I forgot to put in any of Sunday's hymns!

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One of my favorites from childhood:

Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah,
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,
Whence the healing stream doth 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.

Lord, I trust Thy mighty power,
Wondrous are Thy works of old;
Thou deliver’st Thine from thralldom,
Who for naught themselves had sold:
Thou didst conquer, Thou didst conquer,
Sin, and Satan and the grave,
Sin, and Satan and the grave.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside;
Death of deaths, 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.

Sung in our parish to Cwm Rhondda, although there are other tunes that will work for it. Check out cyberhymnal, if you need the tune!

You've just got to love any hymn that has the word thralldom in it, huh?

2 Comments

I prefer to sing it in the original...


Arglwydd, arwain trwy’r anialwch,
Fi, bererin gwael ei wedd,
Nad oes ynof nerth na bywyd
Fel yn gorwedd yn y bedd:
Hollalluog
Ydyw’r Un a’m cwyd i’r lan.

Colofn dân rho’r nos i’m harwain,
A rho golofn niwl y dydd;
Dal fi pan bwy’n teithio’r mannau
Geirwon yn fy ffordd y sydd:
Rho imi fanna,
Fel na bwyf yn llwfwrhau.

Agor y ffynhonnau melys
Sydd yn tarddu o'r graig y maes,
'R hyd yr anial mawr canlyned
Afon iechydwriaeth gras,
Rho imi hynny,
Dim imi ond dy fwynhau.

Pan fwy’n myned trwy’r Iorddonen—
Angau creulon yn ei rym,
Ti est trwyddi gynt dy Hunan,
P’am yr ofnaf bellach ddim?
Buddugoliaeth,
Gwna imi weiddi yn y llif!

Ymddiriedaf yn dy allu,
Mawr yw’r gwaith a wnest erioed:
Ti gest angau, ti gest uffern,
Ti gest Satan dan dy droed:
Pen Calfaria,
Nac aed hwnnw byth o’m cof.

Gaelic notwithstanding (that's Gaelic, right?), I think that words like "thralldom" go hand-in-hand with the inimitable chords and melodies that make these hymns great. I just love "speaking" as if I have an over-developed (and old) poetic way with words. (It's, like, way better than the way I actually speak, dude.) To think of the folks in olden times singing these words -- and maybe speaking in similar verse, after the service -- makes me smile. :)

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This page contains a single entry by MamaT published on September 27, 2005 4:15 PM.

Ah, bummer.... was the previous entry in this blog.

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