the great banquet is compelling and comforting, but there aren’t a lot of songs based on this text. Charles Wesley to the rescue! In 1747, he wrote a beautiful hymn that turns this parable into a sung altar call. I found the text on hymnary.org and loved it immediately. The tune? Not so much.

In my opinion, my lively folk melody captures the urgency of the call to salvation in the text better than the staid hymn tunes traditionally used. I can imagine Charles and his brother John riding into a town on horseback, preaching a rousing sermon, then calling to the audience to come to Jesus. All while this song is sung by the town crier. (It’s my day dream; I’ll tell it any way I want!)

1. Come, sinners, come to the gospel feast,
let every soul be Jesus’ guest.
Let not even one be left behind,
for God has called all humankind.

2. Do not begin to make excuse;
do not his lavish grace refuse;
your worldly cares and pleasures leave,
and take what Jesus freely gives.

3. Oh, come and share the gospel feast,
be saved from sin, in Jesus rest;
O taste the goodness of our God,
and eat his flesh and drink his blood.

4. See Christ set forth before your eyes;
behold the bleeding sacrifice;
his offered love make haste to_em-brace,
and freely now be saved by grace.

5. All who believe his words are true
shall dine with him and he with you;
come to the feast, be saved from sin,
for Jesus waits to take you in.

What do you do when your pastor decides to preach on Genesis 32:22-31? Sure, the story of Jacob’s late night wrestling match with a stranger (man? angel? God?) is a common Old Testament story, but there simply aren’t a lot of song options for it.

As I scoured my resources for appropriate hymns (using keywords like “wrestle,” “blessing,” and “dislocated hip”) I stumbled across a hymn text written by Samuel Medley, a rarely sung author of dozens of hymns. This little gem encourages us to follow Jacob’s lead, holding onto God with all our might and not letting go until we are named and blessed by God.

Story songs like this always feel to me like they need a folk melody, so I wrote a tune that might fit in among classic American melodies like those found in Southern Harmony. With its AABA form and limited range, it will be easy to learn and remember. Come to Fuller Ave CRC this Sunday (virtually) and find out if I’m right!

1. As Jacob did in days of old, so will my soul do now; 
I’ll wrestle and on Jesus hold, and will not let him go. 
Like Jacob, I am weak and faint, and overwhelmed with woe: 
Lord, hear and pity my complaint, for I won’t let you go. 

2. I come encouraged by your word, that mercy you will show;
except you bless me, dearest Lord, I will not let you go. 
I come to ask forgiveness free, though I have been your foe; 
except you grant it, Lord, to me, I will not let you go. 

3. I come to tell you of my fears and conflicts here below; 
unless your mercy, Lord, appears, I will not let you go. 
And so I’ll wrestle while I live, a pilgrim here below; 
and when in glory I arrive I will not let you go. 

Last week I was working on a service about Exodus 18 where Moses receives instruction from his father-in-law Jethro about governing the people of Israel. As you can imagine, there were not as many song resources for this story as there are on manna and crossing the Red Sea!

But I did find a hymn by Philip Doddridge that was in the ballpark. Though Doddridge actually based his hymn on the Ebenezer stones of 1 Samuel 7:12, it covered similar themes of relying on God’s help amidst overwhelming tasks.

I gave Doddridge’s text a substantial rewrite (you can read the original here) and wrote a brand new tune*. I like the Americana feel of this melody. It feels like it comes from the pages of Southern Harmony, even though the demo makes it sound like Pure Prairie League. But mostly I like that it’s a journey song, reminding us that the seemingly insurmountable obstacles we see ahead of us will become occasions for praising God in the future.

A leadsheet and piano accompaniment can be downloaded here: https://gregscheer.com/product/o-god-our-help-we-bless-your-name/

1. O God, our help, we bless your name,
whose love is constant all our days.
Whose many gifts and gracious care
begin, and crown, and close the year.

2. Ten thousand trials may line our path,
but you will guide with loving hand.
When we look back along our way:
ten thousand monuments of praise!

