Category Archives: Hymns and Spiritual Songs

That one lost sheep

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Safe were the ninety and nine in the fold.
Safe though the night was stormy and cold;
But said the Shepherd when counting them o’er,
One sheep is missing, there should be one more.

Although His feet were weary and worn,
And though His hands were rent and torn,
Although the road was rocky and steep,
Still the good Shepherd searched long for his sheep.

There in the night He heard a faint cry
From the lost sheep just ready to die.
Then in His arms to shield from the cold
He brought the lost sheep back safe to the fold.

The Shepherd went out to search for the sheep,
And all through the night on the rocky steep
He searched till he found him,
With love bands He bound him,
And I was that one lost sheep.

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The Lost Sheep

by Alfred Soord

Courtesy of AllPosters.com

NOTE: I do not have the sheet music for this song. To those who have inquired about the sheet music for this hymn, I e-mailed Gordon Greer (http://www.greermusicministries.com/), on whose CD I heard the song, to see if he knew where the music could be found, and he said it was in Volume 2 of Singspiration Favorites. I hope you can find it!.

Lord, You’re All I Need

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This song has been on my heart today.

Lord, You’re All I Need

Words and music by James Tilson

Oft times I’ve tried to live my life
According to my will.
When darkness comes it’s difficult
To rest and just be still.
But Lord, You are my shepherd
That guides me in the way,
And I will learn this glorious truth
If I Your Word obey.

You’re all I need.
You’re the Lord of everything.
All I need —
This is why I humbly sing.
Your strength is sustaining
And your grace has made me free.
You’re my heart’s lone desire,
You’re all I need.

By wanting more I’ve wanted less
Than all You’ve given me.
You gave your all by laying down
Your life at Calvary.
So I surrender all, Lord
My best to You I give.
And thank you now for giving me
A reason to live.

You’re all I need.
You’re the Lord of everything.
All I need —
This is why I humbly sing.
Your strength is sustaining
And your grace has made me free.
You’re my heart’s lone desire,
You’re all I need.

More than enough,
You’re all I need.

You can hear the first 90 seconds of this song here — scroll down to the title and click.

Almighty, Unchangeable God

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Who spread out the clouds before Him?
Who fashioned the earth with His hands?
Who created the starry host,
And formed the earth at His command?
Who scatters lightning before Him,
Commands the rain and snow to fall?
Who makes the nations tremble?
Who is Lord over all?

He is Almighty, Unchangeable God,
King of kings,
Lord of lords,
robed in majesty.
He rules and reigns,
For all eternity,
Almighty, Unchangeable God.

He is like the light at sunrise,
Like the brightness after the rain.
Robed in splendor,
He’s seated on His heavenly throne above.
His glory fills the heavens;
He is exalted over all.
Yet this God of Heaven loves me
With an everlasting love.

He is Almighty, Unchangeable God,
King of kings,
Lord of lords,
robed in majesty.
He rules and reigns,
For all eternity,
Almighty, Unchangeable God.

By Cindy Berry
©1996 by GlorySound (a div. of Shawnee Press)

You can hear the first 90 seconds of this beautiful song here.

Sometimes a Light Surprises

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Sometimes a light surprises the Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord, Who rises with healing in His wings:
When comforts are declining, He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining, to cheer it after rain.

In holy contemplation we sweetly then pursue
The theme of God’s salvation, and find it ever new.
Set free from present sorrow, we cheerfully can say,
Let the unknown tomorrow bring with it what it may.

It can bring with it nothing but He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing will clothe His people, too;
Beneath the spreading heavens, no creature but is fed;
And He Who feeds the ravens will give His children bread.

Though vine nor fig tree neither their wonted fruit should bear,
Though all the field should wither, nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet God the same abiding, His praise shall tune my voice,
For while in Him confiding, I cannot but rejoice.

This hymn on the “A Quiet Heart” CD from Soundforth was new to me, but it was written in 1779 by William Cowper. The Cyberhymnal site lists a few different MIDI portrayals of different tunes for it, but I love the lilting one from the CD — you can hear a 90 second snippet here (you have to scroll down the page a bit to see the song listings on the CD, then click on the link beside the title). One of our teen-age girls at church sang it last week as a solo and it had almost an Irish-sounding lilt to it.

I love all the Scriptural references and the joy and hope it portrays.

Thursday Thirteen #16: Favorite lesser-known Christmas carols

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Click on the title to see the lyrics.

1. Of the Father’s Love Begotten

2. Infant Holy, Infant Lowly

3. Gentle Mary Laid Her Child

4. Wexford Carol

5. Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella

6. Who Is He in Yonder Stall?

7. Lo! How a Rose E’re Blooming

8. In the Bleak Mid-Winter

9. Jesus, Jesus, Rest Your Head

10. CandleLight Carol (John Rutter)

11, Once in Royal David’s City

12. All My Heart This Night Rejoices

13. Still, Still, Still

14. Sweet Little Jesus Boy
You got a bonus one there. 🙂 And here’s another, but I can’t find the lyrics: it is on a CD called A Little Christmas Music by the King’s Singers, called “The Gift,” based on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts.” You can hear a snippet of it at that link. It’s one of my most favorites, but that CD is the only place I have ever heard it.

You can visit other Thursday Thirteeners here.

