Best Loved Hymns and Readings

And round His pierced feet

Fair flowers of paradise extend

Their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown Him the Lord of years,

The Potentate of time,

Creator of the rolling spheres,

Ineffably sublime:

All hail, Redeemer, hail!

For Thou hast died for me:

Thy praise shall never, never fail

Throughout eternity.

Matthew Bridges (1800-94) and Godfrey Thring (1823-1903)

Daniel in the lions’ den (#ulink_44523732-b46e-5b6f-b3d0-907d9914625b)

The story of Daniel, recounted at Daniel 6:19-28, has long been cherished as an example of God’s protective love, providing encouragement and comfort for those facing considerable danger or difficulty in their lives.

Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, ‘O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?’ Daniel then said to the king, ‘O king, live for ever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.’ Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions – they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: ‘May you have abundant prosperity! I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: For he is the living God, enduring for ever. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion has no end. He delivers and rescues, he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth; for he has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.’ So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

David and Goliath (#ulink_fb056400-e2df-5f48-abf2-f260940b3908)

The story of David and Goliath, as given at 1 Samuel 17:38-51, represents the archetype of the underdog triumphing against seemingly overwhelming opposition. It remains a reassuring reminder that what appears impossible may yet prove attainable to the heart that has faith in God.

Saul clothed David with his armour; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. David strapped Saul’s sword over the armour, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, ‘I cannot walk with these; for I am not used to them.’ So David removed them. Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. The Philistine said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, ‘Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.’ But David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and he will give you into our hand.’

When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet the Philistine. David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him; then he cut off his head with it.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended (#ulink_17a5811b-f219-566e-896a-5e03a68abf81)

This popular evening hymn was written by the Victorian clergyman and hymn writer John Ellerton, who was rector at Barnes and subsequently Torquay. It brought its author considerable posthumous prestige when it was chosen (largely because of its imperial overtones) by Queen Victoria to be sung at her Diamond Jubilee service in St Paul’s Cathedral in 1897.

The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,

The darkness falls at Thy behest;

To Thee our morning hymns ascended,

Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.

We thank Thee that Thy Church unsleeping,

While earth rolls onward into light,

Through all the world her watch is keeping,

And rests not now by day or night.

As o’er each continent and island

The dawn leads on another day,

The voice of prayer is never silent,

Nor dies the strain of praise away.

The sun that bids us rest is waking

Our brethren ‘neath the western sky,

And hour by hour fresh lips are making

Thy wondrous doings heard on high.

So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,

Like earth’s proud empires, pass away;

Thy kingdom stands and grows for ever,

Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.

John Ellerton (1826-93)

Dear Lord and Father of mankind (#ulink_6975a487-413d-50e7-970f-d2399fa52680)

John Greenleaf Whittier never intended these verses from the larger poetic work The Brewing of Soma (1872) to be sung as, being a committed Quaker, he did not approve of the use of music in public worship. The son of a farmer, he considered himself a poet rather than a hymn writer but after his words were matched with Sir Hubert Parry’s tune ‘Repton’ from the oratorio Judith (1888) they became a popular choice with congregations of many different kinds. The ‘soma’ referred to in the title of Whittier’s work was an intoxicating drink used by a Hindu sect in India to drive themselves into an ecstatic frenzy far removed from the poet’s ‘still small voice of calm’.

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,

Forgive our foolish ways!