3. Thus far your arm has led us on;
thus far you’ve made your mercy known;
And while we tread this desert land,
new mercies shall new songs demand.

4. And when we stand on Jordan’s shore,
our thankful souls shall sing once more;
then journey on to courts above–
eternal tributes of your love.

*Actually, I wrote three new tunes and let my Facebook friends choose their favorite. This is one of the perks (or liabilities) of being my friend. Here are versions A, B, and C.

The sermon at Fuller this week comes from the story of Moses’ birth and adoption by Pharoah’s daughter (Exodus 2:1-10), exploring Moses as a foreshadowing of Christ. As I looked for appropriate songs to sing, I came across a once-popular hymn by William Hammond called, “Awake and Sing the Song.” This hymnic rabbit trail led to the original 1745 publication of Hammond’s poem that featured no less than 14 verses! The rabbit trail continued to Revelation 15:2-4 in which the harp-wielding saints sing the “song of God’s servant Moses and of the Lamb.” Pure worship planning gold.

Naturally, I felt the need to write a new tune for it–it’s who I am. I knew the text called for a tune as rough as a sea chanty, as epic as a murder ballad, and as joyously raucous as a shape-note hymn. What I came up with is a pentatonic melody that is equal parts “What Wondrous Love” and “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner.” I’m quite pleased with it. (And that’s not always the case after singing a dozen takes of a new melody while recording a demo.) I was also pleased that I was able to work in my favorite phrase from the original hymn, “we, his miracles of grace.”

The one remaining question: does it need a chorus? Musically, it feels complete without it, but thematically we are being called to sing the song of Moses and the Lamb, but we never do. The actual song appears in Rev 15:3-4:

“Great and marvelous are your deeds,
    Lord God Almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
    King of the nations.
Who will not fear you, Lord,
    and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
    and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

I have a chorus drafted. If enough people request it, I’ll add it.

There are lots of songs about the Holy Spirit, but most focus on invocation or sanctification. What I really liked about Brian Foley’s text “Holy Spirit, Come, Confirm Us,” is that he talks about other roles of the Holy Spirit: confirming truth, consoling us and renewing us, and binding us to the life of the Trinity. Heady stuff.

Foley’s text is most often paired with a tune by John Stainer; it gets the job done, but is not particularly inspiring. Unbeknownst to either Foley or Stainer, I’ve written a new tune. Shhh! Don’t tell them. I want it to be a surprise.

Click on the MP3 above or check out the lead sheet. Enjoy!

 

Update: Judith has requested the music and I am happy to oblige. Here is the PDF leadsheet. If you need the piano accompaniment, just email me.

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William Walsham How is best known as the author of “For All the Saints,” but he wrote almost a hundred other hymns, including the focus of today’s post: “O One with God the Father.” It is a powerful Epiphany text that begins with the theme of Colossians 1:15, “The Son is the image of the invisible God.” It continues by focusing on the light of Christ, praying that Christ’s light would dispel the darkness or our lives. Beautiful.

He wrote the hymn in 1871 and I wrote new music for it on June 18, 2018. I needed a song to go with the theme “We believe in Jesus Christ his only Son” from the Apostles’ Creed series we’re doing here at Fuller Ave CRC. There are surprisingly few hymns that address the oneness of the Father and Son. This wonderful text has been paired with unmemorable tunes for years, so I decided to give it a fresh coat of (musical) paint.

1. O One with God the Father
in majesty and might,
the brightness of his glory,
Eternal Light of Light;
O’er this our home of darkness
your rays are streaming bright;
the shadows flee before you,
the waiting world’s true Light.

2. Yet, Lord, we see but darkly:
O heavenly Light, arise!
Dispel these mists that shroud us,
that hide you from our eyes!
We long to track the footprints
that you yourself have trod:
we long to see the pathway
that leads to you our God.

3. O Jesus, shine around us
the radiance of your grace;
O Jesus, turn upon us
the brightness of your face.
We need no star to guide us,
as on our way we press,
if you, your light would grant us,
O Sun of Righteousness.