Scratch and Dent 11

Just now, I created a new "scratch-and-dent" label for this blog, so I no longer need to link back to the previous installment. For those of you joining late, this is a thread where I refurbish hymns that I tried to write when I was in high school or college. They've been hanging out in a three-ring binder that's been through a lot of moves and I figure, the sooner I can whip them up into a publishable shape, the sooner they'll be off my conscience. Making no promises that they'll be in the better three-quarters of the hymns I've ever written, here are a few more.

288. The Word Becoming Flesh
Tune: SONG 22 (Orlando Gibbons)

The Word was God, when earth's keystone was laid.
He was with God; by Him the heavens were made.
In Him was life, and that the light of men,
Which pierces darkness and with it contends.

He was the truth, this living Word, and can
Bring light and life to every child of man.
He came unto His own; they thought Him fraud;
He made those who believed the sons of God.

The Word was flesh, and dwelt with us on earth;
In Him men saw God's glory, grace and truth.
And yet His height of royal majesty
We saw in squalid suffering on a Tree.

Of His full gift of grace we have received;
For not by human will have we believed,
Nor human blood, nor worthy works and wares,
But only by His choice are we His heirs.

With humble mind, the mighty Word came down;
For bonds of servitude He changed His crown.
Life's founder was obedient unto death;
Barred from the camp, the King of righteousness.

He bore all sin, who knew but holiness:
Denied by men, man's errors to address,
He hung for our own lust, wrath, greed and pride;
For our rebellion, in our stead, He died.

And yet He lives, arisen from the dead;
From Him, behold! A wave of life will spread
As God exalts Him o'er all things in love,
And He sits as our Advocate above.

From there He pours the Spirit on our hearts,
Rules all in all, indwells our deepest parts.
Now we have died in Him and live again:
Reborn in Christ, the Light and Life of men.

289. Sola Gratia Hymn (2)
Tune: NEW BRITAIN (Walker's Southern Harmony)

By grace through faith alone God gives
Salvation to the lost:
Not by our works, we freely live,
Lest anyone should boast.

The Law prepared my soul to dread
The judgment of the Lord.
Sin's price I never could have paid,
God only can afford.

The tidings of the off'ring made
Of Christ on Calvary
A storehouse in my heart have laid
For heaven's certainty.

By grace, the seers foretold His birth
And all Christ did for me;
By grace, He stooped to serve the earth,
My substitute to be.

By grace, the Law's demands He kept;
Men's scorn He bore by grace;
In death's shroud He, by grace, was wrapped,
And all this in my place.

By grace, His suffering satisfies
The toll for my own guilt;
His resurrection justifies,
Whereon my hope is built.

Though I remain, by nature, lost
And daily stray in sin,
By grace, thank God, the Holy Ghost
I have at work within!

In God I hope; in Christ I live;
My life on Him I base;
And by the Spirit I believe
All this, alone by grace.

Textual note: The "(2)" acknowledges that I already have another "Sola Gratia Hymn" on the books – and it was even a Scratch and Dent! See #61 here. Also, the typewritten manuscript of this hymn gives the date April 4-5, 1994, which is a rare detail for my hymn-writing at that stage. Finally, the tune choice with the tempo marking "moderately fast" was also in the ms., which suggests that I was trying to improve on "Amazing Grace."

290. Conversion and Election
Tune: FORD COTTAGE (Frederick C. Maker)

I did not choose to be the Lord's;
He made the choice by grace.
If it were mine to chart my course,
I'd turn aside my face.
No aptitude did Jesus scan
To aid His gracious plan.

My heart was dead; my soul was blind;
I hated God's good Law.
I did not seek; how could I find
Him and His Gospel know?
In me a miracle took place
By God's almighty grace.

I did not meet the Lord halfway;
I could not even move.
The Holy Spirit won the day;
He turned me in His love.
My only act was to resist
The grace of Jesus Christ.

God keeps me in the holy faith,
Without whom I would fall.
Though sin assails my every breath,
He holds me safe through all.
For me, then, nothing shall displace
My Father's priceless grace.

291. Peace with God
Tune: PEACE WITH GOD (an original tune)

Peace be with you, little children,
Though the foe still rages.
For our warfare, lo, since Eden,
God no longer wages.
Christ has paid your debt in full;
What was broken, now is whole.

Quarrel no more with the Father,
Who gave Christ to save you.
Fight the sin within you, rather;
Take the gift He gave you,
Nor surrender to despair:
He provides for every care.

Even in the thick of battle,
When the flesh comes foxing,
No more are you Satan's chattle;
Therefore, go on boxing,
Knowing Christ will brook no harm,
Swinging with your feeble arm.

Trust in Him and peace is certain,
Though the grave o'ertake you.
Christ has torn the final curtain;
He at last will wake you.
Death is made a sweet release,
Calling: "Children, be at peace!"

292. Mystery Hymn
Tune: MYSERIOUS MIGHT (a tune I wrote in 2019)

O Holy Ghost, revealing Lord,
We praise You that you gave to men
The right to know Your saving word
Through chosen bearers of the pen.
You spoke to men of feeble mind
Such things as only You impart;
Of secrets God alone can bind
Upon a doubt-encumbered heart.

From hell we could not hope to flee
Had not the Word of God been born
As Mary's Son. What mystery!—
That flesh the Godhead should adorn,
And, deigning to grow strong and wise,
His own word condescend to learn!
For only thus, in heaven's eyes,
Could any man God's favor earn.

Again, who would escape the grave,
Had God not loved the sinner so
That He that Son, His dearest, gave
Into men's hands and laid Him low?
That God such service should provide,
Our race to ransom and retrieve!
Yet Christ, portrayed as having died
For us, compels us to believe.

Man's mind, as well, can hardly frame
The dual nature of the Son,
And how the Father with the same,
And with the Holy Ghost, is One:
Had You, Unveiler from above,
Not unto men this secret sealed,
How would we know Your Triune love?
What God like You was e'er revealed?

For Baptism's mystery we sing
A new refrain of wondering praise:
For therein You the sinner bring
To dust, a new man thence to raise.
And who but You reveals that bread
Becomes Christ's body, wine His blood?
What once was given, broken, dead,
Thus lives and is life-giving food.

To celebrate Your mysteries,
Withheld from heathen sages' ears,
We'll bow to You our humble knees
And watch till You draw in the years.
Then, where Your hosts in glory teach,
All bonds of mind and tongue shall flee,
And things forbidden mortal speech
Will be our song eternally.

Textual note: Based on a few phrases that they have in common, I think hymn 60, here, may also be based on the original poem on which I base this (hopefully) last scratch-and-dent hymn. I saved it for last because it was evident that it needed the most work, which is perhaps why Hymn 60 is all but unrecognizable from the ditty's original form. Anyway, because bits of it that 60 left on the cutting room floor seemed to have some small merit, and because I found another angle in it besides inspiration as such, I decided to take another stab at renovating it. Oddly enough, its original title was Epiphany Hymn, though I can't detect anything in it particularly relevant to the Epiphany season.

Scratch and Dent 10

Further to my previous post and the string of references listed therein, here are a few more lines of my immature, college-level (c. 1993) attempts to write hymnody, refurbished at a riper age with the experience of writing close to 300 hymns. Once again, it's nice to see the evidence of how far I've come, and that I'm still improving. As the joke goes, the way to Carnegie Hall is practice, practice, practice!

287. Word and Sacrament Hymn
Tune: BLOOMINGTON (RDF, 1993)

True Word of God, whose power brought forth
The earth and heavens and all therein,
Now we behold You on the earth,
Come in the flesh to vanquish sin.

True God from all eternity,
Without whom nothing has been made,
You come in stark humility,
Rag-bound and in a manger laid.

Yet we beheld Your glory, Lord,
As of the Father's only Son:
Men saw the vigor of the Word
In signs and wonders, matched by none.

Your Word alone would cure the ill,
No less forgive the penitent;
Yet in Your Passion, You kept still,
Enduring death by mute consent.

Lo, even death cannot undo
The promises we cherish still:
Your rising from the grave proves true
The hope of life You shall fulfill.

