Saturday, May 2, 2015

111. Worry Hymn

I dashed off the following very derivative tune to go with the hymn below. I'm calling it NOLITE SOLLICITI.
Christians, in your daily need,
Christ's own teaching hear and heed:
Trust your loving God, nor borrow
Care and trouble from tomorrow.
He who guided Abram's seed
Through the wilderness of sorrow
Will His faithful likewise lead.

Fret not so with daily care
What to eat or drink or wear:
Does not God feed every sparrow?
Be it crust or fattest marrow,
He will answer for your share.
Though the ways and means be narrow,
He fulfills His children's prayer.

Lo, the lilies of the field
Neither flax nor linen yield;
God yet drapes them in such glory
As the king of sacred story.
Shall not we, by Jesus sealed
In His righteous robes yet gory,
Soon in triumph be revealed?

As you daily bread demand,
Leave it in your Father's hand.
Greater gifts than these He proffers
From His mercy's boundless coffers.
Wearing baptism as His brand,
Taste the grace His supper offers,
Foretaste of the promised land.
Just for kicks, here's a Latin antiphon based on the same Bible text that inspired this hymn.

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