Today’s song comes from Sovereign Grace and was written in 2008. I love the melody of this one and sure you’ll be humming along too; Enjoy!

I have a shelter in the storm
When troubles pour upon me
Though fears are rising like a flood
My soul can rest securely
O Jesus, I will hide in You
My place of peace and solace
No trial is deeper than Your love
That comforts all my sorrows

I have a shelter in the storm
When all my sins accuse me
Though justice charges me with guilt
Your grace will not refuse me
O Jesus, I will hide in You
Who bore my condemnation
I find my refuge in Your wounds
For there I find salvation

I have a shelter in the storm
When constant winds would break me
For in my weakness, I have learned
Your strength will not forsake me
O Jesus, I will hide in You
The One who bears my burdens
With faithful hands that cannot fail
You’ll bring me home to heaven

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For today’s hymn, I could not find much information about it, not even who wrote it! All the information I could find is that it’s a Russian Hymn, sung by the persecuted Church in the Soviet Union. Perhaps that says everything we need to know about it right? Below is the tune which is quite easy to catch. Enjoy!

Not in words of prayer do I rely;
Nor in songs to be my soul’s supply;
Song of Songs, Thou art to me;
All I ever need is found in Thee.
Song of Songs, Thou art to me;
All I ever need is found in Thee.

Not for selfish gain do I seek peace;
Nor for earthly pleasures to increase;
Thou, O Christ, art all to me;
All I ever need is found in Thee.
Thou, O Christ, art all to me;
All I ever need is found in Thee.

I need Thy peace and holiness within;
I’ll hide in Thee, O keep me from all sin.
Help me more Thy cross to see;
All I ever need is found in Thee.
Help me more Thy cross to see;
All I ever need is found in Thee.

Christ revealed His eternal love;
Can there yet be greater joys above?
This my soul delights to see;
All I ever need is found in Thee.
This my soul delights to see;
All I ever need is found in Thee.

Thou my Shade in a dry and weary land;
I’ll rest beneath Thy strong and mighty hand;
Living Waters be to me;
All I ever need is found in Thee.
Living Waters be to me;
All I ever need is found in Thee

When oppressed by fears on every side;
In Thy strength alone may I abide;
Thou wilt give the victory,
All I ever need is found in Thee.
Thou wilt give the victory,
All I ever need is found in Thee.

Thou my Strength, my Fortress, and my Shield,
To Thee, Saviour, help me ever yield,
Thou art All in All to me,
All I ever need is found in Thee.
Thou art All in All to me,
All I ever need is found in Thee.

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Today’s hymn is written by Benjamin Mansell Ramsey (1849 -1923), an English organist and amateur composer, who is best remembered for the 1919 tune “Camacha” set to this hymn. He was an music teacher at Bournemouth Grammar School, secretary of the Bournemouth Musical Association, conductor of the amateur orchestra in the 1880s and involved with the establishment of Bournemouth Municipal Orchestra in 1893. His works for children included “Robinson Crusoe: A Cantata or Operetta for Boys” (1896) and “Clouds and Sunshine: A Fairy Play”¹. This hymn is based on Psalm 27:11 “teach me your way, O LORD, and lead me on a level path because of my enemies”. Enjoy!

Teach me thy way, O Lord;
teach me thy way!
Thy guiding grace afford;
teach me thy way!
Help me to walk aright,
more by faith, less by sight;
lead me with heav’nly light;
teach me thy way!

When I am sad at heart,
teach me thy way!
When earthly joys depart,
teach me thy way!
In hours of loneliness,
in times of dire distress,
in failure or success,
teach me thy way!

When doubts and fears arise,
teach me thy way!
When storms o’erspread the skies,
teach me thy way!
Shine thro’ the cloud and rain,
thro’ sorrow, toil, and pain;
make thou my pathway plain;
teach me thy way!

Long as my life shall last,
teach me thy way!
Where’er my lot be cast,
teach me thy way!
Until the race is run,
until the journey’s done,
until the crown is won,
teach me thy way!

¹https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._Mansell_Ramsey

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Following on from yesterday’s hymn, today’s song is a contemporary rewrite of Great is Thy Faithfulness by Sara Groves. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one!