You have gone up, yet You remain;
The Word and Spirit that You send
Have power to break the captive's chain,
That we Your gifts might apprehend.

Your precious Gospel is the hand
Whereby God cures the blind and dead;
It frees us from the devil's bands
And binds us up with You instead.

Now Baptism is a holy rite
To which Your Word real virtue gave:
A bath where we are clothed in light,
Are cleansed of sin and freely saved.

All nations, stations, ages, come!
Here be in Spirit born again;
Be drowned and buried with God's Son
And rise with Him to live and reign!

Then, when our heart is crushed by sin,
The font, drawn from our Savior's wounds,
Will drown and raise us up again:
The old man dies, the new abounds.

Another Sacrament You gave,
Christ, on the night You were betrayed:
A feast by which You serve and save
Through the atonement You displayed.

You say Your Body is the bread,
The cup Your testament and Blood,
Whereby we now proclaim Your death
Till You return to judge the world.

Of this, Your amply witnessed will,
Your heirs are we who eat in faith;
Eternal life, the codicil
Secured by Your sufficient death.

You lived as we were meant to live;
You died, as we deserved, for sin.
That sacrifice as bread You give,
And in Your cup we drink it in.

For all men, this inheritance
You purchased at such awful cost!
How freely, now, it is dispensed
To all who in Your promise trust!

Cause us, Your heirs, Your very sons,
To live on grace and love Your will.
Amen, Lord Jesus! Quickly come,
Your final promises fulfill!

PS: The hymn tune named above, which I think I may have originally written for this hymn back in '93, was published in Useful Hymns with this hymn, written in 2014. To give you an idea how it goes, here it is:

Scratch and Dent 9

So, I've done this a few times before. In fact, before Useful Hymns was the 222-hymn monster it became in its Second, Expanded Edition, it blew up from a paltry 47 hymns to a round 100 just because I decided to go back and dust off some of my less mature sacred poems from an album of my high school and college verse. I remember it was kind of painful and, looking at that album again this week, I realized how very far from the original the revised versions have come – and they're still some of my weaker work. Nevertheless, I spotted some additional pieces that I didn't, at the time, think worth refurbishing, and though a closer look shows me how very right I was, I'm going to give them a whirl.

Finding the David in many of these hunks of marble is quite an interesting challenge, like sifting mud for specks of gold, and sometimes accepting some other valuable mineral found by the way. A big part of the job is cutting away excess yak and tightening up the meter, sometimes trimming not just syllables but entire lines from the stanza structures. It's really a good way to verify that, yes folks, we've made progress and continue to improve. So, here we go!

284. Hymn on the Word of God
Tune: ANTIQUUS DIERUM (RDF, 2021)

Ancient of Days, God unchanging and true,
Tending the faithful long centuries through,
Each day Your mercies rain on us anew:
Shed on our way Your unquenchable light,
Baring our errors and leading us right.

Word of Creation, effective and pure,
Though to the perishing foolish, obscure:
In You we find our salvation secure;
Not of our merits, nor splendor or might,
But Your own blood, precious in the Lord's sight.

Spirit of Holiness, tender that gift,
Bought at such cost, every burden to lift.
Mend us, transform us with medicine swift,
Drawing us upward through tumult and night
Till we see Zion, unblemished and bright.

285. Evangelism Hymn
Tune: REFRESHMENT (RDF, 2015)

God so loved man, He gave His Son,
True God Himself and with Him one:
Therefore all who in Christ believe
Shall not be lost, but life receive.

Through faith alone we find God's grace;
No work of ours decides the case.
Despite our glory, zeal and pride,
All rests with God who served and died.

Go, Jesus ordered, with the aim
To bathe all nations in God's name:
Teach them, He said, what I have taught,
And know that I desert you not.

Now let no judgment be preferred
Against Christ's clear and certain word:
God's writ is tested, proven pure;
His gift of faith, our armor sure.

He wants all to believe and live;
So to all nations He will give
The means His blessed realm to see:
What none could earn, to gain for free.

So let no moment run to waste:
Proclaim God's love with zest, with haste,
Till all who have the tidings heard
See on His throne the living Word.

286. The Walk of Faith
Tune: UNTESTED (RDF, 2021)

O Lord, should I untested be,
Unnoticed by the foe of old,
Or if my own prosperity
Should make be bold,
Dethrone my pride
That none but You my trust may hold,
Who for me died.

Yet, Lord, if I must stand a trial—
Sin, sickness, sorrow, struggle, loss—
Let no despair that seat defile;
Show me Your cross.
Though I am weak,
Your strength suffices every cause;
That will I seek.

And now, Lord, when the scoffers leer,
Nerve me to answer their rebuff.
If but one word from You I hear,
It is enough!
I'll gladly die,
And pass beyond the world's reproof
To You on high.

I've got quite a few more of these "scratch and dent" hymns to buff out. I'm not going to get any more done today, though. This is serious work! Music for these hymns will be available on request.

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*Previous "scratch and dent" hymns are posted here, by number: one two three four five six seven eight and, believe it or not, zero.

1. Grafting Hymn

I wrote this hymn yonks ago, when I was the secretary to a theologian who liked to wonder aloud why there weren't more hymns about the biblical use of horticultural grafting imagery. It ended up in my collection of hymns, Useful Hymns, but apparently it was the only original number in that work that never found its way onto this blog – which probably dates it to earlier than February 2007. At some point I started retroactively numbering my original hymns on the blog, but I was only able to count back to 2; I guess this fixes that. Also, be aware, there's another grafting hymn in my oeuvre, also written for the same guy. Who, in both instances, more or less said "Meh." In my book, the tune paired with this hymn is WIR DANKEN DIR, from some publication or other published in Erfurt in the 17th century. So, long overdue, I give you...

Lord Jesus, graft us into Thee,
That we Thy tender shoots might be.
In Thy Word rooted let us grow,
That into us Thy life may flow.

When we break off and go astray,
Lord, do not leave us to our way.
Restore Thy branches, yea, forgive,
That we once more in Thee might live.

Apart from Thee, as Thou hast said,
O Christ, we would be cold and dead;
Would bear no fruit; would but decay,
And by the wind be blown away.

If Thou hadst cut us off, what gain
To root or branches would remain?
Forbear with us a little more,
And nourish us from Thy rich store.

Thine is the life that flows within;
Without Thee, we are lost in sin.
Thine is the bloom whose beauties shine;
The fruit we bear is only Thine.

As twigs cut from another tree,
As strangers, we were brought to Thee,
Bound to Thy wounds, fed by their blood,
And knit into Thy very wood.

No matter whence the wild twigs came,
They grow to be one and the same
With every cultivated shoot
That sprang from Thy first-planted root.

Tend us with care, lest we be cast
Away and shrivel up last,
While other branches, by Thy grace,
Are grafted in to take our place.

Rather, let us in Thee be found,
Nor let us fall on to the ground;
Feed us and prune us tenderly
Till all things are put under Thee.

To God the Father, God the Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One,
Who was and is and e’er shall be,
We lift our praise unceasingly.

EDIT: Make no mistake, this wasn't the first hymn I ever wrote, by far. Any of the 40-some hymns that I blogged under "Scratched and Dented Hymns" pre-date this. I'm not at all sure, but it just might be the first original hymn I wrote after a long dry spell between college (1990s) and becoming that man's secretary (2005-ish). I wouldn't have dreamed then that in another 10 years or so, I would have published a book with 201 original hymns in it. If it's not presumptuous of me to say it, God is good.

ANOTHER EDIT: You want to know frustrating? I've finally gone through and linked all my original hymns (and a couple of translations) from wherever they were posted on my blog to here. And now, guess what! I'm missing one more ... which also means that my numbering has probably gone off somewhere. Here it is, numbered accordingly (and appropriately, it belongs to the "Scratch and Dent" era). The tune, which I wrote for it in about 1993, is titled YLVISAKER but don't go all mushy on me; I wasn't thinking about hymn writer John Ylvisaker at the time, but about the fine arts building at my alma mater, Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, Minn. Not my best stuff, but at least I can link it to the TOC now!

