O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness
This hymn, traditionally sung
in the Epiphany season is by John Samuel Bewley Monsell (1811-75). He was the
son of the Archdeacon of Derry, and was educated in Ireland, before being
ordained in the Anglican Church in 1834. He was rector of Egham in Surrey and
St Nicholas Guildford, where he died in an accident while inspecting the
progress of building work in the church.
He composed over 300 hymns,
but only this one and “Fight the Good
Fight” are regularly sung today. Monsell believed that hymns should be sung
joyfully, saying “We are too distant and
reserved in our praises. We sing not as we should of him who is Chief among ten
thousand, the altogether Lovely”. That impulse is certainly present in this
hymn, with its injunction to “worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness”. It is clear from the hymn, though, that
this holiness is not necessarily to be found in outwardly splendid things, but
in truth and trust, obedience and lowliness.
The tune , “Was lebete, was schwebet” comes from a
German manuscript of 1754.
O
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
bow
down before him, his glory proclaim;
with
gold of obedience, and incense of lowliness,
kneel
and adore him: the Lord is his name.
Low
at his feet lay thy burden of carefulness:
high
on his heart he will bear it for thee,
comfort
thy sorrows, and answer thy prayerfulness,
guiding
thy steps as may best for thee be.
Fear
not to enter his courts in the slenderness
of
the poor wealth thou wouldst reckon as thine:
truth
in its beauty, and love in its tenderness,
these
are the offerings to lay on his shrine.
These,
though we bring them in trembling and fearfulness,
he
will accept for the name that is dear;
mornings
of joy give for evenings of tearfulness,
trust
for our trembling and hope for our fear.
O
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;
bow
down before him, his glory proclaim;
with
gold of obedience, and incense oflowliness,
kneel
and adore him: the Lord is his name.
- What do you think the “beauty of holiness” looks like?
No comments:
Post a Comment