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!
Open Thou the crystal fountain whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar lead me all my journey through;
Strong deliverer, strong deliverer, 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!
(William Williams, 1717-91, translated by P Williams, 1721-96)
I have never tried hard to memorise verses or extracts from the bible, although I know many people recommend this as a valuable discipline: given the amount of useful information that I can forget in a remarkably short space of time, I have never been drawn to it as a good use of my time and energy! When it comes to the songs of our faith however, it is a quite different matter. Something happens when I put words and music together, and sing them regularly – they stick! I have friends in other congregations who grew up singing only from the Psalms, in metrical version, and who can still quote great screeds of those marvellous songs and prayers of God’s people, because they spent years singing them!
Last Sunday, our service concluded with the singing of this great 18th century hymn, translated from the Welsh and sung to the magnificent tune of Cwm Rhondda. I learnt this as I grew up in my parent’s church, where we were strongly encouraged to sing it with vigour, conviction and in the four-part harmony which so greatly enriches the last lines. I have such strong and vivid memories of those days, standing with many across the generations, our voices blending, but clearly giving out the different parts, and sometimes daringly repeating the final ‘Songs of praises’ twice, in an attempt to raise the roof! Those memories came back as I rose to sing last Sunday morning, and I was looking forward to it very much..
And then, I began to pay attention to the words again, properly, and to make sure that I was singing the sense of them, making them my own for my life today and the years that the Lord will yet spare me here. And my joy and gladness grew, until I felt that I would burst with it! One of the members of our church choir, who stand up at the front looking at the congregation commented afterwards to me that he thought I had enjoyed the singing – what an understatement that was. The great hymn-writer, Charles Wesley was spot on when he yearned for ‘a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer’s praise…’ I know how he felt!
It is always possible to sing on ‘autopilot’ when we know the words and tune well enough – and while that is pleasant, it does miss the point. Our sung worship is an act of responsive offering up, of renewed commitment and affirmation of our faith in God, a reminding ourselves of who it is on whom all our hope is founded. If we glide through our songs without paying attention, we not only rob our fellow worshippers of our own heartfelt contribution to praise, but we miss out on an opportunity to be strengthened; we don’t pay enough attention to let the Spirit apply the words afresh to our lives. I wonder if this is what Paul had in mind when he wrote to the saints in Ephesus and its surrounding communities:-
Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(Eph 5.18-20)
That great hymn gave me the opportunity to respond in renewed dedication to God, as I thought of what I had heard preached – of Christ as the One who leads us out of slavery, through the waters of death, and on towards our promised home, the greater-than Moses. The words reminded me of all that I know of my deliverance, won by Christ, and gifted to me as I believe in him, a freedom which cannot be taken from me, and the assurance of divine presence, protection and provision for all my earthly pilgrimage. And it enabled me to celebrate in the strongest language just how great is my Lord’s victory – don’t you just love that phrase, ‘death of death’?!!
As I responded personally, I was also recalling my parents and their generation who raised me in the faith; those who stood around us as we sang those words all those years ago. I was revelling in the sense of community with those who have gone before, and with whom we will sing those endless Songs of Praises – I have so much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to…
Oh great Jehovah, God of my fathers and mothers in the faith, unchanged by the years and unfailing in your covenant-keeping love for your people, how I thank and praise you for this gift of song, by which we celebrate you, and also grow in our understanding, are strengthened in faith, and encourage one another. Let us not neglect this gift, but rather use it wisely and well, attentive to the words which are on our lips, fully invested in making them our own, as prayer, petition, confession, lament and praise.
How we look forward to the day when, with all your saints, we will sing your praises without wearying, and our hearts won’t burst with the beauty because you will have made us new, with bodies that can both express and contain the joy which will be ours! In Jesus’ precious, and glorious name, we thank you, Amen.
[Author’s note: I am not sufficiently well-versed in how this particular website facilitates text formatting to deal with the extra spaces between the lines of the hymn – believe me, I tried. So apologies to all those who find it as irritating as I do!]
