Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art -
thou my best thought, by day or by night;
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father; thine own may I be,
thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
thou mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only first in my heart,
high King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
I love this one, but I've yet to hear it sung in any church I've attended.
KB~ we don't have the original words in our hymnbook, but we do use the tune occasionally to various long meter hymns, such as the Doxology, From Every Stormy Wind That Blows, When I Survey, etc.
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2017 1:43 pm
by Bootstrap
Heirbyadoption wrote:Do y'all use the Shepherd's Hymn tune in the Southern Harmony, or the standard minor tune, or yet another? We have four tunes at least, that I'm aware of...
I have only seen copied pages or sung along with the group. When we sing Sacred Harp from the book, we use the Original Sacred Harp with Denson Revisions, 1971 (four note system).
I originally learned the song from Bicky McClain in the 1970s, just the tune with people harmonizing. Looks like the McClain Family Band recorded a version very similar to what I first learned:
[video][/video]
When we sing it as shape note, it sounds like this:
[video][/video]
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2017 11:02 am
by MaxPC
Cousin sent this link to me. It's one of the most beautiful renditions of acapella Gospel singing of the Beatitudes.
[video][/video]
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:29 pm
by KingdomBuilder
Guide us, O thou great Jehovah
Guide us, O thou great Jehovah,
Guide us to the promised land.
We are weak, but thou art able;
Hold us with thy pow'rful hand.
Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit,
Feed us till the Savior comes,
Feed us till the Savior comes.
Open, Jesus, Zion's fountains;
Let her richest blessings come.
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar
Guard us to this holy home.
Great Redeemer, Great Redeemer,
Bring, oh, bring the welcome day,
Bring, oh, bring the welcome day!
When the earth begins to tremble,
Bid our fearful thoughts be still;
When thy judgments spread destruction,
Keep us safe on Zion's hill,
Singing praises, Singing praises,
Songs of glory unto thee,
Songs of glory unto thee.
This is one of two versions of this song. I prefer this one to the more common Guide me, O thou great Jehovah/ Redeemer.
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:24 am
by Heirbyadoption
It's a Mormon rewrite of the original hymn, specifically intended to better fit LDS theology/imagery rather than some of the original concepts that were intended by the author and have been used by the church since they received it... Just a thought.
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:44 am
by KingdomBuilder
Heirbyadoption wrote:It's a Mormon rewrite of the original hymn, specifically intended to better fit LDS theology/imagery rather than some of the original concepts that were intended by the author and have been used by the church since they received it... Just a thought.
That was my original thought, as they are known to do this. After a lot of digging, though, I've found information from non-LDS sources that acredit it as a secondary translation from welsh by Robert Robinson... Which is fascinating. It appears to be a valid non-tampered version that is simply no longer used?
I even found it in the 1966 Proceedings of Rotary International.
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:59 am
by Heirbyadoption
Good to know. I had only ever seen this version in a couple of LDS hymnals that I have.
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 11:07 am
by KingdomBuilder
Heirbyadoption wrote:Good to know. I had only ever seen this version in a couple of LDS hymnals that I have.
Yes, it appears they latched onto this less common version, likely because of its appeal to their theology, as you note.
I personally enjoy it's emphasis on Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and referencing the spiritual Zion.
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 7:29 pm
by Hats Off
Heirbyadoption wrote:
KingdomBuilder wrote:Be Thou My Vision
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art -
thou my best thought, by day or by night;
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.
Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord.
Thou my great Father; thine own may I be,
thou in me dwelling and I one with thee.
Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
thou mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only first in my heart,
high King of heaven, my treasure thou art.
High King of heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.
I love this one, but I've yet to hear it sung in any church I've attended.
KB~ we don't have the original words in our hymnbook, but we do use the tune occasionally to various long meter hymns, such as the Doxology, From Every Stormy Wind That Blows, When I Survey, etc.
I love the tune - but did not realize it is a long metre double. I have retired from song leading or I might be tempted to try it sometime. Do you also use hymn books without notes?
Re: Hymn Share
Posted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 8:50 am
by Heirbyadoption
Hats Off wrote:
Heirbyadoption wrote:
KingdomBuilder wrote:Be Thou My Vision
I love this one, but I've yet to hear it sung in any church I've attended.
KB~ we don't have the original words in our hymnbook, but we do use the tune occasionally to various long meter hymns, such as the Doxology, From Every Stormy Wind That Blows, When I Survey, etc.
I love the tune - but did not realize it is a long metre double. I have retired from song leading or I might be tempted to try it sometime. Do you also use hymn books without notes?
Yes, a metrical hymnbook very similar to the River Brethren hymnbook in content (theirs is slightly larger due to twice as many hymns and thinner paper), and more the size of the standard OOM hymnbook (though about half of our hymns are different than theirs).
As far as unusual tunes go, we also occasionally use the old Shaker tune Simple Gifts for a LM Double as well.