0. Nativity Hymn

Hail O rising Star of David!
Come, O long-awaited One,
From all ages God the Son!
Great the mystery of Godhead,
Dwelling in such low estate
Sinners to emancipate!
Our creator with his creatures
Shares their frailest, mortal features,
Setting glory thus aside;
Oft denied
Any place to lie in comfort,
Pow’r puts on humility,
Life Himself, mortality.

First proclaimed by angel heralds
To the herdsmen in the field,
Ever since the news has pealed.
Glorified by eastern sages,
Sought by kings, yet He was laid
In a barn, in rags arrayed.
All the prophet’s words fulfilling
Now He comes, for God is willing
Our salvation to disclose.
He who knows
That this Babe in David’s city
Comes to hang on Calvary
Shall not die eternally.

Counsel us with all your wonders,
With your might, O God defend,
Father, everlasting Friend!
Prince of Peace, give peace among us;
Son of Man and Son of God,
Graft us into Jesse’s Rod!
David’s Lord, yet David’s offspring,
Suff’ring servant, Paschal off’ring,
Shine on, Star of Bethlehem!
Priceless Gem,
Sinless, You became sin for me;
Blessed, you became a curse,
Free salvation to disburse.

UPDATED UPDATE: I think I can explain why the hymns counted backward to zero. Some time ago, I discovered a hymn that I had blogged but that, mysteriously, didn't make it into Useful Hymns. Its numbering in the blog chronology separates it from other hymns, numbered 202 and above, that will join it in the sequel, Edifying Hymns. There.

Scratched and Dented 8

I think this post may wrap up my series of hymns redacted from the sub-par material in my college and high school poetry album. The amount of work required by these updates has ranged from repairing a capitalization issue here and there to rewriting the whole hymn almost out of recognition. I have tried to keep the best word choices, images, and biblical allusions while destroying hideous lapses in taste. I have tightened up bloated prosody and expanded on thoughts that seemed too laconic. I have added stanzas, deleted stanzas, altered the meter of stanzas, and solved technical difficulties I must have given up on twenty years ago when I was thinner in the middle and thicker on top. Here are the last few specimens in the binder... (EDIT: Numbering added later.)

97. Stewardship Hymn

Thanks to Christ our Savior be,
Who has given graciously
Present and eternal treasures
Through His life of poverty.

By His sorrow we are healed,
By His crucifixion sealed
Into life and heav'nly pleasures;
Therefore we all praises yield.

Jesus' misery has earned
Peace for us, who here have learned
Life and wisdom without measure;
What have we in faith returned?

By His word His love is spread
And the lost from darkness led;
Shall we sit at fruitless leisure,
Self-secure and overfed?

Rather let us first-fruits bring,
Thanking Him for everything;
Now proclaim His boundless mercy
And to His rich promise cling!

In the Lord who for us died,
In the God who will provide
Trusting, let us render off'rings
That His gifts be multiplied.

Let the Church proceed unbound,
Bursting forth with joyful sound;
Add our voices to the measure:
Life and light in Christ abound!

---

98. In the World but Not of the World

Lord, from the shadow of toil and pain
We cry, perplexed and with longing sore,
Praying to fly to Your endless reign
When time and terror will be no more.

This fallen world where today we dwell,
But a dim image of that to come,
Offers no shelter from sin and hell
Nor strength to reach our eternal home.

Is it our office to change this state
Or to endure and obey with grace?
God help us meet this unclosed debate,
Keeping Your word in its rightful place:

Highest, that is, of our norms and rules,
First in our comforts and guides to truth,
In all our labors foremost of tools,
Leading us out of the tears of earth!

Therefore the duty all Christians share
Over all duties is to Your word:
Telling the news that our Savior fair
For love of sinners His blood outpoured.

This news proclaiming, our highest task,
Also will bring us the deepest pain;
For stronger faith, Lord, we humbly ask,
Lest to Your name we bring any shame.

Not of this world, Savior, is Your church;
Yet in this world is our life and care.
Help us, we pray, to complete our work
And help each other his cross to bear.

Lighten our burden and speed the end;
Stir up our prayers with devotion true!
Come, Lord, with thunder our tombs to rend;
To brighter mansions bring us with You!

---

99. Ponder, heart, this table (dated March 1992)

Ponder, heart, this table
Of fellowship and grace,
Where my solemn spirit
Beholds the Savior's face.
Approach, my soul in fear;
A mystery is here,
Whereby my guilt is lifted off
And faith put in its place.

On the dreadful evening
In which He was betrayed
Jesus, our Passover,
Gave thanks and blessed the bread.
"I share My flesh with you;
This is My body true!
Remember me by doing this,"
Unto the twelve He said.

After they had eaten,
The Savior took the wine;
Giving thanks, He told them:
"This issue of the vine
I give here for your good;
I say it is My blood,
Which I am shedding for your sins,
A testament of Mine."

Thus the Lord completed
What He had long prepared,
Since from death in Egypt
Were Jacob's children spared.
God's sword passed over them
Who sacrificed the lamb,
Among whom by the Lord's command
The victim's flesh was shared.

Even when Isaiah
Before the awful throne
Wept that his uncleanness
He could not cleanse alone,
The sacrificial coal
To cleanse his sinful soul
Was but the altar sacrifice
That for His sin atoned.

All these things were figures
Of the redeeming pains
When Christ gave His body,
And of His outpoured veins.
Lord, let us humbly think
Before we eat and drink
Upon the Lamb of Calvary
Who whitens all our stains!

Precious Jesus, let us
With penitence draw near!
Give us eyes in spirit
To see Your mercy here.
Oh, let our hearts believe
That heart and mouth receive
Your body and Your holy blood,
And grow in godly cheer!

That last one brings back some warm, fuzzy memories. I wrote a musical setting of it that one or two church choirs actually sang, and that was before I knew anything about writing music. And now, to conclude...

100. Advent Hymn

Cry the captives at the river:
Must we sing in bonds forever?
Come, Anointed One, deliver
Us from out the chains of sin!
Let us see Jerusalem
And our rest from sorrow claim;
There with saints and martyrs ever
Shall we glorify Your name!

Cry the slaughtered children, praying:
Shall the day be long delaying?
Soon the trumpet must be playing
Loud the triumph of the Lamb!
Loose Your fury on the land,
Razing mountains with Your hand!
Hasten, from the world's decaying
Spare Your humble pilgrim band!

Cries the church on earth, imploring,
Every challenge fast enduring:
Longer still? Your peace assuring,
Give us strength to pass the test!
Says the Lord, "Wait but a while,
That your faith be proved by fire;
Soon enough I shall be curing
All your sorrows, little child!"

Says the Lord, "Rejoice, you nations!
All your longing expectation
Of the Day of your salvation
Hastens to completion now.
Child, take heart and patiently
Watch and pray, prepared for Me;
All the signs approach completion
For the Day I'll set you free!"

Scratched and Dented 7

In case you are tuning in late, this post is part of a series refurbishing dreadful hymns that I wrote when I was in high school or college. It consists of a metrical paraphrase of the Athanasian Creed that I actually submitted for publication in a hymnal - which, however, printed a different (and probably better) execution of the same idea by a certain Henry Bartels, whom I once had the honor to meet. His version, if memory serves, begins with the line "Whoever would be saved" and is set to the tune MEIN SCHOEPFER, STEH MIR BEI. Mine was written in a less fortunate meter and had to be set to a tune of my own composition, which I no longer consider share-worthy. So one of my aims in updating this paraphrase is to adjust the meter so it can be sung to a better tune. Actually making it a hymn worth singing in worship may be beyond my powers, especially since the custom in most churches is to confess this creed at most once or twice a year. Oh, well! For what it's worth: (EDIT: Hymn number added)

96. Athanasian Creed Hymn

He who would be saved must hold
To the holy Christian faith
Or incur eternal death.
Now this is the faith of old:
God the Lord is Three in One,
Father, Holy Ghost and Son.
Hailing Him the Trinity,
We uphold His unity;
Essence one yet Persons three
We confess with certainty.

