Sunday's Hymn: Irish Hymn Writers

Last week I posted a hymn translated by Cecil Alexander, so this week I've decided to post one she wrote herself. Since it's not long until Easter, I chose one that's an Easter hymn.

He is Risen

Said the angel, “He is risen!”
Tell it out with joyful voice:
He has burst His three days’ prison;
Let the whole wide earth rejoice:
Death is conquered, we are free,
Christ has won the victory.

Come, ye sad and fearful hearted,
With glad smile and radiant brow!
Death’s long shadows have departed;
All our woes are over now,
Due to passion that He bore—
Sin and pain can vex no more.

Come, with high and holy hymning,
Chant our Lord’s triumphant day;
Not one darksome cloud is dimming
Yonder glorious morning ray,
Breaking over the purple east:
Brighter far our Easter feast.

He is risen, He is risen!
He has opened Heaven’s gate:
We are free from sin’s dark prison,
Risen to a holier state;
And a brighter Easter beam
On our longing eyes shall stream.

The tune by Joachim Neander might be familiar to you. You can hear it here.

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• We Sing the Praise of Him Who Died at Magic Statistics. This is another hymn from Irish hymn writer Thomas Kelly, whose biographical sketch you'll find if you follow the hymn link. It was also, Scott tells us, the hymn used as the processional at Christ Church Cathedral in Whitehorse this morning.
• Bringing in the Sheaves at IMD 2.0.
• The Spirit of Jesus, from the Valley of Vision at Thirsty Theologian
• It Is Well With My Soul at joythruChrist. (We sang this hymn at church this morning, so this list contains two hymns sung at Whitehorse churches today.)
• Pour Out Thy Spirit From On High at John Dekker's Journal
• Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove at The Happy Wonderer
• A Mighty Fortress Is Our God at Seasonings of the Heart
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Irish Hymn Writers

What other hymn could I choose for the Sunday after St. Patrick's Day? These words are translated from the Gaelic poem by the Irish hymn writer Cecil Alexander.

St. Patrick's Breastplate (or St. Patrick's Lorica)

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same
The Three in One and One in Three.

I bind this today to me forever
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation;
His baptism in Jordan river,
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spicèd tomb,
His riding up the heavenly way,
His coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet ‘Well done’ in judgment hour,
The service of the seraphim,
Confessors’ faith, Apostles’ word,
The Patriarchs’ prayers, the prophets’ scrolls,
All good deeds done unto the Lord
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun’s life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind’s tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need.
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Against the demon snares of sin,
The vice that gives temptation force,
The natural lusts that war within,
The hostile men that mar my course;
Or few or many, far or nigh,
In every place and in all hours,
Against their fierce hostility
I bind to me these holy powers.

Against all Satan’s spells and wiles,
Against false words of heresy,
Against the knowledge that defiles,
Against the heart’s idolatry,
Against the wizard’s evil craft,
Against the death wound and the burning,
The choking wave, the poisoned shaft,
Protect me, Christ, till Thy returning.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me.
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One and One in Three.
By Whom all nature hath creation,
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord.

---(Listen.)

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• Channels Only at IMD 2.0.
• The Christian Scheme of Salvation at Thirsty Theologian
  
• The Collect for the Fourth Sunday in Lent at Magic Statistics
• The Love of God at joythruChrist
• May the Mind of Christ My Savior at New Lumps
• St. Patrick's Breastplate at John Dekker's Journal
• What is Prayer? at The Happy Wonderer
• Day by Day at The Upward Call
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Irish Hymn Writers

Beneath the Cross

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I find a place to stand,
And wonder at such mercy
That calls me as I am;
For hands that should discard me
Hold wounds which tell me, "Come."
Beneath the cross of Jesus
My unworthy soul is won.

Beneath the cross of Jesus
His family is my own—
Once strangers chasing selfish dreams,
Now one through grace alone.
How could I now dishonor
The ones that You have loved?
Beneath the cross of Jesus
See the children called by God.

