Here are the three pieces we did last night, the first in marking the recent passing of Malcolm Disley. They may be in the threads somewhere, but I could not find them there except by link to Cyber Hynmnal. In any event I am including them.
BLESSED ASSURANCE
Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine!
O what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
Born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.
Refrain
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long;
This is my story, this is my song,
Praising my Savior, all the day long.
Perfect submission, perfect delight,
Visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
Angels descending bring from above
Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.
Perfect submission, all is at rest
I in my Savior am happy and blest,
Watching and waiting, looking above,
Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.
SH
NEARER, MY GOD, TO THEE
Words: Verses 1-5, Sarah Fuller Flower Adams, in Hymns and Anthems, by William Johnson Fox, 1841; verse 6,
Edward Henry Bickersteth, Jr. Music: "Bethany (Mason)," Lowell Mason, 1856
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to
Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone.
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
There let the way appear, steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy given;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!.
Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Or, if on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I'll fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
There in my Father's home, safe and at rest,
There in my Savior's love, perfectly blest;
Age after age to be, nearer my God to Thee.
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
CYBER HYMNAL NOTES:
"One night, sometime after lying awake in the dark, eyes wide open, through the stillness in the house the melody came to me, and the next morning I wrote down the notes." -- Lowell Mason
Alternate tunes:
"Horbury," John Bacchus Dykes, 1861; "Propior Deo" (Nearer to God) (Arthur Seymour Sullivan), 1872 (uses a modified refrain).
"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is sung at the end of the 1936 movie San Francisco, which was nominated for several Academy Awards. It is also played by the ship's band in Titanic, winner of the Academy Award for best picture of 1997. There are also many inspiring true life stories associated with this hymn. Some Titanic survivors said it was played by the ship's orchestra as the ocean liner went down (though other survivors said it was a different song).Another story concerns the death of American president William McKinley, who was assassinated in 1901. Dr. Mann, the attending physician, reported that among McKinley's last words were "'Nearer, my God, to Thee, e'en though it be a cross,' has been my constant prayer." On the afternoon of September 3, 1901, after five minutes of silence across the nation, bands in Union and Madison Squares in New York City played the hymn in memory of the fallen president. It was also played at a memorial service for him in Westminster Abbey, London.
SH
WHISPERING HOPE^^
By Septimus Winner, 1868. Hymnals often list the author as "Alice Hawthorne," one of Winner's several pseudonyms.
1. Soft as the voice of an angel,
Breathing a lesson unheard,
Hope with a gentle persuasion
Whispers her comforting word:
"Wait till the darkness is over,
Wait till the tempest is done,
Hope for the sunshine tomorrow,
After the shower is gone."
Refrain:
Whispering hope, oh how welcome thy voice,
Making my heart in its sorrow rejoice.
2.
If, in the dusk of the twilight,
Dim be the region afar,
Will not the deepening darkness
Brighten the glimmering star?
Then when the night is upon us,
Why should the heart sink away?
When the dark midnight is over,
Watch for the breaking of day.
3. Hope, as an anchor so steadfast,
Rends the dark veil for the soul,
Whither the Master has entered,
Robbing the grave of its goal.
Come then, O come, glad fruition,
Come to my sad weary heart;
Come, O Thou blest hope of glory,
Never, O never depart.
^^
SH
Wish you could have been there. I autoharped and song-led all three. Hardi and our friend Ed played banjo on Blessed Assurance. Hardi fiddled and Ed played tenor banjo, both of them on melody, on the second two items, and it was so pretty. We enjoyed the warmup so much it was like being in church twice, for us. I got funny just before the service when the first arrivals asked, "What are we singing tonight?" And what came to mind was "Blistering Assurance." Fortunately though these same good people prayed for us before the service began, so when we sang it did not come out that way! *G*
For many, this was the first time they had heard Whispering Hope. It was new for me, too. If I did not have so many people generously giving me recordings, I'd probably never have learned these old lovelies. If you'd like to borrow the recordings I've accumulated, see this thread: GOSPEL TAPE LIBRARY OFFER
~Susan
sj