Of the Father there is one;
One Son on the mercy-seat;
One the Holy Paraclete.
Each is fully God alone,
Lord unmade and infinite,
Timeless each, and full of might.
Yet our God and Lord is one;
Uncreate, eternal - one;
Infinite, almighty - one;
Altogether, only one!

While in Christian truth must we
Call each Person God and Lord,
No untruth is so abhorred
As to say three gods there be.
God the Father, made of naught,
Ere the world or time was wrought
Sired His uncreated Seed;
Son and Father, one indeed,
One in force, in will agreed,
Caused the Spirit to proceed.

Lest in error we be caught,
We affirm one Lord to be:
But one Father, never three,
Nor three Sons but one is taught,
And one Ghost, no more nor less.
Thus we heartily confess
Equally, eternally
Each Person full God to be;
For without the Trinity
No flesh would salvation see.

Likewise, he who would be saved
Must correctly understand
How God's Son became a man.
Out of love the Father gave
His Son into sin's domain,
That He might destroy death's reign.
Mary's Son is God and Man;
He who laid creation's plan
Breathed our air and walked the land,
Sinless bore God's chiding hand.

Substance of His Father, now
Born into His mother's flesh,
Born in time from timelessness:
Mortals cannot fathom how
Perfect Godhead ever can
Join Himself to perfect Man:
Joined to human flesh and soul,
Less than God as man below,
Equal to the Father's whole:
Yet such is the Christ we know.

Christ is One, yet not because
Manhood into God assayed;
God into a man was made
To fulfill as man God's laws,
That as all-sufficient Lamb
God might die for sinful man.
As men's souls in flesh abide
Are these natures unified;
Even after He had died,
God and Man could none divide.

Jesus suffered for our sin
And descended into hell,
His completed work to tell;
He arose and rules in heav'n,
Whence He shall return with dread
To arraign both quick and dead.
All shall rise, their works to tell,
Some for sentencing to hell,
Those who trust in Christ to dwell
Where, with Him, all will be well.

Scratched and Dented 5

Still more hymns from my college poetry album of the mid-1990s, somewhat refurbished. Note that the posts are numbered out of order because this was saved as a draft when I posted the sixth installment. Oops! (EDIT: Hymn numbers added)

86. Exsurgat Deus (Psalm 68)

Let God arise! He routs the foe,
That those who hate Him flee in their distress;
They melt as wax, as smoke they blow,
Choosing destruction over righteousness.

They cling to works, disparage grace,
Themselves they judge unfit for life in heaven;
So are they judged, though in their place
Once and for all a ransom had been given.

Therefore rejoice, His name exalt,
All who are righteous in the Father's sight!
He sees in you no stain or fault,
By His Lamb's blood made blemishless and bright.

Through Him forgiveness is declared.
By Moses can no flesh be justified,
But those who trust in Christ are spared,
Receiving life from Him who for them died.

By grace alone, O Lord, we trust!
By faith alone can we this gift receive.
Through Christ alone, bowed to the dust,
We beg your pardon and in hope believe.

---

87. Freedom Song

Our salvation is God's will!
Let no tongue or heart be still;
All the world with praise must fill,
For our salvation is God's will.

We are loosed from Satan's chains
By our Savior's mortal pains;
Tell him, tell him who complains
That we are loosed from Satan's chains!

What should make the Christian mourn,
Now our veil of gloom is torn?
Christ has blunted death's sharp thorn,
So what should make the Christian mourn?

Jesus Christ has set us free!
When He comes in glory, we
In our flesh His day shall see,
For Jesus Christ has set us free!

---

88. Sign or Norm

If I must have some sign or norm
Upon my heart impressed,
Let me to Your pure Word conform;
Your will, Lord, is the best.

All men live in conformity
To patterns of some kind;
Dear Savior from eternity,
Pray make Your mercy mine.

If I must be some master's slave,
And if my will be bound,
From Satan's chains, Lord Jesus, save;
Let me in You be found.

My will enslaved to Yours, O God,
Your Spirit to obey -
What joy! that cleansed by Jesus' blood,
I'd serve You night and day!

Your cross shall be my daily guide,
My model and my stay.
By faith I would in You abide;
Permit it, Lord, I pray!

If I must have a resting-place,
An endless home somewhere,
I know a house built by Your grace;
Dear Savior, lead me there!

---

89. Law and Gospel Hymn

Thank God, His word shall never fail:
Both chast'ning rod and suit of mail,
Whereby He batters me with threats
And sets me free from all my debts.

Had I not felt His Law's reproach,
No grace my icy heart could broach;
But once it crushed me to the ground,
How sweet became the Gospel's sound!

Built on this Rock, what will I fear?
The devil cannot steal my cheer.
His wiles are but an empty jest;
In this true Rock is all my rest.

I lift my voice to Christ the Lord,
Repeating all that I have heard:
His voice of thunder, dread and might
Becomes my refuge and delight.

With this Bread I am satisfied;
Filled with His fullness I'll abide.
This living Water, fresh and pure,
Shall be my thirst's eternal cure.

Dear Word that kills and makes alive,
Both wounds and heals, I now derive
A life worth living, full and free:
Not of myself, but Christ in me!

---

90. Magnificat Hymn

Soul, declare: The Lord is great!
Spirit, praise your mighty guest!
He has seen His servant's state;
All the world will call me blest!

Let all men His mercy sing:
Holy is God's name! For He
Has done such a mighty thing,
Such a mighty thing for me!

Mercy He returns for fear
Faithfully from age to age;
He shows favor to the poor,
All their hunger to assuage.

Pride He routs in its conceit;
Humble ones He lifts on high.
Kings He topples from their seat,
Rich ones' wealth He sends awry.

He gives plenty to the poor,
None to selfish hypocrites.
He rewards His servants for
Trusting in His promises.

Thus He spoke to men of old
Through the fathers' covenant,
And the ancient prophets told
Of the Savior lately sent.

Even Abram's sons are we
By the faith we now confess,
Trusting God eternally,
Credited with righteousness.

Scratched and Dented 6

I continue going through my college (mid-1990s) poetry album and airbrush some of the theological and literary enormities out of them. Here are a few more... (EDIT: Hymn numbers added)

91. Inheritance Hymn

Son from on high, of all things the Heir,
Maker of all, creating Word:
Under our flesh You humbly appeared;
No lie Your lips have spoken,
Yet our bad faith and sin You bear,
Willingly bleeding and broken.

Through this last testament in Your love
Triumph and life to us bequeath!
Seal our inheritance by Your death,
Our Kinsman and Defender!
All record of our sins remove,
All Your good legacy tender!

---

92. Palm Sunday Hymn

We welcome You, who humbly enter,
Crying hosanna, save us!
Hail to the King, in whom now center
All that the prophets gave us!
On a young donkey mounted
You ride in vict'ry and acclaim;
When the last hail is sounded
Will You establish Your great reign?

What steed is this for One so daunting,
Coming to save our nation?
Can He indeed bear shame and taunting
Who owns so high a station?
Deathward You ride, all-knowing,
Destined for Calv'ry's bloody hill;
Under the lashes bowing,
Can You be Lord and Victor still?

This week defeat and anguish gory
Shall be Your love's repayment;
Therefore why come You as in glory,
Though clad in humble raiment?
Here waits Your strife laborious,
Death but the last foe You will face;
When you arise victorious,
Lead us to dwell in You by grace!

---

93. Job 3:20-26 Hymn

Why then has the light been given
To the sore and bitter soul,
Longing for a rest from living
And all trouble, care and toil;
Digging for it as for gold,
Joying when the grave's sure hold
Quenches pain at last?

Why then has this life been given
Him whose way is ever hidd'n?
Do I not roar as a river?
Do I not wax feeble, thin?
All my dreads are coming true;
Days of ease are precious few
Ere the crisis comes!

Now amid the deepest shadows
My way through dark vales has turned;
Yet the Lord counts all my sorrows,
Lets none steal what He has earned.
I know my Redeemer lives!
Though my flesh worm-fodder gives,
I shall see His face!

