Welcome to our hymn sing!
For “littles” and “young at heart”
Prayer When Sad:
(Feel free to say each line and have your child repeat
what you say or say it as you pray together.)
Dear God, I’ve felt kinda sad today.
Sometimes people say things that upset me.
Sometimes I feel lonely at school.
Sometimes I feel like Mom and Day don’t understand me.
Sometimes my feelings are all mixed up inside.
Please make me feel better.
Please help me have a happier day tomorrow.
Amen
Let’s Praise the Lord
LYRICS
1. Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah; Let’s praise the Lord!
Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah; Let’s praise the Lord!
2. Let’s praise the Lord, Hallelujah; Let’s praise the Lord, Hallelujah.
Let’s praise the Lord, Hallelujah; Let’s praise the Lord!
3. Repeat #1, #2, #2 Interlude
4. Repeat #1, #2, #2 Interlude
The Lord Bless You and Keep You
(14th Century B.C.)
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.”
Numbers 6:24-26
Hymn Background:
The Dead Sea Scrolls were, until recently, our oldest copies of biblical text. But in 1979, Villanova professor, Judith Hadley, was assisting archaeologist, Gabriel Barkay, in excavating a site in Jerusalem’s Hinnom Valley. In a burial cave, she saw something resembling the metal cap of a pencil. It was a sensational find, a tiny silver scroll of great antiquity. Another was found nearby. These tiny amulets, dating to the Hebrew monarchy 7 centuries before Christ, were so small and fragile they took several years to painstakingly clean and open.
When scientists finally unrolled them, they found the world’s oldest extant copy of a biblical text, the words of Numbers 6: 24-26: The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up His countenance upon, and give you peace.
While the amulets date from the 7th century B.C., the original words are far older, coming 1,400 years before Christ. As the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, the Lord commanded the priests to bless the people with this three-fold blessing.
These ancient lyrics have been set to music many times, but never more beautifully than by Peter Christian Lutkin in his classic tune Benediction. During the Fanny Crosby/Ira Sankey era of gospel music, when so much was written for easy congregational singing, Lutkin wrote more elaborate melodies with a classical flare.
Lutkin was born in Wisconsin in 1888, and devoted his life to church music, studying with the masters in Europe, excelling on the organ, and founding the School of Music at Northwestern Illinois. He helped start the American Guild of Organists. He died in 1931 and was buried in Rosehill Cemetery in Chicago.In his Notes from My Bible, D. L. Moody said about the priestly blessing of Numbers 6: “Here is a benediction that can give all the time without being impoverished. Every heart may utter it, every letter may conclude with it, every day may begin with it, every night may be sanctified by it. Here is blessing–keeping–shining– the uplifting upon our poor life of all heaven’s glad morning. It is the Lord Himself who gives us this bar of music from heaven’s infinite anthem.”
The Lord Bless You and Keep You
LYRICS:
The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord lift his countenance upon you.
And give you peace, and give you peace.
The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you, be gracious.
The Lord be gracious, gracious unto you.
REPEAT
Amen.
Through It All
LYRICS
Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus,
I’ve learned to trust in God.
Through it all, through it all, I’ve learned to depend upon God’s word.
Repeat
Fill the World with Love
LYRICS
1. With the vision in our minds of how the world could be,
And the fullness of our hearts from the suffering we see;
When we make all that we are and have part of God’s destiny,
We can fill the world with love, we can fill the world with love.
2. All the people in this world living lives of pain and fear;
Crying out into the night, wondering when someone will hear;
While there are so many others having so much they can share,
Can we fill the world with love, can we fill the world with love?
4. Let us hesitate no longer in our doubt and our dismay;
There’s a power at work within us that has promised a new day.
And the time will surely come, it will not be long delayed
When God fills the world with love, when God fills the world with love.
One Comment
Beautiful Kim, thank you. I’m not remembering ever hearing “Fill the World with Love” before. Love it. Requesting, if possible, that it be added to an upcoming Sunday service.
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