A New Hymn of Praise
As my friends know, I am a big proponent of the classic hymns of the Christian faith. The best ones have solid doctrinal content and singable, reverent tunes. They are treasures to be taught and passed down to future generations.
I'm also a big fan of singing the Psalms. What's better than singing the words of uninspired men is to sing the actual inspired Word of God itself! In addition to the Psalms, however, there are also passages throughout other books of the Bible that contain a wealth of textual material for singing. These are called "Canticles." (For example, the Nunc Dimittis and the Magnificat.)
A few years ago I was reading through the book of Daniel and ran across a poem that I thought would be great to sing as a hymn. The following are the words of the prophet Daniel, in response to the Lord having revealed to him the meaning of the king Nebuchadnezzar's dream:
(20) Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
(21) He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
(22) he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
(23) To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king's matter
(Daniel 2:20-23)
I wondered why such a great song of praise has never been put to verse. (Well, if it has, I have never seen it.) So I made an attempt at transforming the text to meter. (I haven't yet gotten around to rhyming it, however.) Here is what I have come up with. It is in LM or 88 88 meter, and can be sung to just about any tune that fits those meters (for example, "Old Hundredth," aka "The Doxology").
Forever bless-ed be God's name,
To whom wis-dom and might belong.
He changes times and seasons too;
Removeth kings and sets them up.
He giveth wisdom to the wise,
Knowledge to those who grasp the truth;
Revealeth deep and hidden things;
He knows the dark, but dwells in light.
God of our fathers, unto You
We give you thanks and give you praise,
For You gave us wis-dom and might,
Revealed to us what we have asked.
What do you think?
I'm also a big fan of singing the Psalms. What's better than singing the words of uninspired men is to sing the actual inspired Word of God itself! In addition to the Psalms, however, there are also passages throughout other books of the Bible that contain a wealth of textual material for singing. These are called "Canticles." (For example, the Nunc Dimittis and the Magnificat.)
A few years ago I was reading through the book of Daniel and ran across a poem that I thought would be great to sing as a hymn. The following are the words of the prophet Daniel, in response to the Lord having revealed to him the meaning of the king Nebuchadnezzar's dream:
(20) Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
to whom belong wisdom and might.
(21) He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
(22) he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
(23) To you, O God of my fathers,
I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and might,
and have now made known to me what we asked of you,
for you have made known to us the king's matter
(Daniel 2:20-23)
I wondered why such a great song of praise has never been put to verse. (Well, if it has, I have never seen it.) So I made an attempt at transforming the text to meter. (I haven't yet gotten around to rhyming it, however.) Here is what I have come up with. It is in LM or 88 88 meter, and can be sung to just about any tune that fits those meters (for example, "Old Hundredth," aka "The Doxology").
Forever bless-ed be God's name,
To whom wis-dom and might belong.
He changes times and seasons too;
Removeth kings and sets them up.
He giveth wisdom to the wise,
Knowledge to those who grasp the truth;
Revealeth deep and hidden things;
He knows the dark, but dwells in light.
God of our fathers, unto You
We give you thanks and give you praise,
For You gave us wis-dom and might,
Revealed to us what we have asked.
What do you think?
1 comment:
I think it's on track.
I also think Rev. 15 should be a hymn - Better than what Petra tried.
Post a Comment