---

94. Citadel Hymn

Almighty God, unto Your flock
Send shepherds plenty, bold and true,
That Your strong Word may be our rock.
While calling many, choosing few,
Your Word returns not void to You.
Lord shatter every stumbling block
The foe would lay upon our walk;
For faithful teachers, Christ, we sue.

Lord, turn the heathen from the grave,
And raise the worldly from their sleep;
The weak and foolish also save!
Dear Father, both forgive and keep
All who for strength and mercy weep.
For Jesus' sake, both Lord and slave,
We trust one seed: the Word He gave.
What You have planted, likewise reap!

Preserve Your church from all discord;
Let every heart in peace obey!
Lord, still the tongues that mock Your word,
For You are with us all the way.
As You in death's vile durance lay,
Yet rose, we too shall be restored;
So let Your grace on us be poured,
And send with haste that shining day!

All breathing life must sing and shout
The news that every tongue must tell;
And when the tidings have gone out,
Even the very powers of hell
Cannot the love of God dispel.
Astonish all the foe, and rout
The sneering armies round about;
Your Word, Lord, is our citadel!

---

95. Hymn for the Struggle against Sin

O Bridegroom, I await Your feast,
And long to see it ushered in;
I thirst and hunger for a taste,
Famished without and parched within.

Of Sin's vast table, spread worldwide,
I want not, yet I daily take;
Help me, my Bridegroom crucified,
To spurn her doubly poisoned cake!

Her first taint sours me to Your law;
Each morsel sears my conscience more.
Disgorging grace, Sin's second flaw,
Mocks and forgets the wounds You bore.

O wretched creature that I am!
Where must deliverance be found?
Praise to the slain yet living Lamb,
With whose pure righteousness I'm crowned!

You, Bridegroom, baptized in my shame,
Bore on the cross my guilt and sin;
So I am baptized in Your name,
Buried with You and raised again!

In You I can do anything;
To sin I'm dead, to Satan slain.
The world, the flesh yet daily bring
Their fatal charms to bear again.

What vigil can I keep for You
When sins, O Bridegroom, so abound?
But thanks, O faithful God, to You,
My guilt and death are also drowned.

Today Your blody and Your blood
Both heal my flesh and feed my soul;
Today I taste the heavenly food,
Tomorrow You will feed me full.

As You now live in me, I pray,
Let me so live in You, till I,
Kept in Your faith by grace each day,
Wake to Your banquet in the sky!

Scratched and Dented 4

Aaaand still more hymns rescued from the abysmal mediocrity of my high school and (mostly) college poetry album. After a bit of touching up, maybe they're just a tad less mediocre. More on the order of "better than expected under the circumstances." (EDIT: Hymn numbers added)

80. Te Deum Hymn

To God we lift our song of praise,
Father and Lord from endless days:
All earth is raptly praying.
All angels cry aloud and sing,
Sun, moon and stars and everything,
Cherub and seraph saying:
Holy art Thou, Lord God of Hosts!
Earth, sky and all within them boast
Thy regal pomp and majesty;
The good apostles bend the knee;
The prophets also worship Thee
As one, Thy light displaying.

All who were slaughtered in Thy name
Laud, honor and adore the same,
Gathered beneath Thy great throne.
Thy holy universal church
That in Thy given scripture search,
Trust and confess Thee alone:
Father of endless majesty,
Author of life in verity;
Thy lovely, true and only Son,
By whom redemption's work was done;
And Spirit, Thou consoling one;
As One in Three art Thou known.

Thou, Christ, art King of majesty,
The Father's Son eternally,
True God of true God Thou art.
Thou undertook to rescue man,
Stooping, in Thy redeeming plan,
Of human flesh to take part.
In bands of death then wast Thou draped,
Yet from its sharpness Thou escaped,
Thus making wide Thy glorious hall
For all who heed Thy joyous call,
That mortal man need fear no pall
With faith in Thee in his heart.

At God's right hand art seated Thou,
Filled with His splendor even now;
Soon wilt Thou come returning,
Glad as the sun when ends the night;
Then shalt Thou judge us all aright,
Our deepest thoughts discerning.
Help us, Thy servants therefore pray,
For whom in bleeding Thou didst pay;
Count us among Thy blessed ones
O'er whom Thy tender mercy runs;
Strike out the evil we have done,
For which we should be burning.

Lord, save the people of Thy flock;
Bless their inheritance, O Rock;
Lead them, uplift them ever!
Each day, Thy greatness we proclaim,
Endlessly worshiping Thy name,
World without end, forever.
Keep us this day from sin, good Lord;
Thy will be done, Thy grace outpoured.
Lord, let Thy mercy be on us,
For in Thy kindness is our trust;
Grant, then, that hoping as I must,
I be confounded never.

---

81. Humiliation Hymn

Almighty God in lowly form
And frailest human flesh appears,
Unto a simple virgin born,
Fulfilling what of ages seers
Beheld across the chasm of years.

Among His sinful creatures dwelt
Their sinless Maker, yet His own
Spurned Him with spite, and evil dealt
God's holy and all-knowing Son,
By chosen Israel all unknown.

Our Prince in beggar's garment came;
In weakness came the Lord of might.
When earthly despots sought the same,
The King of kings and Lord of light
In midnight's darkest hour took flight.

Without a place to lay His head
Sojourned the God of providence;
With prostitutes and robbers fed
The Holy One, that penitence
Might starve their pride and decadence.

The voice that quelled the surging tide
And stilled the tempest by command
Turned not the waves of pain aside
Nor justice's unjust demand,
But, sinless, bore sin's reprimand.

Upon the cursèd tree was slain
The Righteous One in place of man,
Enduring all the sinner's pain:
God suff'ring by God's timeless plan
God's wrath, as God's unblemished Lamb.

In life brought low, and crushed in death,
Guiltless He bore our guilt and shame;
Therefore all having life and breath
Exalt the humbled Savior's name;
The glory of His cross proclaim!

---

82. Baptism Hymn

Purify this child, O Holy Ghost!
Ordinary water
Cannot save, for all in sin are lost
From our eldest father.
Yet this flood, infused with grace
Now regenerates our race.
Consecrate this child, O Lord,
Born by water and Your Word.

Blind and dead in sin we all would be,
Dead to our dear Savior;
From the womb and to eternity
We were lost forever!
As the flood once drowned our race,
Here You cleanse us by Your grace,
That the new man might arise,
Opening anointed eyes.

By this bath is joined in Jesus' grave
A corrupted nature;
By His rising all the world to save,
Rises a new creature:
Transferred to our Lord's domain,
Sanctified and born again,
Freed as none elsewise can be:
Freed to live eternally.

Welcome now this member of the Lord,
With us to be numbered;
Help it grow in knowledge of the Word,
Never to be sundered!
Bless and keep (him/her) in Your grace,
That this child may sing Your praise!
Granting angels to attend,
Mark and keep (him/her) to the end!

---

83. Confession Hymn

With heavy heart I kneel before You,
Bearing a load of guilt and shame.
In deepest sorrow I implore You,
Have pity, Lord, in Jesus' name!

My nakedness cannot be hidden;
My works avail but filthy rags.
Though I had used my hands as bidden,
My heart digs in its heels and drags.

On my account I beg no pardon,
So loathsome are my works and vain;
They only serve my heart to harden
And to the gates of hell amain.

O that Your justice might ignore them,
Turning to Jesus' work instead!
Cast them away, Lord, I deplore them;
I lay my hope on Him who bled.

Pray send Your Spirit now to move me
Each morning to repent and trust,
And every night correct, reprove me,
Bowing my pride into the dust!

I ask no license to keep sinning,
But grace in grace to persevere.
Therefore each day from dawn's beginning
Unto the dusk, O God, be near!

So to the Lord I cry, confessing,
Since such a sinful man am I
That if my works foretold my blessing,
I would be cursed indeed and die.

Take up my life, and do Your pleasure!
It would be lost in my frail hands.
On Golgotha I find my treasure
And my release from Satan's bands.

Each day, each hour the devil's scrimmage
Would push me back from off the field;
So long therefore as Jesus' image
Is formed in me, I shall not yield.

