I Was a Wandering Sheep ~ Hymn

I Was a Wandering Sheep

I was a wan­der­ing sheep,
I did not love the fold;
I did not love my Shep­herd’s voice,
I would not be con­trolled.
I was a way­ward child,
I did not love my home;
I did not love my Fa­ther’s voice,
I loved afar to roam.

The Shep­herd sought His sheep,
The Fa­ther sought His child;
They fol­lowed me o’er vale and hill,
O’er des­erts waste and wild;
They found me nigh to death,
Famished and faint and lone;
They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wan­d’ring one.

They spoke in ten­der love,
They raised my droop­ing head,
They gent­ly closed my bleed­ing wounds,
My faint­ing soul they fed;
They washed my filth away,
They made me clean and fair;
They brought me to my home in peace,
The long sought wan­der­er.

Jesus my Shep­herd is:
’Twas He that loved my soul;
’Twas He that washed me in His blood,
’Twas He that made me whole.
’Twas He that sought the lost,
That found the wan­d’ring sheep,
’Twas He that brought me to the fold,
’Tis He that still doth keep.

No more a wan­der­ing sheep,
I love to be con­trolled;
I love my ten­der Shep­herd’s voice,
I love the peace­ful fold.
No more a way­ward child,
I seek no more to roam;
I love my heav’n­ly Fa­ther’s voice,
I love, I love His home!

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1843.

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts!~ Hymn

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts!

Holy, ho­ly, ho­ly Lord
God of Hosts! When Heav’n and earth,
Out of dark­ness, at Thy Word,
Issued in­to glo­ri­ous birth,
All Thy works be­fore Thee stood,
And Thine eye be­held them good,
While they sang with sweet ac­cord,
Holy, ho­ly, ho­ly, Lord!

Holy, ho­ly, ho­ly! Thee
One Je­ho­vah ev­er­more,
Father, Son, and Spir­it, we
Dust and ash­es, would ad­ore;
Lightly by the world es­teemed,
From that world by Thee re­deemed,
Sing we here with glad ac­cord,
Holy, ho­ly, ho­ly Lord!

Holy, ho­ly, ho­ly! All
Heaven’s tri­umph­ant choirs shall sing
When the ran­somed na­tions fall
At the foot­stool of their king:
Then shall saints and se­ra­phim,
Hearts and voic­es, swell one hymn,
Round the throne with full ac­cord,
Holy, ho­ly, ho­ly Lord!

Words: James Montgomery, 1832.

Jesus Shall Reign ~ Hymn

Jesus Shall Reign

Jesus shall reign wher­e’er the sun
Does his suc­cess­ive jou­rneys run;
His king­dom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

Behold the is­lands with their kings,
And Eur­ope her best trib­ute brings;
From north to south the princ­es meet,
To pay their hom­age at His feet.

There Per­sia, glo­ri­ous to be­hold,
There In­dia shines in east­ern gold;
And bar­bar­ous na­tions at His word
Submit, and bow, and own their Lord.

To Him shall end­less pray­er be made,
And prais­es throng to crown His head;
His name like sweet per­fume shall rise
With ev­ery morn­ing sac­ri­fice.

People and realms of ev­ery tongue
Dwell on His love with sweet­est song;
And in­fant voic­es shall pro­claim
Their ear­ly bless­ings on His name.

Blessings abound where’er He reigns;
The pri­son­er leaps to lose his chains;
The wea­ry find eter­nal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.

Where He dis­plays His heal­ing pow­er,
Death and the curse are known no more:
In Him the tribes of Ad­am boast
More bless­ings than their fa­ther lost.

Let ev­ery crea­ture rise and bring
Peculiar hon­ors to our king;
Angels des­cend with songs again,
And earth re­peat the loud amen.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1719.

By Faith in Christ I Walk with God ~ Hymn

By Faith in Christ I Walk with God

By faith in Christ I walk with God,
With Heav’n, my jour­ney’s end, in view;
Supported by His staff and rod,
My road is safe, and plea­sant too.

I tra­vel through a de­sert wide
Where ma­ny round me blind­ly stray;
But He vouch­safes to be my guide,
And will not let me miss my way.

Though snares and dan­gers throng my path,
And earth and hell my course with­stand;
I tri­umph ov­er all by faith,
Guarded by His al­migh­ty hand.

The wil­der­ness af­fords no food,
But God for my sup­port pre­pares;
Provides me ev­ery need­ful good,
And frees my soul from wants and cares.

With Him sweet con­verse I main­tain,
Great as He is I dare be free;
I tell Him all my grief and pain,
And He re­veals His love to me.

