It’s the middle of winter, and we’re celebrating the cold and dark in this week’s programme with some carols of the snowy variety: it’s the perfect time of year to sing In the Bleak Midwinter!
Photo: 123RF
SONG: I’M GONNA SING WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS SING
Artist: New Zealand Youth Choir (2009)
Words/Music: Trad
Recording: TVNZ 398174
I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing,
I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing,
I'm gonna sing when the Spirit says sing,
and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
I'm gonna pray when the Spirit says sing,
I'm gonna pray when the Spirit says sing,
I'm gonna pray when the Spirit says sing,
and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
I'm gonna shout when the Spirit says sing,
I'm gonna shout when the Spirit says sing,
I'm gonna shout when the Spirit says sing,
and obey the Spirit of the Lord.
SONG: IN CHRIST ALONE
Artist: Lincoln Minster School Chamber Choir, Alex Prentice (dir), Charles Harrison (organ)
Words/Music: Stuart Townend, Keith Getty
Recording: Priory 2013
In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all –
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev'ry sin on Him was laid –
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death –
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home –
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.
SONG: CHRIST BE OUR LIGHT
Artist: Choirs of the Diocese of Leeds
Words/Music: Bernadette Farrell
Recording: Herald HAVPCD 397
Longing for light, we wait in darkness
Longing for truth, we turn to You.
Make us Your own, Your holy people
Light for the world to see.
Refrain:
Christ, be our light!
Shine in our hearts.
Shine through the darkness.
Christ, be our light!
Shine in Your church gathered today.
Longing for peace, our world is troubled
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your word alone has pow'r to save us.
Make us your living voice.
Refrain:
Longing for food, many are hungry
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us Your bread, broken for others
Shared until all are fed.
Refrain:
Many the gift, many the people
Many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another
Making Your kingdom come.
Refrain:
SONG: IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER
Artist: The Sixteen, Harry Christophers (dir)
Words/Music: Christina Rossetti/Harold Darke
Recording: Coro 16085
In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow,
In the bleak midwinter, long ago.
Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain;
Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign.
In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ.
Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day,
Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay;
Enough for Him, whom angels fall before,
The ox and ass and camel which adore.
What can I give Him, poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb;
If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part;
Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart.
SONG: ‘TWAS IN THE MOON OF WINTER TIME (HURON CAROL)
Artist: Cambridge Singers
Words/Music: Jean de Brébeuf/Trad
Recording: Collegium COLCD 111
'Twas in the moon of winter-time
When all the birds had fled,
That mighty Gitchi Manitou
Sent angel choirs instead;
Before their light the stars grew dim,
And wandering hunters heard the hymn:
"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria."
Within a lodge of broken bark
The tender Babe was found,
A ragged robe of rabbit skin
Enwrapp'd His beauty round;
But as the hunter braves drew nigh,
The angel song rang loud and high...
"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria."
The earliest moon of wintertime
Is not so round and fair
As was the ring of glory
On the helpless infant there.
The chiefs from far before him knelt
With gifts of fox and beaver pelt.
Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria.
O children of the forest free,
O sons of Manitou,
The Holy Child of earth and heaven
Is born today for you.
Come kneel before the radiant Boy
Who brings you beauty, peace and joy.
"Jesus your King is born, Jesus is born,
In excelsis gloria."
SONG: HOW SWEET TH NAME OF JESUS SOUNDS
Artist: Choir of Ely Cathedral
Words/Music: John Newton/Alexander Reinagle
Recording: Priory PRCD 703
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.
Dear name, the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!
Jesus! my shepherd, brother, friend,
My prophet, priest and king,
My lord, my life, my way, my end,
Accept the praise I bring.
Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see thee as thou art,
I’ll praise thee as I ought.
Till then I would thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of thy name
Refresh my soul in death!
SONG: THERE’S A WIDENESS IN GOD’S MERCY
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral
Words/Music: Frederick Faber/Maurice Bevan
Label: Hyperion 112105
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There’s a kindness in his justice,
Which is more than liberty.
There is no place where earth’s sorrows
Are more felt than up in heaven;
There is no place where earth’s failings
Have such kindly judgment given.
For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man’s mind;
And the heart of the eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
But we make his love too narrow
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify his strictness
With a zeal he will not own.
There is plentiful redemption
In the blood that has been shed;
There is joy for all the members
In the sorrows of the head.
There is grace enough for thousands
Of new worlds as great as this;
There is room for fresh creations
In that upper home of bliss.
If our love were but more simple,
We should take him at his word;
And our lives would be all goodness
In the joy of Christ our Lord.
SONG: GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT REDEEMER
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Words/Music: William Williams/John Hughes
Recording: Hyperion 112105
Guide me, O my great Redeemer,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more,
feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain,
where the healing waters flow.
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
be thou still my strength and shield,
be thou still my strength and shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside.
Death of death, and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to thee,
I will ever give to thee.