Convict me, Savior, that forgiven
I be by mighty word and sign,
That rather forward I be driven
Till in Your crown of stars I shine.

---

84. Remnant Hymn

A remnant, Lord, in mercy save
Of this Your body's sickly limb;
From Israel true, from Abram's sons,
Shine light where now our path is dim.
In fashion of Your heavenly love,
Preserve Your heritage!

With strife, alas, Your church is torn;
With worldly hearts Your earthly flock
Puts lust and greed before Your word
While hirelings herd them from their Rock.
As oft before, again restore
Your faithful heritage!

The hour is late; Lord, hear our prayer,
And lead us from these crumbling walls
To everlasting mansions where
No sorrow any soul befalls;
From leaning spires to perfect choirs
Redeem Your heritage!

Till then may we in godly zeal
Cast out hypocrisy, despair
From heart and life, and move to heal
The breach within Your precincts fair.
Enrich our soul and make us whole,
A lively heritage!

---

85. Mission Statement

We are forgiven in Christ Jesus,
Gathered by the Savior's voice
In His Spirit to rejoice,
To hear the Word of Him who frees us,
Study, and the same to share,
One another's griefs to bear;

Now in His sacraments united
We, rejoicing in God's love
And commissioned from above,
In this good purpose have delighted:
To convey the Gospel call
And salvation's joy to all.

To this end it is our intention
To birth children of the Lord
Through baptism and the Word,
And draw them onward by extension
Of the sin-absolving food
Of His body and His blood.

Therefore we place above all treasure,
Power, favor, fame, and ease,
Christ's own office of the keys.
And though He send us grief with pleasure,
Inward gain with outward loss,
We grow, trained upon His cross.

I find, more and more often as I revise these old, dubiously successful attempts at hymnody, that a reliable way to improve on them is to trim syllables out of the meter, and sometimes lines out of the stanza structure. I have scratched whole stanzas (and, frankly whole hymns), and I have also added stanzas where I felt they were needed.

The end results range from "so close to the original that you have took close to tell the difference" to "all but unrecognizable." There are many, many more to come. I can't believe how prolific I was at this period - by which I mean the vicinity of 1994, a date noted in the manuscript of at least one of these hymns.

Scratched and Dented 3

More revisions of hymns long buried in my high school and college poetry album... They're still not great, but they're better than they originally were, I think! (EDIT: Hymn numbers added)

73. The Royal Wedding Feast

Father, who have spread a feast,
Calling men from east and west
To Your Son's high day;
Spurned by greatest and by best,
Now invite the worst and least:
Even us, we pray!

Draw us near to celebrate
With the Lord of life who died
His triumphal hour.
Grant that, with the church His bride,
We with readiness might wait
Till He comes with power.

Make us worthy to partake
Of the living Lamb once slain,
Feeding soul and flesh.
Keep us till he comes again,
Bridegroom's bread with us to break,
All things to refresh.

Come, devoted Paraclete,
Keep our vigil in Your care
Till that day appears!
Guide the wise, the foolish spare
Lest the Lord on stealthy feet
Find us unawares.

Come, beloved Bridegroom, come,
Claim Your bride in spotless gown
Whitened with Your blood;
Who for us stooped meekly down,
Draw us to Your own high home
In the realm of God.

---

74. The Confessional Church

United by one truth, confessed
In faithfulness and love,
We know our fellowship is blessed
By Him who reigns above.

On this we base our fellowship:
Where Christ is rightly taught,
His sacred ordinances kept
In prayerful deed and thought.

Those yoked by other means may find
Their life harnessed to death;
Let us therefore be of one mind
On matters touching faith.

We seek and cherish harmony
Above all else but truth;
We walk together peaceably,
Our hearts as one in sooth.

If any brother would abide
In error or in sin,
In love be fellowship denied
Till we be one again.

The unexamined from our meal
Our love bids us exclude,
Lest they come under judgment's seal
For touching heavenly food.

From love and faith, not prejudice,
Proceeds our unity;
And union, not division, is
The end we hope to see.

A stronger bond of faith and love
Is now our theme in prayer;
We long to join the church above,
And fully see it there.

Till then, God grant His Word to hold
Our single heart in thrall,
That of our bond the tale be told:
All one, and One in all.

---

75. Nunc Dimittis Hymn

Lord, now let Your humble slave
Go in peace, for I have seen
And believed Your pledge to save
All who trust from guilt and grave.

I have tasted and believed
That Your grace is full and free;
I have trusted and received,
And my burden is relieved.

Christ, to all the nations Light
And to Israel glory true,
You have won the dreadful fight;
Is the kingdom not in sight?

Praise the Lord! We near the end;
Soon the birthpangs cease, and then
Christ in glory shall descend.
All God's people say, Amen!

---

76. Trinity Hymn

Lord, who in Christ has punished sin
Lest we bear our own sentence,
Now by Your Spirit dwelling in
Our hearts, we pray, call us each day
To confident repentance!

Immanuel of wondrous light
Whom prophets long expected,
With pardon counsel us aright,
That heavenly peace in us have lease,
Our hearts to You directed!

Spirit of God, to weary hearts
Bring rest from woe and terror;
Draw us to Christ by coaxing arts,
And so become our sweetest balm;
No comforter is fairer!

The Father glorifies the Son,
Christ glorifies the Father;
Always distinct yet always One,
The Spirit loath to take from both
The glory due each other.

Help, God! No mind can comprehend,
Whether of man or spirit,
How You have neither part nor end,
And yet can be both One and Three;
Reason rebels to hear it!

Therefore take captive every thought,
Lord, to Your higher wonder;
Draw us where we have never sought,
That we Amen may answer when
You speak with voice of thunder.

---

77. Lord's Supper Hymn

What is the bread on which we feed?
Christ's body broken for our need!
What is the cup, as Jesus said?
His blood, for our forgiveness shed!
O nail-pierced hands, now draw us near;
O thorn-crowned head, bend down Your ear!

Upon Your hands we now depend,
And into them our all commend;
Unto Your brow we look for God
To give us His accepting nod.
We thirst for grace that from You drips:
Lord, place forgiveness on our lips!

You carry on your stripe-marred back
Our vile excess, our guilty lack;
With nail-scarred foot, Lord Jesus, feel
The serpent crushed beneath Your heel!
Now, Lord of life, shrug off men's scorn
And stride forth from the dead, firstborn!

The cloak of night is spread about
Our world with shame and shades of doubt.
False shepherds lead astray Your sheep;
The faithful daily fall asleep.
Protect, O sower Lord, Your seed;
Feed us the object of our creed!

In Your spear-riven flesh we hide,
And by Your blood are purified;
In what You give, so let us steep
That we may share Your holy sleep
And, rising when You bid us rise,
Drink in Your beauty with our eyes.

---

78. Prophet, Priest and King Hymn

No greater prophet has ever declared
Judgment or promise from heaven
Than God's own Son, who no sorrow was spared
Till He full measure had given.
He undertook every word to fulfill
Of Law and prophet, proclaiming
Peace in our time by God's merciful will,
Calling the lost, the proud shaming.

No priest has given such full sacrifice
To reconcile man with heaven
As God's own Son, who Himself would suffice
When He full measure had given.
Both priest and victim He perfectly proves,
God's sanctuary unveiling;
His blood the sin of all races removes,
Once and for all time availing.

No higher king reigns on so high a throne
As Christ, ascended to heaven;
No longer thorns but all glory alone
Him in full measure is given.
Thence to all corners He reaches with grace,
God's might upon our need bearing.
Where One has gone all men shall come with haste,
Robes of His righteousness wearing.

---

79. Wedding Hymn

As with one voice we praise the Lord
That two of us are made one flesh,
One blood, one bone by plighted word,
With one hope, mercy daily fresh.

Today the oath this woman swears
Bids Christ with them as one be bound:
To brighten joys, to soften cares,
That proofs of pious love abound.

Today the man who takes this wife
Christ's love for all believers shows;
To love her more than very life
And live to honor her he vows.