Morning by morning, I wake up to find
The power and comfort of God’s hand in mine
Season by season, I watch Him, amazed
In awe of the mystery of His perfect ways
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me

I can’t remember a trial or a pain
He did not recycle to bring me gain
I can’t remember one single regret
In serving God only and trusting His hand
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always been faithful to me

This is my anthem, this is my song
The theme of the stories I’ve heard for so long
God has been faithful, He will be again
His loving compassion, it knows no end
All I have need of, His hand will provide
He’s always
He’s always been faithful
He’s always been faithful to me

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The author of today’s beloved hymn is Thomas Chisholm (1866-1960). Though he was not offered a formal education, became a schoolteacher in the same schoolhouse that he was educated. He later became associate editor of the local newspaper and moved on to be an editor of the Pentecostal Herald in Louisville, Kentucky. At the age of 26 in 1983 Thomas became a Christian, and in 1903, he was officially ordained a minister; he was however forced to limit his years of service due to his poor health. Throughout his life, Thomas wrote hundreds of poems. One such poem was based in Lamentations 3:22-23 where it says, “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”. Thomas eventually sent his work to a fellow minister and friend, William Runyan who configured a musical setting for the poem, which is the hymn we have today¹. Enjoy!

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
as Thou hast been, Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
all I have needed Thy hand hath provided:
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest;
sun, moon, and stars in their courses above
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Refrain

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow:
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

¹geneva.edu/blog/uncategorized/hymnology-great-is-thy-faithfulness

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Today’s hymn was written in 1875 by Fanny Crosby. In her autobiography, Crosby wrote that this was her first hymn to be set to music by Baptist Minister Robert Lowry. A frequently told story about this hymn is that it came to Fanny as a result of a prayer. Struggling financially, she desperately needed some money. As her usual custom, Fanny began to pray. A few minutes later, a gentleman offered her five dollars, the exact amount she needed. Later recalling the incident, she said, “I have no way of accounting for this except to believe that God put it into the heart of this good man to bring the money.” The poem she wrote afterward became “All The Way My Saviour Leads Me” ¹. Enjoy!

All the way my Saviour leads me–
What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
Who through life has been my guide?
Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know, whate’er befall me,
Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Saviour leads me–
Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for ev’ry trial,
Feeds me with the living bread.
Though my weary steps may falter
And my soul athirst may be,
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! a spring of joy I see;
Gushing from the rock before me,
Lo! A spring of joy I see.

All the way my Saviour leads me–
Oh, the fullness of His love!
Perfect rest to me is promised
In my Father’s house above.
When my spirit, clothed immortal,
Wings its flight to realms of day,
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way;
This my song through endless ages:
Jesus led me all the way.

¹/en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_the_Way_My_Savior_Leads_Me

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Today’s hymn is written by the father of British hymnody, Isaac Watts, in 1709. It was first published in his Hymns and Spiritual Songs in the same year.  Philip Doddridge, himself a hymn writer best remembered for O Happy Day, wrote to Watts: “I was preaching in a barn last Wednesday, to a company of plain country people. After a sermon from Hebrews, we sang one of your hymns, ‘Give Us The Wings Of Faith To Rise’ and had the satisfaction to see tears in the eyes of several of the auditory. After the service some of them told me they were not able to sing, so deeply were their minds affected with it; and the clerk in particular told me he could hardly utter the words of it”¹. Enjoy reading this one!

Give us the wings of faith to rise
within the veil, and see
the saints above, how great their joys,
how bright their glories be.

Once they were mourning here below,
their couch was wet with tears;
they wrestled hard, as we do now,
with sins and doubts and fears.

We ask them whence their victory came:
they, with united breath,
ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
their triumph to his death.

They marked the footsteps that he trod,
his zeal inspired their breast,
and, following their incarnate God,
possess the promised rest.

Our glorious Leader claims our praise
for his own pattern given;
while the long cloud of witnesses
show the same path to heaven.

¹hymnstudiesblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/03/give-me-the-wings-of-faith/

Today’s hymn is from Swiss reformer Huldrych Zwingli. In August 1519, Zwingli was on a mineral-springs vacation when the Black Death broke out in Zurich. Though weak already from exhausting work, he hurried back to his city to minister to victims. Before long he himself caught the disease and seemed likely to perish. But his work not yet done, Zwingli recovered. His famous “plague hymn” recounts his sense of trust and then his joy at regaining health. Stanzas 1 and 2 were written as the disease first struck, stanzas 3 and 4 as his health deteriorated. Upon his recovery he finished the final 2 stanzas¹. Enjoy!

Help me, O Lord,
My strength and rock;
Lo, at the door
I hear death’s knock.
Uplift thine arm,
Once pierced for me,
That conquered death.
And set me free.

Yet, if thy voice,
In life’s midday.
Recalls my soul,
Then I obey.
In faith and hope
Earth I resign.
Secure of heaven.
For I am thine.

My pains increase;
Haste to console;
For fear and woe
Seize flesh and soul.
Death is at hand.
My senses fail.
My tongue is dumb;
Now, Christ, prevail.

Lo! Satan strains
To snatch his prey;
I feel his grasp;
Must I give way?
He harms me not,
I fear no loss,
For here I lie
Beneath thy cross.

My God! My Lord!
Healed by thy hand.
Upon the earth
Once more I stand.
Let sin no more
Rule over me;
My mouth shall sing
Alone to thee.

Though now delayed,
My hour will come.
Involved, perchance.
In deeper gloom.
But, let it come;
With joy I’ll rise,
And bear my yoke
Straight to the skies.

¹christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-4/black-death-inspires-zwinglis-plague-hymn.html

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“Will Your Anchor Hold” (sometimes titled “We Have an Anchor”) was written in 1882 by Priscilla Jane Owen. Owen was a Sunday school teacher at the Union Square Methodist Episcopal Churchin Baltimore, Maryland. She wrote a number of hymns and songs for her pupils; this is the best known today. The hymn has always been closely associated with the Boys’ Brigade which has the motto, “Sure and Stedfast”. It is the official hymn of Dollar Academy, an independent day and boarding school in Scotland, where it is known as the “Dollar Anthem”. The words were inspired by Hebrews 6:19: “Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast…”, although other Biblical texts are also referenced in the verses of the hymn¹. Ask yourself the same rhetorical questions before the Lord this morning and answer honestly “what is your anchor in life?”. I pray your answer will be the refrain of this song; enjoy!

Will your anchor hold in the storms of life,
when the clouds unfold their wings of strife?
When the strong tides lift, and the cables strain,
will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

Refrain
We have an anchor that keeps the soul
steadfast and sure while the billows roll;
fastened to the Rock which cannot move,
grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!

Will your anchor hold in the straits of fear,
when the breakers roar and the reef is near?
While the surges rage, and the wild winds blow,
shall the angry waves then your bark o’erflow?

Refrain

Will your anchor hold in the floods of death,
when the waters cold chill your latest breath?
On the rising tide you can never fail,
while your anchor holds within the veil.

Refrain

Will your eyes behold through the morning light
the city of gold and the harbour bright?
Will you anchor safe by the heavenly shore,
when life’s storms are past for evermore?

Refrain

¹wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Your_Anchor_Hold

This hymn was originally written in German around 1680 by Joachim Neander, author of the popular hymn “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty”. In 1899, it was freely translated into English by Robert Bridges. He was, at the time, living in the British Berkshire village of Yattendon, where he was choir master for the parish church of St Peter and St Paul. Disappointed with the range of hymns available, he made his own collection which he entitled the Yattendon Hymnal and included this hymn, number 69 ¹. It was sung at the funeral service for Queen Elizabeth II last year – enjoy!

All my hope on God is founded;
he doth still my trust renew.
Me through change and chance he guideth,
only good and only true.
God unknown,
he alone calls my heart to be his own.

Human pride and earthly glory,
sword and crown betray his trust;
what with care and toil he buildeth,
tower and temple, fall to dust.
But God’s power,
hour by hour, is my temple and my tower.

God’s great goodness aye endureth,
deep his wisdom, passing thought:
splendour, light, and life attend him,
beauty springeth out of naught.
Evermore
from his store
new-born worlds rise and adore.

Daily doth th’ Almighty giver
bounteous gifts on us bestow;
his desire our soul delighteth,
pleasure leads us where we go.
Love doth stand
at his hand;
joy doth wait on his command.

Still from earth to God eternal
sacrifice of praise be done,
high above all praises praising
for the gift of Christ his Son.
Christ doth call
one and all:
ye who follow shall not fall.

¹wikipedia.org/wiki/All_My_Hope_on_God_is_Founded