Some cor­di­al from His Word He brings,
Whene’er my fee­ble spir­it faints;
At once my soul re­vives and sings,
And yields no more to sad com­plaints.

I pi­ty all that world­lings talk
Of plea­sures that will quick­ly end;
Be this my choice, O Lord, to walk
With Thee, my guide, my guard, my friend.

Words: John Newton, 1779.

Like a River Glorious ~ Hymn

Francis Ridley Havergal is the hymnwriter of a favorite of mine from Russian Baptist Days. Like a River Glorious is so beautiful when sung with soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices. It takes me back to the times when we sang these beautiful hymns in four part harmony.

Like a River Glorious ~ Francis Ridley Havergal (1836 – 1879)

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest

Hidden in the hollow of His blessed hand,
Never foe can follow, never traitor stand;
Not a surge of worry, not a shade of care,
Not a blast of hurry touch the spirit there.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest

Every joy or trial falleth from above,
Traced upon our dial by the sun of love;
We may trust Him fully all for us to do.
They who trust Him wholly find Him wholly true.

Refrain:
Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

Great is the Love of Jesus ~ Hymn

Great is the Love of Jesus

Great is the love that brought me
Out of the path of sin;
Great is the love that gave me
Pardon and peace with­in.

Refrain

Great is the love that saves me,
Saves me hour by hour;
Wonderful love of Je­sus—
Who can resist its pow­er?

Great is the love that draws me
Near to my heav’n­ly guide;
Great is the love that keeps me
Close to His bleed­ing side.

Refrain

Great is the love that leads me
Safely where’er I go;
More of its pow­er and great­ness
Teach me, O Lord, to know.

Refrain

Great is the love pre­par­ing
Mansions of rest ab­ove;
There shall I know its full­ness,
Wonderful, bound­less love.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1894.

My Hope is Built ~ Hymn

This song is titled My Hope is Built and sometimes The Solid Rock

My Hope is Built

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ name.

Refrain

On Christ the solid rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

Refrain

When He shall come with trumpet sound,
Oh may I then in Him be found.
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne.

Refrain

Words: Edward Mote, cir­ca 1834; first ap­peared in Mote’s Hymns of Praise, 1836.

Holy as Thou, O Lord, Is None ~ Hymn

Holy as Thou, O Lord, is None

Holy as Thou, O Lord, is none;
Thy ho­li­ness is all Thine own;
A drop of that un­bound­ed sea
Is ours—a drop de­rived from Thee.

And when Thy pur­ity we share,
Thine on­ly glo­ry we de­clare;
And, hum­bled in­to no­thing, own,
Holy and pure is God alone.

Sole, self-exist­ing God and Lord,
By all Thy heav’n­ly hosts ad­ored,
Let all on earth bow down to Thee,
And own Thy peer­less ma­jes­ty.

Thy pow­er un­pa­ral­leled con­fess,
Established on the Rock of peace;
The Rock that nev­er shall re­move,
The Rock of pure, al­migh­ty, love.

Words: Charles Wesley

Christ Arose! Hallelujah! Christ Arose!

Easter, the best day in the history of the world!

Christ Is Risen!

Truly He is Risen!

Khristos voskrese!    Voistinu voskrese!

Христос воскрес!
воистину воскрес!

Blessings to all on this Glorious Easter Day!

One of my favorite Easter hymns growing up was Christ Arose! You just have to hear it sung in a church full of Russian Baptists! (In Russian of course) This song is sung with emotion and joy that can’t be missed.

Christ Arose!

Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Vainly they watch His bed, Jesus my Savior;
Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain

Death cannot keep its Prey, Jesus my Savior;
He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!

Up from the grave He arose,
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes,
He arose a Victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose!
Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Words & Music:  Ro­bert Low­ry, 1874.

All Glory Laud and Honor ~ Hymn

All Glory, Laud and Hon0r

Refrain

All glory, laud and honor,
To Thee, Redeemer, King,
To whom the lips of children
Made sweet hosannas ring.

Thou art the King of Israel,
Thou David’s royal Son,
Who in the Lord’s Name comest,
The King and Blessèd One.

Refrain

The company of angels
Are praising Thee on High,
And mortal men and all things
Created make reply.

Refrain

The people of the Hebrews
With palms before Thee went;
Our prayer and praise and anthems
Before Thee we present.

Refrain

To Thee, before Thy passion,
They sang their hymns of praise;
To Thee, now high exalted,
Our melody we raise.

Refrain

Thou didst accept their praises;
Accept the prayers we bring,
Who in all good delightest,
Thou good and gracious King.

Refrain

Words: Theodulph of Orleans, cir­ca 820 (Glor­ia, laus, et hon­or) trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by John M. Neale, 1851