We therefore pray Thee, help Thy servants: whom Thou hast redeemed with Thy precious blood. Make them to be numbered with Thy saints: in glory everlasting. O LORD, save Thy people: and bless Thine heritage. Day by day: we magnify Thee. And we worship Thy Name: ever, world without end. O LORD, let Thy mercy be upon us: as our trust is in Thee. O LORD, in Thee have I trusted: let me never be confounded. Amen. The hymns which we sing are a most important element in worship, the use of which is one of the blessed fruits. of the evangelical principles of worship which have come to us as one of the results of the great Reformation of the sixteenth century. Samuel Taylor Coleridge says, "Luther did as much for the Reformation by his hymns as by his translation of the Bible." Of course, the hymns of the church cannot take the place of the Word of God, but they stand only second to it. Indeed, through them some of the most precious truths of the Scriptures are sung into the hearts and the lives of Christian people. If our readers will have learned to sing the hymns of the Church with more thought as to their contents; to select those which they use with greater regard to their meaning and association, and with a fuller realization of their power to lift the soul up to God and to impress upon heart, mind and soul the blessing of God which rests upon those who worship Him in sincerity and truth, our labor of love in writing of some of the great favorites among the hymns of the church will have its reward in the more intelligent and effective use of hymns, whether it be in public or in private worship. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel: for He hath visited and re- deemed His people... 18 Brief life is here our portion... 41 Brightest and best of the sons of the morning. Calm on the listening ear of night.... 46 Christ Jesus lay in Death's strong bands.. 31 89 Christ the Lord is risen again.. 91 Christ the Lord is risen today. 90, 94 Come, Holy Ghost, in love.. 122 Come, Holy Ghost, our souls inspire. 123 Come, Holy Spirit, God and Lord!.. 114 God of mercy! God of grace!. Good news from heaven the angels bring. Great God! we sing that mighty Hand. Hail, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Hark! what mean those holy voices?. 187 20 71 212 70 138 131 83, 130 112 66 24 25 140 169 133 Holy, holy, holy Lord... 133 In the Cross of Christ I glory. I love Thy Zion, Lord. It came upon the midnight clear.. I think, when I read that sweet story of old.. I would not live alway; I ask not to stay.. Jerusalem, the golden. Jesus Christ, my sure defence. 190 74 30 ΙΟΙ 223 231 227 |