Thursday, March 18, 2010

A Wonderful Morning Hymn

I have switched my source for Wesley hymns for the Daily Office. I am currently using a little booklet (almost pamphlet) entitled, Hymn Poems of Charles Wesley For Reading and Singing, issued by Tidings, Headquarters for Evangelistic Materials, Nashville 5, Tenn. (I'm guessing they no longer exist, but I could very well be wrong.) This little booklet can fit in one's shirt pocket while only "peeking out" about 1 1/2 inches.

Some of the hymns are abbreviated in terms of the number of verses, and a few appear to have been edited ever-so-slightly, or have simply appeared with slight wording variations. For an obvious example, And Can It Be? retains only three verses, and the last line of the first verse says, "That thou, my Lord (rather than God) shouldst die for me? - Despite these infrequent irritations, I have otherwise found this to be a wonderful little booklet.

This morning I sang an absolutely wonderful morning hymn. It is as follows:

Forth in Thy Name

Forth in Thy name, O Lord, I go,
My daily labor to pursue,
Thee, only Thee, resolved to know
In all I think, or speak, or do.

The task Thy wisdom hath assigned,
O let me cheerfully fulfill;
In all my works Thy presence find,
And prove Thy good and perfect will.

Give me to bear Thy easy yoke,
And every moment watch and pray;
And still to things eternal look,
And hasten to Thy glorious day;

For Thee delightfully employ
Whate'er Thy bounteous grace hath giv'n;
And run my course with even joy,
And closely walk with Thee to heaven.

No comments: