New music – Have You Not Seen?

A meditation based on the traditional hymn “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”.

 

The words are by Joachim Neander, translated by Catherine Winkworth.  Two of the verses that are never included in modern hymnals seem almost eerily appropriate for our current times.  I have included below all seven verses listed on cyberhymnal.org.

hymnary.org does a nice job of providing background and full texts from just about every hymnal imaginable.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
All ye who hear, now to His temple draw near;
Praise Him in glad adoration.

Praise to the Lord, who over all things so wondrously reigneth,
Shelters thee under His wings, yea, so gently sustaineth!
Hast thou not seen how thy desires ever have been
Granted in what He ordaineth?

Praise to the Lord, who hath fearfully, wondrously, made thee;
Health hath vouchsafed and, when heedlessly falling, hath stayed thee.
What need or grief ever hath failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade thee.

Praise to the Lord, who doth prosper thy work and defend thee;
Surely His goodness and mercy here daily attend thee.
Ponder anew what the Almighty can do,
If with His love He befriend thee.

Praise to the Lord, who, when tempests their warfare are waging,
Who, when the elements madly around thee are raging,
Biddeth them cease, turneth their fury to peace,
Whirlwinds and waters assuaging.

Praise to the Lord, who, when darkness of sin is abounding,
Who, when the godless do triumph, all virtue confounding,
Sheddeth His light, chaseth the horrors of night,
Saints with His mercy surrounding.

Praise to the Lord, O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before Him.
Let the Amen sound from His people again,
Gladly for aye we adore Him.

 

New music – Lamb of God

Here is a piano version (shortened) of a worship song that is a setting of the Agnus Dei.

These are the words:

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world;
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world;
have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world;
grant us your peace.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

Something New – Choral Version of Mary’s Song

On Christmas Eve I had the tremendous privilege to hear Mary’s Song the way I originally imagined it – sung in a worship service.  My thanks go to Elizabeth Linnartz, soloist, Ronda Wagner, choir director, the ‘pop up choir’ (formed just for this service), and the congregation of All Saints church – all participated.  Here is a low tech recording I captured on my mobile phone.

I shared a piano solo version a few months back – look there for the words.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

New music – Solitudes

I am glad to finally be posting another new piece.  I have tried (and failed) many times to ‘get it right’.  This is about as good as I can get it – still a flawed performance, but I hope it brings you peace and healing.

 

Grace and peace to you…

dw

New music – Pretty

This song is not what you think at first.  It is the struggle of relationships, the in-the-balance moments at the end of a date, maybe the lets-get-this-over-with moments 5 or 15 or 25 years into a marriage.  I hope it gives some woman, somewhere, words to voice what her soul is feeling; I hope it gives some man, somewhere, a clue.  In a live vocal performance, there would be a third time through where the man and woman are singing their words together in a gentle tug of war and it would end with a question mark: tonight?  See the lyrics below.

Grace and peace to you…

dw

 

Pretty

Words and music by dw

Copyright © 2016

 

You’re as pretty as the night is long;

I’ll want you as long as you’re pretty;

I’ll love you as long as I want you;

And I’ll stay with you as long as I love you.

Tonight, I want to stay with you.

 

If you’re thinking about staying the night;

If you stay with me as long as we both live;

If you love me as long as you stay with me,

And if you want me as long as you love me,

Then tonight … I feel pretty.

 

 

New music – I’m Gonna Live This Day

Grace and peace to you…

dw

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