Thursday, November 27, 2014

Now Thank We All Our God


Now thank we all our God
With heart and hands and voices
Who wondrous things hath done
In whom His world rejoices
Who from our mothers' arms
Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love
And still is ours today

O may this bounteous God
Through all our life be near us
With ever joyful hearts
And blessed peace to cheer us
And keep us in His grace
And guide us when perplexed
And free us from all ills
In this world and the next

All praise and thanks to God
The Father now be given
The Son and Him who reigns
With them in highest heaven
The one eternal God
Whom earth and heaven adore
For thus it was, is now
And shall be evermore


When I think of Thanksgiving, I think of this hymn.
Click HERE to for more info.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

Come Ye Thankful People Come


Come ye thankful people, come
Raise the song of harvest home
All is safely gathered in
Ere the winter storms begin
God our make doth provide
For our wants to be supplied
Come to God's own temple, come
Raise the song of harvest home

All the world is God's own field
Fruit unto His praise to yield
Wheat and tares together sown
Unto joy or sorrow grown
First the blade and then the ear
Then the full corn shall appear
Grant, O harvest Lord, that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be

For the Lord our God shall come
And shall take His harvest home
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast
But the fruitful ears to store 
In His garner evermore

Even so, Lord, quickly come
To Thy final harvest home
Gather Thou Thy people in
Free from sorrow, free from sin
There forever purified
In Thy presence to abide
Come with all Thy angels, come
Raise the glorious harvest home


Click HERE to read more about this Thanksgiving hymn.

Monday, November 17, 2014

O God, Beneath Thy Guiding Hand


O God, beneath Thy guiding hand
Our exiled fathers crossed the sea
And when they trod the wintry strand
With prayer and psalm they worshiped Thee

Thou heard'st, well-pleased, the song, the prayer
Thy blessing came and still its pow'r
Shall onward through all ages bear
The memory of that holy hour

Laws, freedom, truth, and faith in God
Came with those exiles o'er the waves
And where their pilgrim feet have trod
The God they trusted guards their graves

And here Thy name, O God of love
Their children's children shall adore
Till these eternal hills remove
And spring adorns the earth no more


This hymn contains a bit of a history lesson.
Click HERE to read more about it.

Friday, November 14, 2014

O Lord of Every Shining Constellation


O Lord of every shining constellation
That wheels in splendor through the midnight sky
Grant us your Spirit's true illumination
To read the secrets of your work on high

You, Lord, have made the atom's hidden forces
Your laws its mighty energies fulfill
Teach us to whom you give such rich resources
In all we use to serve your holy will

You, Lord, have stamped your image on your creatures
And, though they mar that image, love them still
Lift up our eyes to Christ that in His features
We may discern the beauty of Your will

Great Lord of nature, shaping and renewing
You made us more than nature's sons to be
You help us tread with grace our souls enduring
The road to life and immortality


Stumbled onto this hymn and liked it.
Click HERE for more info.


Saturday, November 8, 2014

All Beautiful the March of Days


All beautiful the march of days
As seasons come and go
The hand that shaped the rose hath wrought
The crystal of the snow
Hath sent the hoary frost of heaven
The flowing waters sealed
And laid a silent loveliness 
On hill and wood and field

O'er white expanses sparkling pure
the radiant morns unfold
The solemn splendors of the night
Burn brighter through the cold
Life mounts in every throbbing vein
Love deepens round the hearth
And clearer sounds the angel hymn,
"Goodwill to men on earth"

O thou from whose unfathomed law
The year in beauty flows
Thyself the vision passing by
In crystal and in rose
Day unto day doth utter speech
And night to night proclaim
In ever-changing words of light
The wonder of thy name


I happened onto this hymn and like the message it gives of the natural world.
Click HERE for more info.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

God, Whose Farm is All Creation


God, whose farm is all creation
Take the gratitude we give
Take the finest of our harvest
Crops we grow that men my live

Take our plowing, seeding, reaping
Hopes and fears of sun and rain
All our thinking, planning, waiting
Ripened in this fruit and grain

All our labor, all our watching
All our calendar of care
In these crops of your creation
Take, O God, they are our prayer


Just found this hymn which looks to be for farmers.
Click HERE for more info.

Monday, November 3, 2014

Count Your Blessings


When upon life's billows you are tempest-tossed
When you are discouraged thinking all is lost
Count your many blessings, name them one by one
And it will surprise you what the Lord has done

Are you ever burdened with a load of care
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly
And you will be singing as the days go by

When you look at others with their lands and gold
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold
Count your many blessings money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high

So, amid the conflict whether great or small
Do not be discouraged, God is over all
Count your many blessings, angels will attend
Help and comfort give you to your journey's end


Now that November has arrived, I'll try to post hymns that have themes of the Thanksgiving season.
Click HERE to find more info about this upbeat hymn.

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Blest Be the Tie That Binds


 Blest be tie that binds
Our hearts in Christian love
The fellowship of kindred minds 
Is like to that above

Before our Father's throne
We pour our ardent prayers
Our fears, our hopes, our aims, are one
Our comforts and our cares

We share our mutual woes
Our mutual burdens bear
And often for each other flows
The sympathizing tear

When we asunder part
It gives us inward pain
But we shall still be joined in heart
And hope to meet again


Today is All Saints Day and this hymn is meant to commemorate that.  
Click HERE for more info.

Friday, October 31, 2014

A Mighty Fortress is Our God


A mighty fortress is our God
A trusty shield and weapon
He helps us free from every need
That hath us now o'ertaken
The old evil foe
Now means deadly woe
Deep guile and great might
Are his dread arms in fight
On earth is not his equal

With might of ours can naught be done
Soon were our loss effected
But for us fights the valiant One
Whom God himself elected
Ask ye, Who is this
Jesus Christ it is
Of sabaoth Lord
And there's none other God
He holds the field forever

Though devils all the world should fill
All eager to devour us
We tremble not
We fear no ill
They shall not overpow'r us
This world's prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will
He can harm us none
He's judged, the deed is done
One little word can fell him

The Word they still shall let remain
Nor any thanks have for it
He's by our side upon the plain
With his good gifts and Spirit
And take they our life
Goods, fame, child, and wife
Though these all be gone
Our vict'ry has been won
The Kingdom ours remaineth


This is the version we sing in the Lutheran church I attend.  
Click HERE to read more.


Thursday, October 30, 2014

A Mighty Fortress is Our God


A mighty fortress is our God
A bulwark never failing
Our helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe
His craft and power are great
And armed with cruel hate
On earth is not his equal

Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing
Were not the right Man on our side
The Man of God's own choosing
Dost ask who that may be
Christ Jesus it is He
Lord Sabaoth His name
From age to age the same
And He must win the battle

And though this world with devils filled
Should threaten to undo us
We will not fear for God hath willed 
His truth to triumph through us
The prince of darkness grim
We tremble not for him
His rage we can endure
For lo his doom is sure
One little word shall fell him

That word above all earthly powers
No thanks to them abideth
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God's truth abideth still
His Kingdom is forever


Reformation Day is almost here so its fitting to post Martin Luther's famous hymn.  This is the version we sang in the non-Lutheran church I grew up in.  Click HERE for more info.