One year ago on Esgetology:
I have no patience for hymns that have nothing Christian about them. Take this stinker from LSB (#789) by Albert F. Bayly: Read the rest here.
Tempus fugit: "Take this hymn and shove it!"
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Do you have people wanting to sing this – or is this just utterly preemptive against this hymn?
Preemptive. My congregation puts up with all my hard-to-sing choices, and generally understands the importance of good hymnody. None of that is my doing – I found it that way. It's a wonderful, wonderful congregation.
If we're going to have a questionable hymn, why not swap #789 out for a good questionable hymn, like the original Kremser, which the Dutch sang after they drove the Duke of Alba out of the Netherlands.
Want to come in on a Saturday morning and paste that into our LSBs?
Excellent! I'll begin by pasting it here:
We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing;
He chastens and hastens His will to make known.
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing.
Sing praises to His Name; He forgets not His own.
Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining,
Ordaining, maintaining His kingdom divine;
So from the beginning the fight we were winning;
Thou, Lord, were at our side, all glory be Thine!
We all do extol Thee, Thou Leader triumphant,
And pray that Thou still our Defender will be.
Let Thy congregation escape tribulation;
Thy Name be ever praised! O Lord, make us free!