This week, I thought I would just upload some of the words of old poems that have been going through my head recently. You may recognise them as having a tune and being sung as a hymn, but see them today as poems, expressions of a writer's heart giving glory to God.
Let the words soak into you, as they have soaked into the fabric of the church for the past couple of hundred years
Read them to yourself.
Read them to your spouse.
Read them to your friends.
Read them with power.
Read them with drama.
Read them awe.
Just read them aloud.
-----
Crown him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King
Through all eternity.
Crown Him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o'er the grave
And rose victorious in the strife
For those He came to save:
His glories now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring
And lives that death may die.
Crown Him the Lord of love;
Behold His hands and side,
Those wounds yet visible above
In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky
Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends His burning eye
At mysteries so bright.
Crown Him the Lord of peace,
Whose power a sceptre sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease,
And all be prayer and praise:
His reign shall know no end,
And round His piercèd feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend
Their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown Him the Lord of years,
The Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres,
Ineffably sublime!
All hail, Redeemer, hail!
For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail
Throughout eternity.
-----
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
Nought be all else to me, save that Thou art
Thou my best thought in the day and the night
Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word
I ever with thee, and though with me, Lord
Thou my great Father and I thy true son
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.
Be thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight
Be thou my armour and be thou my might
Be my soul shelter, and thou my high tower
Raise thou me heavenwards, O power of my power.
Riches I need not, nor man’s empty praise
Thou my inheritance all of my days
Thou and thou only, thou first in my heart
High King of heaven, my treasure thou art
O high King of heaven, when battle is done
Grant heaven’s joy to me, bright heaven’s sun
Christ of my own heart, whatever befall
Still be my vision, thou ruler of all.
-----
Great is thy Faithfulness, O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided,
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!
-----
Abide with me, fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens, Lord, with me abide;
When other helpers fail and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.
Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.
I need Thy presence every passing hour;
What but Thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?
Who like Thyself my guide and stay can be?
Through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me.
I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness.
Where is death’s sting? Where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
Reveal Thyself before my closing eyes;
Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies,
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me
(From Rob)
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