511. Summer Psalm

The tune I have in mind for this hymn is FROM STRENGTH TO STRENGTH by Edward Woodall Naylor (1867-1934), albeit with some of the breath marks between phrases moved and a slur broken in the final phrase. Frankly, the tune has been stuck in my head for several days, and I felt that writing a hymn to go with it might exorcise the earworm.

For heat that warms our aching bones
We praise You, Lord!
For fields' and flowers' sunlit tones
We thank and praise You, Lord!
Crops rising tall and well,
Fruits that with goodness swell,
Even the breeze's very smell
In these bright days You afford!

Grant that no heat may sap our strength
To serve You, Lord!
Let us entrust our labor's length
Into Your purview, Lord!
What sweat anoints our brow,
What burdens You allow,
What thunderbolts Your will avow,
With joy we serve You, O Lord!

PHOTO CREDIT: Luc Viatour / https://Lucnix.be. I, Luc Viatour, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.