Notes on the Notes – April 6, 2025

Lent 5

This week’s music: 

“O Jesus I Have Promised” (VU #120)

“O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end;
Remain forever near me, my Saviour and my friend;
I shall not fear the journey if you are by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway if you will be my guide.

O let me feel you near me: the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear;
My foes are ever near me, around me and within,
But, Jesus, then draw nearer and shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear you speaking in accents clear and still,
Above the storms of passion, the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me, to hasten or control;
Now speak, and make me listen, O guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, you have promised to all who follow you,
That where you are in glory your servant shall be too.
And Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end;
O give me grace to follow, my Saviour and my friend.”

We begin worship on this fifth Sunday in Lent with this personal hymn of commitment.  It was written by John Ernest Bode in 1866.

Hear the hymn sung with slightly different words at:  https://www.yout-ube.com/watch?v=agWXZW7iVKc

“Don’t Be Afraid” (MV #90)

“Don’t be afraid.
My love is stronger, 
my love is stronger than your fear.
Don’t be afraid.
My love is stronger 
and I have promised, promised to be always near.”

The response for our Lenten candle liturgy is by John L. Bell and Graham Maule (1995) of the Iona Community in Scotland.  Written in the voice of God, we are reminded of God’s love for us, even in times of fear and sorrow.

“And When You Call for Me” (MV #96)

“And when you call for me, I have already answered.
And when you call for me, I am already there.”

Our sung response to the Words of Assurance is also written from God’s perspective.  We are assured that God is always there for us when we call.  The song was written by Lynn Bauman in 2000, with music by Linnea Good (2004).

Hear the song at:  And When You Call for Me WPUC

“If You Will Trust in God to Guide You” (VU #286)

“If you will trust in God to guide you,
and hope in God through all your ways,
God will give strength, whatever betide you,
and bear you through the evil days.
Who trust in God’s unchanging love
builds on the rock that will not move.

God will embrace your pain and weeping,
your helpless anger and distress.
I you are in God’s care and keeping,
in sorrow will God love you less?
For Christ, who took for you a cross,
will bring you safe through every loss.

Sing, pray, and keep God’s ways unswerving;
so do your own part faithfully,
and trust God’s word; though underserving,
you’ll find God’s promise true to be.
God never will forsake in need
the soul that trusts in God indeed.”

German composer, Georg Neumark (1621-1681) lived during the time of the Thirty Years’ War, when social and economic conditions were deplorable. He had personal trials as well. At the age of 20, on his way to Königsberg to study at the university, traveling in the comparative safety of a group of merchants, he was robbed of nearly all his possessions. When he was given a position as tutor in the home of a wealthy judge, he wrote the text of this hymn “to the honour of my beloved Lord.” The words of the hymn are based upon Psalm 55:22. Despite his personal sufferings throughout his life,  Neumark wrote many hymns in which he expressed his absolute trust in God. In 1651 he settled in Weimar, Thuringia, where he became court poet and archivist to Duke Johann Ernst and librarian and registrar of the city. Neumark wrote thirty-four hymns, of which “If You But Trust in God to Guide You” has become a classic. The version in Voices United is a blend of two translations by Catherine Winkworth (1855 and 1863) with a translation of verse two by Jaroslav Vajda (1978), adapted for Voices United.  The tune was also composed by Georg Neumark (1657).

Hear the tune played on piano at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btb28mJc4PE

“Knowing You”

“All I once held dear, built my life upon,
All this world reveres and wars to own,
All I once thought gain I have counted loss,
Spent and worthless now compared to this:

Knowing You, Jesus,
Knowing You –
There is no greater thing.
You’re my all, You’re the best,
You’re my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You, Lord. 

Now my heart’s desire is to know You more,
To be found in You and known as Yours,
To possess by faith what I could not earn,
All surpassing gift of righteousness.

Knowing You, Jesus,…

Oh, to know the power of Your risen life
And to know You in Your sufferings
To become like You in Your death, my Lord
So with You to live and never die.

Knowing You, Jesus…”

This week’s anthem is a song written by worship leader and songwriter Graham Kendrick in 1994.  It was inspired by the book of Philippians, where Paul lists his impressive qualifications, and then dramatically sweeps them all aside for the sake of one supreme aim – to know Christ.  In a world of constant distractions vying for our attention, we are reminded that following Jesus is the greater goal.

See Graham Kendrick sing the song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sotCi7St0fA

“These Lenten Gifts We Bring”

“These Lenten gifts we bring,
Our living faith expressed,
We offer them, most lovingly,
And thus our hearts are blessed.

O loving God receive
These gifts we gladly give,
That show our faith and hope and trust;
Your way we seek to live.”

Our Lenten offering response uses the tune FRANCONIA (VU #542), which was written by Johann Balthasar Konig (1738) and adapted by William Henry Havergal (1847).

“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (VU #149)

“When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God:
all the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to his blood.

See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,  that were a present far too small:
love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. 

When teenaged Isaac Watts (1707-1748) complained to his father about the monotonous way Christians in England sang the Old Testament Psalms, his father, a leading deacon, snapped back ‘All right young man, you give us something better.’  To Isaac Watts, the singing of God’s praise was the form of worship nearest to Heaven.  Young Isaac accepted his father’s challenge and eventually wrote a total of more than 600 hymns, earning him the title ‘The father of English hymnody’ and bringing us hymns such as “Oh God Our Help In Ages Past”  and “Joy To The World.”  Isaac Watts began the study of Latin at the age of four, and added Greek when he was nine, French at eleven and Hebrew at thirteen.  At fifteen the young poet turned his talents to the service of the church and the great career in hymn-writing began.

In his hymns Isaac Watts takes the Word of God,… and distills it so that all it’s wisdom, beauty and comfort are set before us with plainness and power… Isaac Watt’s greatest composition must surely be “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross.”  It has been called ‘The very best hymn in the English language’ and in it Watts, using only 16 lines, paints a soul-stirring picture of the Saviour’s death on the cross coupled with the whole-hearted response of the believer to such amazing love.  As Tedd Smith says ‘It seems to me that Isaac Watts wrote this text as if he were standing at the foot of Christ’s cross.’   (Source:  SermonAudio.com)  Edward Miller adapted ROCKINGHAM from a Scottish tune called TUNBRIDGE in 1780.

Hear the Choir of King’s College at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDkuxEIcpdI

“May the Christ Who Walks on Wounded Feet” 

“May the Christ who walks on wounded feet
Travel with you all your journey through.
May you see Christ’s face in all you meet
And may all you meet see Christ’s face in you.”

Our benediction response was written by Allan Baer in 2013 and arranged by S. Porter. The words are adapted from a traditional Celtic prayer.

Hear the song at: May the Christ Who Walks WPUC