Sing along this week to some well-known favourites including And can it be and Praise to the Lord the Almighty. And add in some new favourites with Bernadette Farrell’s God beyond all names and O God, you search me.
St Paul's Presbyterian Church, Kaikoura Photo: Creative Commons
SONG: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY
Artist: Choir of Norwich Cathedral
Words/Music: Heber/Dykes
Recording: QED QED276
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
who wert and art and evermore shalt be.
Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee,
though the eye made blind by sin thy glory may not see,
only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,
perfect in power, in love, and purity.
Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea;
holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
SONG: PRAISE TO THE LORD, THE ALMIGHTY
Artist: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Words/Music: Neander trans Winkworth/Anon
Recording: Hyperion 712801
Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.
O my soul, praise him, for he is thy health and salvation:
All ye who hear,
brothers and sisters draw near,
praise him in glad adoration.
Praise to the Lord, who o'er all things so wondrously reigneth
shelters thee under his wings, yea, so gently sustaineth:
hast thou not seen
all that his people have been
granted in what he ordaineth?
Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
surely his goodness and mercy here daily attend thee:
ponder anew
what the Almighty can do,
if with his love he befriend thee.
Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him!
All that hath life and breath come now with praises before him!
Let the Amen
sound from his people again:
gladly for aye we adore him.
SONG: GOD BEYOND ALL NAMES
Artist: St Thomas More Group
Words/Music: Bernadette Farrell
Recording: OCP 1991
God, beyond our dreams, you have stirred in us a memory,
you have placed your powerful spirit in the hearts of humankind.
Refrain:
All around us, we have known you;
all creation lives to hold you,
In our living and our dying
we are bringing you to birth.
God, beyond all names, you have made us in your image,
we are like you, we reflect you, we are woman, we are man.
Refrain:
God, beyond all words, all creation tells your story,
you have shaken with our laughter, you have trembled with our tears.
Refrain:
God, beyond all time, you are laboring within us;
we are moving, we are changing, in your spirit ever new.
Refrain:
God of tender care, you have cradled us in goodness,
you have mothered us in wholeness, you have loved us into birth.
Refrain:
SONG: O GOD, YOU SEARCH ME AND YOU KNOW ME
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Words/Music: Bernadette Farrell
Recording: Hyperion 112105
O God, you search me and you know me
All my thoughts lie open to your gaze
When I walk or lie down you are before me:
Ever the maker and keeper of my days.
You know my resting and my rising
You discern my purpose from afar
And with love everlasting you besiege me:
In ev'ry moment of life or death, you are.
Before a word is on my tongue, Lord,
You have known its meaning through and through.
You are with me beyond my understanding:
God of my present, my past and future, too.
Although your Spirit is upon me,
Still I search for shelter from your light.
There is nowhere on earth I can escape you:
Even the darkness is radiant in your sight.
For you created me and shaped me,
Gave me life within my mother's womb.
For the wonder of who I am, I praise you:
SONG: GOD BE IN MY HEAD
Artist: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Words/Music: Anon/Davies
Recording: Guild GMCD 7109
God be in my head, and in my understanding;
God be in mine eyes, and in my looking;
God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;
God be in my heart, and in my thinking;
God be at mine end, and at my departing.
SONG: BROTHER JAMES’ AIR (THE LORD’S MY SHEPHERD)
Artist: Choir of Clare College, Cambridge
Words/Music: Psalm 23/Bain
Recording: Guild GMCD 7109
The Lord's my Shepherd; I'll not want.
He makes me down to lie
In pastures green; He leadeth me
The quiet waters by.
My soul He doth restore again;
And me to walk doth make
Within the paths of blessedness,
E'en for His own name's sake.
Yea, though I pass through shadowed vale,
Yet will I fear no ill;
For Thou art with me, and Thy rod
And staff me comfort still.
My table Thou hast furnished
In presence of my foes;
My head with oil Thou dost anoint,
And my cup overflows.
Goodness and mercy all my days
Will surely follow me;
And in my heart forevermore
Thy dwelling place shall be.
SONG: DO, LORD, REMEMBER ME
Artist: Moses Hogan Singers, Louis Davis, Moses Hogan (dir)
Words/Music: Trad arr Hogan
Recording: Hal Leonard HL 08743982
Refrain:
Do, Lord, oh do Lord, Lord remember me
Do, Lord, oh do Lord, Lord remember me
Do, Lord, oh do Lord, Lord remember me
Way beyond the sun.
I got a home in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a home in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a home in Beulah land that outshines the sun
Way beyond the sun.
I got a crown in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a crown in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a crown in Beulah land that outshines the sun
Way beyond the sun.
Refrain:
I got a mother in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a father in Beulah land that outshines the sun
I got a saviour in Beulah land that outshines the sun
Way beyond the sun.
Refrain:
SONG: AND CAN IT BE
Artist: Choir of Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, Catherine Palmer (dir), Ronald Jordan (organ)
Words/Music: C Wesley/Campbell
Recording: Marquis MAR 175
And can it be that I should gain
An int'rest in the Saviour's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me? [Repeat last two lines]
Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quick'ning ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth and followed Thee. [Repeat last two lines]
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th'eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own. [Repeat last two lines]