Beneath the cross of Jesus—
The path before the crown—
We follow in His footsteps
Where promised hope is found.
How great the joy before us
To be His perfect bride;
Beneath the cross of Jesus
We will gladly live our lives.

---Keith and Kristyn Getty

From Kristyn Getty:

A friend from Westminster Seminary inspired us in the thought of how the cross is not just something in our past providing a way for our salvation, nor is it only providing a secure hope for the future in Heaven, but actually it should impact everything we do today. When we come to the cross, we don't just stand there by ourselves—we stand with thousands of people from every tribe and tongue under the same Savior and same grace. Considering how unworthy I am coming to the cross, and finding I am forgiven, how can I then turn and look at others and dishonor them or somehow think I am better than they are?

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah at IMD 2.0.
• A Hymn from Isaac Watts and more at Thirsty Theologian
  
• Take Up Thy Cross at Magic Statistics
• Update: Thou Art the Way at Fish and Cans
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Romans 8: 31-39

One last hymn in the series of hymns that paraphrase or allude to Romans 8:31-39.

The Savior Died, But Rose Again
The Savior died, but rose again
Triumphant from the grave;
And pleads our cause at God’s right hand,
Omnipotent to save.

Who, then, can e’er divide us more
From Jesus and His love;
Or break the sacred chain that binds
The earth to Heav’n above?

Let troubles rise, and terrors frown,
And days of darkness fall;
Through Him all dangers we’ll defy,
And more than conquer all.

Nor death, nor life, nor earth nor hell,
Nor time’s destroying sway,
Can e’er efface us from His heart,
Or make His love decay.

---Scottish Paraphrases

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• In Christ Alone at Seasonings of the Heart
• I Know Thee Who Thou Art at IMD 2.0.
• Holy Three in One, and more, at Thirsty Theologian
  
• Jesus, Lover of My Soul at Magic Statistics
• Holy, Holy, Holy, twice, at John Dekker's Journal
• There is a Fountain at Jam and Books
• How Deep the Father's Love for Us at Hiraeth
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Romans 8: 31-39

Yet another hymn centered around Romans 8: 31-39, this one from Isaac Watts. (You'll find two other hymns centered on this text here and here.)

Who Shall the Lord's Elect Condemn
Who shall the Lord’s elect condemn?
’Tis God that justifies their souls;
And mercy, like a mighty stream,
O’er all their sins divinely rolls.

Who shall adjudge the saints to hell?
’Tis Christ that suffered in their stead;
And, the salvation to fulfill,
Behold Him rising from the dead!

He lives! He lives and sits above,
For ever interceding there:
Who shall divide us from His love?
Or what should tempt us to despair?

Shall persecution, or distress,
Famine, or sword, or nakedness?
He that hath loved us bears us through,
And makes us more than conquerors too.

Faith hath an overcoming power;
It triumphs in the dying hour:
Christ is our life, our joy, our hope,
Nor can we sink with such a prop.

Not all that men on earth can do,
Nor powers on high, nor powers below,
Shall cause His mercy to remove,
Or wean our hearts from Christ our love.

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• And Can It Be That I Should Gain at Seasonings of the Heart
• Jehovah Reigns in Majesty at IMD 2.0.
• Alas And Did My Saviour Bleed, and more, at Thirsty Theologian
  
• The Collect for Quinquagesima at Magic Statistics
• Jesus Lover of My Soul, twice, at John Dekker's Journal

Updated to add:

• Rock of Ages at A Complete Thought
• Out of the Deep I Call at Fish and Cans
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Romans 8: 31-39

This is the second in a series of hymns that are paraphrases of this passage or make allusion to it. This one is by Susan H. Peterson, and is sung to O Store Gud, which you would recognize as the tune to How Great Thou Art.

What Shall We Say

What shall we say? If God indeed is for us,
Who then can ever come against our souls?
God did not spare His only Son, our Savior,
But gave Him up that we might be made whole.
How will He not, along with Christ our Lord,
Give us all things by His free grace?
God will indeed, along with Christ our Lord,
Give us all things by His free grace.

