This week’s programme includes some communion hymns, there’s a favourite hymn by Quaker John Greenleaf Whittier – Dear Lord and father of mankind – and we continue our series of Psalm 23 settings with one from right here in New Zealand.
St Anne's Catholic Church, Newtown, Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Robyn Jaquiery
SONG: AIN’-A THAT GOOD NEWS
Artist: The Graduate Choir, John Rosser (dir)
Words/Music: Trad arr Dawson
Recording: Atoll ACD 105
I've a crown up in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a crown up in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I'm a-goin' to lay down this world,
Goin' to shoulder up my cross,
Goin' to take it home to Jesus,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a harp up in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a harp up in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I'm a-goin' to lay down this world,
Goin' to shoulder up my cross,
Goin' to take it home to Jesus,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a robe up in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a robe up in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I'm a-goin' to lay down this world,
Goin' to shoulder up my cross,
Goin' to take it home to Jesus,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a Saviour in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I've a Saviour in the Kingdom,
Ain'-a that good news!
I'm a-goin' to lay down this world,
Goin' to shoulder up my cross,
Goin' to take it home to Jesus,
Ain'-a that good news!
SONG: REJOICE! THE LORD IS KING
Artist: Choir of Westminster Abbey, James O’Donnell (dir), Robert Quinney (organ)
Words/Music: Charles Wesley/George Frederick Handel
Recording: Hyperion 712801
Rejoice, the lord is king!
Your lord and king adore;
Mortals give thanks and sing,
And triumph evermore;
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Jesus, the Saviour, reigns,
The God of truth and love;
When he had purged our stains,
He took his seat above;
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
His kingdom cannot fail,
He rules o’er earth and heav’n;
The keys of death and hell
Are to our Jesus giv’n;
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
He sits at God’s right hand
Till all his foes submit,
And bow to his command,
And fall beneath his feet:
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice;
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
SONG: DEAR LORD AND FATHER OF MANKIND
Artist: Choir of St Paul’s Cathedral, London
Words/Music: John Greenleaf Whittier/Hubert Parry
Recording: Helios CDH 88036
Dear Lord and father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow thee,
Rise up and follow thee.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace,
The beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm,
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind and fire,
O still small voice of calm,
O still small voice of calm!
SONG: PSALM 23 (THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD)
Artist: Woodford House Chapel Choir, Gary Bowler (dir)
Words/Music: Psalm 23/Dorothy Buchanan
Recording: KSP 93001
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall 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 righteousness e’en for His own name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through death’s dark vale, yet will I fear no ill: for thou art with me and thy rod and staff me comfort still.
Goodness and mercy all my life shall surely follow me: and in God’s house for evermore my dwelling place shall be.
SONG: ONE BREAD, ONE BODY
Artist: Saint Louis Jesuits
Words/Music: Father John Foley
Recording: OCP Publications 1996
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.
Gentile or Jew, servant or free, woman or man no more.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.
Many the gifts, many the works, one in the Lord of all.
One bread, one body, one Lord of all,
one cup of blessing which we bless.
And we, though many, throughout the earth,
we are one body in this one Lord.
SONG: AN UPPER ROOM
Artist: Timothy Newton (baritone), Choir of Trinity College, University of Melbourne, Michael Leighton Jones (dir)
Words/Music: Fred Pratt Geen/John Stainer
Recording: Priory PRCD 722
An upper room did our Lord prepare
for those he loved until the end:
and his disciples still gather there
to celebrate their risen friend.
A lasting gift Jesus gave his own:
to share his bread, his loving cup.
Whatever burdens may bow us down,
he by his cross shall lift us up.
And after supper he washed their feet,
for service, too, is sacrament.
In Christ our joy shall be made complete:
sent out to serve, as he was sent.
No end there is! We depart in peace.
He loves beyond our uttermost:
in every room in our Father's house
Christ will be there, as Lord and Host.
SONG: KING OF GLORY, KING OF PEACE
Artist: Choir of All Saints Episcopal Church, Beverly Hills
Words/Music: George Herbert/David Walker
Recording: Gothic 349074
King of glory, King of peace,
I will love thee;
and that love may never cease,
I will move thee.
Thou hast granted my request,
thou hast heard me;
thou didst note my working breast,
thou hast spared me.
Wherefore with my utmost art
I will sing thee,
and the cream of all my heart
I will bring thee.
Though my sins against me cried,
thou didst clear me;
and alone, when they replied,
thou didst hear me.
Seven whole days, not one in seven,
I will praise thee;
in my heart, though not in heaven,
I can raise thee.
Small it is, in this poor sort
to enroll thee;
e'en eternity's too short
to extol thee.
SONG: I WILL SING THE WONDROUS STORY
Artist: St Michael’s Singers, Coventry, Paul Leddington Wright (dir)
Words/Music: Francis Rowley/Rowland Prichard
Recording: Integrity 2011
I will sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me.
How He left the realms of glory
For the cross of Calvary.
Yes, I’ll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me
Sing it with His saints in glory
Gathered by the crystal sea.
Days of darkness still may meet me
Sorrow’s paths I oft may tread.
But His presence still is with me
By His guiding hand I’m led.
Yes, I’ll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me
Sing it with His saints in glory
Gathered by the crystal sea.
He will keep me till the river
Rolls its water at my feet;
Then He'll bear me safely over,
Where the loved ones I shall meet.
Yes, I'll sing the wondrous story
Of the Christ who died for me,
Sing it with the saints in glory,
Gathered by the crystal sea.