Now what our God has joined as one
Let none but timely death divide,
Until the Bridegroom, Christ His Son,
Presents us spotless as His bride.

There is still lots more to come, including a hymn paraphrase of the Te Deum and another of the Athanasian Creed. To which, mindful of all the hard work of rewriting I have had to do already, I say: Kyrie eleison!

Scratched and Dented 2

More of those "scratched and dented" hymns, salvaged and revised from my high school and college poetry album... Again, if you think these are bad, you should see what I originally wrote! I get the horrors when I think that I once submitted their original versions to a hymn selection committee. Maybe with a little rewriting, they can be of more use. (EDIT: Hymn numbers added)

65. The Child in Christ

Suffer every son and daughter
Unto Jesus Christ to come,
Born to him through word and water
That they may behold the Father
Through His sole begotten Son!

Only such as these can enter
Heaven's kingdom, safe from death.
Christ, faith's object and inventor,
Calls them to the cross, the center
Of their childlike love and faith.

Would, Lord, that we too might trust You
As the simple babe believes!
For in Christ by faith we must be
If we would before You just be
And the due of sons receive.

Would that You like babes would nurse us
With the pure milk of the word,
And in saving grace immerse us
Lest the enemy disperse us
From Your guiding hand, O Lord!

As a child clings to its father
Let us trust and follow ours;
As He loves us, love each other,
Every mother, sister, brother,
Trusting in His ample powers.

Oh what grace, that at His bidding
Even infants can believe!
Therefore it is good and fitting
Every little babe permitting
Grace baptismal to receive.

Children of the realm of heaven,
Let it be our first concern
That each child to Christ be given
And unto His cross be driven!
Suffer them to come and learn!

Every little one's formation
May we hold in high respect,
That each one may know salvation
And with joyful expectation
Meet the day of the elect!

---

66. Dilexi Quoniam (Psalm 116)

I love the Lord, for He has heard
My voice of supplication.
Hence I will call to Him in all,
In sorrow and elation.
The pains of death encircled me,
The flame of hell a certainty
Till He brought me salvation.

The Lord is just and holy, yet
His mercy lasts forever;
The sinner who repents and trusts
In Him will perish never.
The humble God preserves in love;
The hungry He provides enough.
His grace can fail me never!

Return, O heart, to rest, for God
Has kept my feet from falling,
My eyes from tears, my soul from death,
My limbs from chains enthralling.
In God I'll walk in yonder land
Where all who live in Him shall stand,
Nor pain nor tears recalling.

What can I render to the Lord
For Christ's redeeming treasure?
I take salvation's cup and sing
His mercies passing measure.
I am your servant, God, your saint;
From this bleak world at last to faint
Will be my fondest pleasure.

---

67. Burial Hymn

To earth we commend in grief our friend
Who from this dark world departs in peace;
Your Spirit, Lord, send, our heart to mend,
That in us despair may not have lease.

Of sin all men die; Lord, grant that I
May number my days and live for You.
When my time is nigh, to you I'll cry,
Relying on You to answer true.

In sin we were found, for torment bound,
Till Jesus' blood cleansed us in Your eyes;
Let praises abound, a hopeful sound,
For life but begins when this shell dies.

Low spirits, begone! A lamb is home,
In glory surrounded, free from pain.
Its course is now run, its labor done;
Safe in Jesus' arms will it remain.

Dear brothers take heart; soon we depart,
Dear sisters, to stand in perfect light.
The Lord will impart what Jesus bought
And free us from death's uncharted night.

To life was my Lord, I know, restored,
And soon all who died in Christ shall stand.
Fear not the grave's cord; trust in His word
That our flesh shall stand at His right hand.

Come, Lord, and console our hearts, and pull
Our spirits from vain and hopeless gloom:
For body and soul shall soon be whole,
Arising in triumph from the tomb.

---

68. Confitemini Domino (Psalm 118)

O give thanks unto the Lord;
Our good Master is He.
Let us sing with one accord
To His love, faithful, free.
When I called in sore vexation
He responded with salvation.
With such Advocate on high,
What can daunt in earth or sky?

Our strong refuge He remains
Though all fortresses fall.
While like bees swarm earthly pains,
In His name I rout all.
Though my sin to hell had pulled me,
Jesus rescued and consoled me,
Has become my Strength and Song,
My Salvation swift and strong.

Whose strong arm do we now praise?
God who valiantly wins!
In His Son is righteousness
Who was slain for my sins.
Praise the Lord, whose vict'ry freed me,
Who from death to life will lead me;
Though I feel His chastening rod,
I've found favor with my God.

Gates of justice, open wide!
Full of thanks, I come in!
Only those can here abide
Whom God clears of all sin.
I give thanks to you, dear Master,
Who have heard my prayer and answered;
You have stoppered up my tomb,
My Salvation have become.

What the Lord has done this day
Is in His scripture shown:
What the builders cast away
Is the chief Cornerstone.
We rejoice now in the Lord's day;
For salvation let us now pray.
Blest is He who is come forth
In the name of God the Lord!

From His temple we have praised
Christ the Lamb slain for us,
To redeem us bound and raised
On that altar, the Cross.
To my God, my Savior holy,
Praise and thanks I offer solely;
O give thanks unto the Lord
Whose love lasts forevermore!

---

69. Venite Hymn (Psalm 95)

Come, let us sing to the Lord God of Hosts,
To salvation's rock let us kneel;
Come, let us thankfully enter His courts,
And joyfully let anthems peal.

He is our God and great heavenly King,
Who made both the height and the deep;
His is the sea, and the dry land is His;
So come, bow at our Maker's feet.

He is our Shepherd and we are His folk,
The flock pastured under His hand;
Never forget His great glory and love,
Who holds up the sky, sea, and land.

---

70. Morning and Evening Prayers

Heavenly Father, as dawn spreads her light,
We thank You for Jesus' sake
That You have brought us by grace through the night,
Keeping us till we awake.
From sin and evil now graciously keep
Us, that we live to please You.
Guard us with angels till once more we sleep,
Satan's strong wiles to undo.

Merciful Lord, as the shades spread their length,
We thank You in Jesus' name
This day for keeping us from Satan's strength;
Pardon our sins in the same.
Likewise tonight shield us from his foul schemes;
O'er us cause angels to bend;
And should You call us from out earthly dreams,
Take us where day never ends.

---

71. Micah 7 Hymn

Let all the nations rage and roar,
Let vanity consume the horde;
But as for me, come drought or war,
I wait with hope upon the Lord.
I watch with firm unshaken eye
For Him who hears my faintest cry.

Do not so mock and jeer, O foe!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though darkness fill my dwelling so,
The Lord illuminates my eyes.
His Word is light unto my steps,
A light that no vain sage accepts.

Yet I will bear His rod, for I
Have sinned against Him day and night,
Until He pleads my case on high
And carries me with awesome might,
Acquitted, to His shining skies
Where I stand righteous in His eyes.

O Shepherd, tend us with Your power
And lead us to the promised land;
Defend us in the evil hour,
Afflict the wicked with Your hand.
The world will see Your might and faint,
While You protect the humble saint.

What God but You would pardon sin,
Redeem the remnant of Your church,
Cast anger out, bring kindness in,
And cast our guilt beyond all search?
With truth and love, Your ancient vow,
You keep Your remnant even now.

---

72. Passion Hymn

Jesus, weighed with sorrows deep,
Coax your lads from heavy sleep.
Some bright eye the watch should keep
On so dark an hour.
Trembling, sighing in Your fear,
Knowing that the time is near,
Pray that God the Father bear
Mitigating power:

"Father, now be glorified,
As I will be at Your side;
Even after I have died,
Glorify Your Son.
Let Your Word, the truth for all,
Sanctify whom You will call.
If You will, spare me this gall;
Yet Your will be done."

Crushed by all the guilt of man;
Sinless, yet for sin in pain;
Marked out by the Maker's plan,
Marked for sacrifice:
Blood falls from Your fevered brow,
Though Your angels help You now.
Mortal men can never know
How You pay their price.

