Today’s hymn comes from German poet Christian F. Gellert (1715-1769) and translated by John Lang. I was inspired to include this after a sermon preached at my church on the Resurrection. I’ve also included a modern rendition by Glory and Gladness, a group I have recently found and love listening to; enjoy!

Jesus lives, and so shall I;
Death, thy sting is gone forever!
He who deigned for me to die
lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me with the just:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and reigns supreme,
and, His kingdom still remaining,
I shall also be with Him,
ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised: be it must:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and God extends
grace to each returning sinner;
rebels He receives as friends
and exalts to highest honour.
God is True as He is Just;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and by His grace,
vict’ry o’er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways,
ever to His glory living.
Me He raises from the dust;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives! I know full well
nought from Him my heart can sever,
life nor death nor pow’rs of hell,
joy nor grief, henceforth forever.
None of all His saints is lost;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and death is now
but my entrance into glory.
Courage, then, my soul, for thou
hast a crown of life before thee;
thou shalt find thy hopes were just;
Jesus is the Christian’s Trust.

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Today’s hymn comes from pastor Jeremy Walker, a pastor of an independent reformed Baptist church in the UK. Pastor Jeremy wrote this after spending time talking with a saint who was near leaving earth to be at home with the Lord¹. I hope you enjoy reading and mediating on this one, longing for your own journey Home; enjoy!

My day is drawing to an end,
The light of life grows dim;
My thoughts to Christ all sweetly tend,
For soon I’ll be with Him.

I must put off this feeble tent,
But death itself defy;
My soul released, I’ll make ascent
To be with Christ on high.

The sufferings of this present time
Soon swallowed up in love;
Out of this pain and darkness climb—
Glory to come above!

My soul with Him in perfect joy
Will wait the coming morn;
I know that nothing can destroy
The hope of that new dawn.

In Christ most happy and most blessed,
A body new I’ll take;
And all be peace, delight, and rest
When in His form I wake.

And much that I have known below
Shall quickly fade away,
But life in Christ I’ll ever know,
In God’s eternal day.

¹mediagratiae.org/blog/my-day-is-drawing-to-an-end

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Today’s hymn is a modern hymn written by Eric Schumacher & David L. Ward for Reformed Praise. Of this hymn they write “O Weary Saint is a song written particularly for those facing despair at the prospect of their own death or upon the death of a loved one…Even though Christians have the assurance that death has been conquered and its sting removed (1 Corinthians 15:54-57), we still face physical death and the fears and sorrows that accompany it. This song allows us to confront our grief but offers the encouragement of how Christ can transform it into hope so that we do “not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)¹. They have used the tune for the hymn Love Unknown and I love it. Enjoy!

O weary saint cast down,
Who mourns in barren field,
Whose heart and flesh now fail
And naught but weeping yield–
When fears increase as life departs,
Where is the balm for broken hearts?

The weary Saviour died
And in the grave was sown
To bear the wrath of God
For sin though not His own
Then He arose from where He lay,
The firstfruits of the harvest day.

O weary saint look up
For from the barren field
Will rise, in Christ, His own
With heart and flesh then healed.
Our hope is this, that death is gain,
Our tears and sighs will not remain.
Our tears and sighs will not remain.

¹http://hymni.city/hymns/o-weary-saint

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Natalie Sleeth (1939-1992) began piano lessons at the age of four, gaining a music degree from Wellesley College and an honourary doctorate from West Viriginia Wesleyan College. With over 180 published works, she is considered one of the 20th Century’s most loved composers for children, working for many years at Highland Park United Methodist Church in Texas. Natalie wrote about inspiration for this hymn by “pondering the death of a friend (life and death, death and re­sur­rec­tion), pon­der­ing win­ter and spring (seem­ing op­po­sites), and a T. S. Eliot poem which had the phrase ‘in our end is our be­gin­ning’. These seem­ing­ly con­tra­dic­to­ry pairs led to the the­sis of the song and the hope­ful message that out of one will come the oth­er, when­ev­er God choos­es to bring that about”. Her husband first heard his wife’s hymn shortly before his death and asked it to be sung at his funeral¹.

In the bulb there is a flower;
In the seed, an apple tree;
In cocoons, a hidden promise:
Butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
There’s a spring that waits to be,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.

There’s a song in every silence,
Seeking word and melody;
There’s a dawn in every darkness,
Bringing hope to you and me.
From the past will come the future;
What it holds, a mystery,
Unrevealed until its season,
Something God alone can see.

In our end is our beginning;
In our time, infinity;
In our doubt there is believing;
In our life, eternity,
In our death, a resurrection;
At the last, a victory,
Unrevealed until it’s season,
Something God alone can see.

¹page 91 – Leeman, D. and Leeman, B., 2022. Our Hymns, Our Heritage: A Student Guide to Songs of the Church

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This is one of the most popular and widely used of Charles Wesley’s hymns is an arrangement of the Easter hymn tune ‘Lyra Davidica’. It appeared in the Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1739, in 11 stanzas of 4 lines, with the heading “Hymn for Easter.” The “alleluia” responses, reflecting ancient Jewish and Christian practice, were added by later editors to fit the tune. The text contains some of the most familiar Easter themes: all creatures rejoice in Christ’s resurrection (st. 1); the work of redemption is complete (st. 2); death is vanquished (st. 3); we have new life in Christ now (st. 4); we praise the victorious Christ (st. 5)¹. Our church always usually sing this around Easter time; enjoy!

Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia!
Earth and heaven in chorus say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia!

Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids him rise, Alleluia!
Christ has opened paradise, Alleluia!

Lives again our glorious King, Alleluia!
Where, O death, is now thy sting? Alleluia!
Once he died our souls to save, Alleluia!
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave? Alleluia!

Soar we now where Christ has led, Alleluia!
Following our exalted Head, Alleluia!
Made like him, like him we rise, Alleluia!
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies, Alleluia!

Hail the Lord of earth and heaven, Alleluia!
Praise to thee by both be given, Alleluia!
Thee we greet triumphant now, Alleluia!
Hail the Resurrection, thou, Alleluia!

King of glory, soul of bliss, Alleluia!
Everlasting life is this, Alleluia!
Thee to know, thy power to prove, Alleluia!
Thus to sing, and thus to love, Alleluia!

¹hymnary.org/text/christ_the_lord_is_risen_today_wesley