(Photo courtesy of the stock.xchng)

To Behold Thee

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This song stopped in my my tracks the first time I heard it. Thankfully the CD insert had the words, and I replayed this track over and over. The words are written by Elieen Berry, music by Dan Forrest. I’ve never heard it as a choir number or special music — I’ve only heard it on the More Like You, Lord CD by Soundforth. I can’t remember, I may have been going through Jim Berg’s book Changed Into His Image about that time, but I do remember that this song illustrated beautifully the theme of that book, taken from II Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. May the words of this song bless you in “beholding Him” as much as it did me.

To Behold Thee

From weariness of sin I turn at last, O Lord, to Thee
My eyes and heart grown dim from looking long on vanity.
I venture toward thy radiance then, compelled to come by grace
And in the pages of Thy word behold Thy lovely face.

(Refrain)
Face of glory, turned upon me
I cannot but Thee adore.
To behold Thee, O my Saviour,
Is to love Thee more and more.

Each grace in all its fullness on Thy countenance I see.
Great tenderness of mercy, blazing light of purity.
Thine eyes are wells and love and wisdom, settled peace Thy brow,
Before the whole of perfect beauty I in worship bow.

(Refrain)

When someday I before Thee stand, a debtor to Thy grace,
And gaze with heaven’s eyes upon the brightness of Thy face,
Transformed into Thy likeness, all my sin thrust far away,
With millions of redeemed ones I will lift my voice and say:

Face of glory turned upon me
I cannot but Thee adore.
To behold Thee, O my Savior,
Is to love Thee more and more.
To behold Thee, O my Savior,
Is to love Thee more and more.

“Thanks to God”

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This hymn was on my heart this morning, but unfortunately it wasn’t in our hymnals. I found it at the Cyberhymnal site. It is a lot older than I thought it was! It was written by August L. Storm in Swedish in 1891, translated into English by Carl E. Backstrom in 1931. The tune by Johannes A. Hultman is the one I am familiar with. While searching for this hymn, I found a little bit of background information here. Hope the words are a blessing to you.

Thanks to God

Thanks to God for my Redeemer,
Thanks for all Thou dost provide!
Thanks for times now but a memory,
Thanks for Jesus by my side!
Thanks for pleasant, balmy springtime,
Thanks for dark and stormy fall!
Thanks for tears by now forgotten,
Thanks for peace within my soul!

Thanks for prayers that Thou hast answered,
Thanks for what Thou dost deny!
Thanks for storms that I have weathered,
Thanks for all Thou dost supply!
Thanks for pain, and thanks for pleasure,
Thanks for comfort in despair!
Thanks for grace that none can measure,
Thanks for love beyond compare!

Thanks for roses by the wayside,
Thanks for thorns their stems contain!
Thanks for home and thanks for fireside,
Thanks for hope, that sweet refrain!
Thanks for joy and thanks for sorrow,
Thanks for heav’nly peace with Thee!
Thanks for hope in the tomorrow,
Thanks through all eternity!

As the Bridegroom to His Chosen

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This hymn has been on my heart for the last few days:

As the Bridegroom to His Chosen

As the bridegroom to his chosen, as the king unto his realm,
As the keeper to the castle, as the pilot to the helm.
As the captain to his soldiers, as the shepherd to his lambs,
So, Lord, art thou to me.

As the fountain in the garden, as the candle in the dark,
As the treasure in the coffer, as the manna in the ark,
As the firelight in the winter, as the sunlight in the spring
So Lord art thou to me.

As the music at the banquet, as the stamp unto the seal,
As refreshment to the fainting, as the winecup at the meal,
As the singing on the feast day, as the amen to the prayer,
So Lord art thou to me.

As the ruby in the setting, as the honey in the comb
As the light within the lantern, as the father in the home,
As the eagle in the mountains, as the sparrow in the nest,
So Lord art thou to me.

As the sunshine in the heavens, as the image in the glass,
As the fruit unto the fig tree, as the dew unto the grass,
As the rainbow on the hilltop, as the river in the plain,
So Lord art thou to me.

— Jo­han­nes Tau­ler

You can hear a snippet of it here. I first heard it on a CD titled “His way Is Perfect” by Sherry Oliver Trainer. Though I found that CD here, I couldn’t find a source that had music clips from it. But it inspires my heart to worship every time I hear it or think through the words.

I Want a Principle Within

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I want a principle within of watchful, godly fear,
A sensibility of sin, a pain to feel it near.
I want the first approach to feel of pride or wrong desire,
To catch the wandering of my will, and quench the kindling fire.

From Thee that I no more may stray, no more Thy goodness grieve,
Grant me the filial awe, I pray, the tender conscience give.
Quick as the apple of an eye, O God, my conscience make;
Awake my soul when sin is nigh, and keep it still awake.

Almighty God of truth and love, to me Thy power impart;
The mountain from my soul remove, the hardness from my heart.
O may the least omission pain my reawakened soul,
And drive me to that blood again, which makes the wounded whole.

— Charles Wesley, 1749

Before the Throne of God Above

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This is another old hymn that is fairly new to me. I first heard it on the Soundforth CD Freedom Through Christ, then later on the CD A Quiet Heart. I wish it were still in our hymnbooks. I looked up and printed out the words soon after I heard it and listened to it over and over again. I can’t tell you how it has ministered to my heart.

 

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high Priest whose Name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

— Charitie L. Bancroft, 1863