Sold to enemies at arms
By the traitor's poisoned charms,
See with grief what gloom alarms
Jude, Your straying Lamb!
Yet, before the Lord of Hosts
Yields in peace to mortal foes,
They fall prostrate at the boast
That You are I AM.

First before the priests You stand,
Who already have a plan
How for all a single man
In their place may die.
Had they but the Scripture known,
They would hail You as the Son
Sent to die for everyone,
Life for all to buy!

By Your closest friends denied,
By false witnesses belied,
Scourged and mocked from every side
And in purple dressed,
Place to place in shackles led,
Thorny wreath upon Your head,
Even now how You have bled,
All for Pilate's jest!

Pilate asks, "Are You a king?"
"I rule not an earthly thing,
But to truth My subjects cling."
He sneers, "What is truth?"
Even Pilate, all along
Knowing you had done no wrong,
Says in terror of the throng,
"Treat him as you choose."

Not a single angel fought.
Not a loyal word was brought.
Can a stranger thing be thought?
God in such defeat!
As you lay aside your powers,
Facing death's most bitter glowers,
Can one find in such bleak hours
Victory complete?

What a fearful mystery:
Your defeat my victory!
In the battle fought for me
You, Lord, bled and died!
When in scorn Your people gazed
Where You hung, by woe amazed,
Though in shame for sin upraised,
You were glorified!

There are lots more. I really had a prolific few months in 1993. Too bad it wasn't married to more developed skills and judgment. Oh, well. That's what experience is for!

Scratched and Dented Hymns

While hunting for hymn tunes and harmonizations that I wrote years ago, I found an album of my old poetry that I haven't looked at for a long time. Some of them were sacred poems. And other than the few I selected for my book of Useful Hymns, having carried them forward in my "live" collection of poetry all these years, they're not particularly good. But some of them are close enough to halfway decent that with a little unwrinkling, they might be of some use.

Here are some of those selections, dating most likely from some time in the early 1990s, if not the late 1980s, and freshly edited if not downright rewritten to improve content and resolve metrical awkwardness. (EDIT: Hymn numbers added)

58. Hymn to Enter

In peace let us honor the One who gives peace,
To Him who gives all things return our increase.
There's no higher praise than to trust in His care,
No sacrifice sweeter than penitent prayer.

In faith let us hope on the Spirit of faith;
For works avail nothing, for sin causes death.
He calls us by name, clothes us in the Lamb's blood,
And saves us by baptism's sin-drowning flood.

In joy let us worship the King who brings joy.
He saved us from death; let us therefore employ
No mere songs or praises, but lives set apart,
A hale Hallelujah of hands and of heart.

In love let us walk with the God who is Love;
In dying, bear witness to heaven above.
Afflicted, we triumph; our power is meek;
His strength is made perfect in those who are weak.

---

59. Thee and Only Thee (Mediation of Christ)

Christ, Mediator, intercede for me;
I raise my prayer to Thee and only Thee:
Atoning Lamb of God, have mercy!
All that has been, that is, and that will be
Owe life and weal to Thee and only Thee:
Creating Word of God, have mercy!
To wear the form of man Thou camest down
And lived in deprivation;
Pierced for our sake, worest as well the crown
Of death and desolation.
Thy blood for me now testifies;
Thy holy death now justifies
Before God's throne the sinner, even me.

Christ, Mediator, intercede for me;
I place my trust in Thee and only Thee:
O Lover of my soul, have mercy!
By my most grievous fault I stray from Thee,
Yet Thou dost seek and homeward carry me;
O Shepherd true and good, have mercy!
When I return for Thy self-giving love
Dead works and insurrection,
Call into evidence at court above
Thy death and resurrection.
Clothe me in Thy pure robe, I pray,
And fit me for it till the day
I rise to follow Thee and only Thee.

---

60. Inspiration Hymn

We bless You, Spirit of the living Word,
For blowing life into our nostrils when
It pleased the counsels of the changeless Lord
To furnish space and time with changeful men.

We bless You, Spirit of the Crucified,
Once yielded up as He expired in pain,
For pouring forth on them for whom He'd died
When He arose to breathe on them again.

We bless You, Spirit of the Lamb enthroned,
For rushing mightily on those below
Who, soon to be beheaded, burned or stoned,
Went boldly forth, your presence glad to know.

We bless You, Spirit of the hidden truth,
For breathing revelation into men
Who, whether full of years or lean with youth,
Declared Your word as You moved tongue or pen.

We bless You, Spirit who in mercy binds
Your mysteries to dead and blinded hearts,
For shining light into our darkened minds
And proofing them against the devil's arts.

We bless You, Spirit of eternity,
For guiding us in truth these many years.
So blow us forward till the ages flee
And, seen at last, You wipe away our tears.

---

61. Sola Gratia Hymn

Your grace alone, O living Word,
Has saved my soul from sin;
For through the gospel taught and heard
Your Spirit entered in.

All who for hope and comfort pine
Must to Your feet be driven,
For there alone by grace divine
Is life eternal given.

My works and prayers can nothing mend,
But grace my sentence stays.
Such fruits of faith I humbly send
To You, my God, in praise.

For if I built on my own deeds
I were on shifting sand.
Christ, to Your grace my spirit pleads,
The Rock on which I stand.

---

62. Cleansing Hymn

Christ my Savior, God and Man,
Who set forth creation's plan:
All my efforts, all my pains
Cannot cleanse my guilty stains.

Christ my Light, my Life, my Lord,
Broken for me and outpoured,
By that stream my conscience rinse
That my soul may hail You Prince.

Christ my Prophet, Priest and King,
Who has ordered everything:
Let Your Spirit make me new
That my steps may follow You.

Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
I have none whereof to boast
But your all-sufficient grace;
Keep me in Your safe embrace.

---

63. Proverbs 30:5 Hymn

In the world's tumult and snare,
Where shall we seek truth, O where?
Not in sayings of the loud,
Nor the wisdom of the crowd,
But the foolishness of God
And the path the feeble trod.

What the wise behold as wise,
Darkening their carnal eyes,
Shrinks as shadows from the sun,
So beneath the Holy One.
His strong Word is tested, true;
Swollen man has not a clue.

Favored are the poor in heart,
Yearning for the better part,
Who can pay nor debt nor toll;
Only such will save their soul.
He who sets the sinner free
Shall their shield and refuge be.

---

64. Isaiah 55 Hymn

Come, you thirsty, to the water!
Come, you needy, come eat!
Cost and payment do not matter,
Free the wine and choice meat,
All things fresh and all sweet:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Should you pay for what is not food,
Buy what does not nourish?
Heed the word and eat what is good;
Eat, delight and flourish!
Such food shall not perish:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Listen well, and God will save you;
Listen that you might live!
All the promises He gave you
He full measure will give;
You He never will leave:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Faithful is His grace forever,
As He showed to David,
Who bore witness of His favor
Unto whom He gave it,
Who by faith receive it:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Thus shall every foreign nation
Join in praise and gladness,
For your Lord has made salvation,
Piercing sin's dark madness,
Breaking fear and sadness:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Seek the Lord while He is by you,
Call on Him repenting!
Come, lest He at last deny you,
While his wrath's relenting;
Come, and leave lamenting:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Let the wicked quit his sinning
And the fool his lusting!
Trust the Lord; from the beginning
He redeems the trusting,
Their frail hearts adjusting:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Pardon freely He announces,
Mercy overflowing
To the one who sin renounces,
His redemption knowing;
Pardon freely flowing.
Alleluia, alleluia!

"My thoughts are not yours," the Lord says,
"Farther than the stars are
From the earth, so far are my ways
Over yours, and farther;
Higher than yours and wiser."
Alleluia, alleluia!

"As the rain to me returns not
Without feeding your soil,
So My word its purpose spurns not,
Nor nor returns to me void;
It works faith and gives joy."
Alleluia, alleluia!

So rejoice with exultation,
You who life have tasted!
Bear in mind the Lord's salvation,
Pray the day be hastened
And the wicked chastened:
Alleluia, alleluia!

Uff da. There isn't much helping that last one. The meter is a liability. But I had a tune in mind for it that I can't shake off, so I could only do so much.