Now who will bring a charge against God’s chosen?
God is the One Who justifies each man.
Who can condemn? Christ Jesus died for sinners,
Was raised to life, and sits at God’s right hand.
From there He always intercedes for us;
None can condemn—we’re justified.
He intercedes and brings our case to God;
None can condemn—we’re justified.

Who then shall cleave us from the love of Jesus?
We who face death like sheep within their pen.
Shall trouble, hardship, persecution, hunger?
Shall nakedness or danger or armed men?
No, in all things we’re more than conquerors
Through Him Who loved us to the death.
In all these things, we’re more than conquerors
Through Him Who loved us to the death.

I am convinced there’s naught in all creation
Can come between us and God’s love so vast.
Not death nor life, angels nor demon powers,
Things present now, nor what is yet to pass.
Nothing can separate us from God’s love
That comes to us through Christ our Lord!
Nothing can separate us from God’s love
That comes to us through Christ our Lord!

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• When I Survey the Wondrous Cross at Seasonings of the Heart
• The Man is Ever Bless'd at IMD 2.0.
• Spiritus Sanctus from The Valley of Vision, and more, at Thirsty Theologian
  
• The Collect for Sexagesima at Magic Statistics
• A Sov'reign Protector I Have, from Augustus Toplady, at John Dekker's Journal
  
• Grace Unmeasured at Jam and Books

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: Romans 8: 31-39

For the next few Sundays, the featured hymns will either be a paraphrase of, or make an allusion to, this passage.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Let Christian Hope and Faith Dispel

Let Christian faith and hope dispel
The fears of guilt and woe;
The Lord Almighty is our Friend,
And who can prove a foe?

The Savior died, but rose again
Triumphant from the grave:
And pleads our cause at God’s right hand,
Omnipotent to save.

Who then can e’er divide us more
From Jesus and His love,
Or break the sacred chain that binds
The earth to Heav’n above?

Let troubles rise, and terrors frown,
And days of darkness fall;
Through Him all dangers we’ll defy,
And more than conquer all.

Nor death, nor life, nor earth, nor hell,
Nor time’s destroying sway
Can e’er efface us from His heart
Or make His love decay.

Each future period that will bless
As it has blessed the past;
He loved us from the first of time,
He loves us to the last.

---Anonymous, from Scott­ish Par­a­phras­es, 1781 (Listen.)

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• More Love to Thee, O Christ at Seasonings of the Heart
• Revive Us Again at IMD 2.0.
• Toplady's The Method of Salvation and more at Thirsty Theologian
  
• The Collect for Septuagesima at Magic Statistics
• Hymn for Septuagesima at John Dekker's Journal
  
• You'll find a link to a hymn that's a collaborative effort between John Newton and Bob Kauflin at New Lumps.
• All Creatures Of Our God And King at Hiraeth
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.

Sunday's Hymn: God's Providential Care and Guidance

Isaac Watts' paraphrase of Psalm 90 reminds us that even when times are difficult, God is preserving his people through his providential workings.

Our God, Our Help In Ages Past

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men:”
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in following years.

Time, like an ever rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Like flowery fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flowers beneath the mower’s hand
Lie withering ere ‘tis night.

Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

(Listen.)

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Other hymns, worship songs, etc. posted today:

• Purer in Heart, O God at Seasonings of the Heart
• I Will Go In The Strength of the Lord at IMD 2.0.
• Hymn 9, C. M. and more at Thirsty Theologian
  
• The Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany at Magic Statistics
• Jesus, I My Cross Have Taken at John Dekker's Journal
• Magnify His Name at Chez Kneel
• Kim posts a song she sang with her daughter in church yesterday at The Upward Call
  

Have you posted a hymn for Sunday and I missed it? Let me know by leaving a link in the comments or by emailing me at the address in the sidebar, and I'll add your post to the list.