A Hymn for Sheltering in Place

Greg Scheer (composer, author and speaker) has written “a hymn for sheltering in place” and posted it on his website (see link below).

He writes: “When I woke this morning, I considered how quickly the world changes. People all over Michigan–all over the world–are finding themselves confined to their homes. Maybe they’re dreading the silence. Maybe they can’t imagine getting through a whole day with all their children at home. Maybe they’ll lie awake at night worrying about their loved ones catching the virus.

This simple song, dubbed “a hymn for sheltering in place” reminds us that Jesus walks with us during these times.”

Greg is offering the lead sheet for free. There’s also a piano accompaniment available for purchase.

Hymn for Sheltering in Place

words and music by Greg Scheer

© copyright 2020

 On my longest day,

in my darkest night,

Jesus, please be near.

On my longest day,

in my darkest night,

Jesus, you are here.

You are with me,

you are with me

every hour of every day.

You are with me,

you are with me,

Jesus, you are here.

Jesus, you are here.

Visit https://gregscheer.com/product/jesus-you-are-here/ for more information and to listen.

Song: Matthew 14:22-33

You call me out upon the waters
The great unknown where feet may fail
And there I find You in the mystery
In oceans deep my faith will stand

And I will call upon Your name
And keep my eyes above the waves
When oceans rise
My soul will rest in Your embrace
For I am Yours and You are mine

Your grace abounds in deepest waters
Your sovereign hand will be my guide
Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me
You've never failed and You won't start now

Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders
Let me walk upon the waters
Wherever You would call me
Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander
And my faith will be made stronger
In the presence of my Saviour

~ Joel Houston, Matt Crocker, Salomon Ligthelm.  Copyright © 2012 Hillsong Music Publishing (Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing).  CCLI Song # 6428767 

Listen here: http://www.worshiptogether.com/songs/songdetail.aspx?iid=1987642

Psalm 118 Hymn: This is the Day

Here’s a new hymn inspired by Psalm 118.  It was written by Joy F. Patterson.  You could use ELLACOMBE (“I sing the mighty power of God”), KINGSFOLD (“I heard the voice of Jesus say”), or any other tune in 8.6.8.6 meter.  If you want a more reflective setting, you could even use AMAZING GRACE.

This is the Day the Lord has Made

(inspired by Psalm 118)

This is the day the Lord has made;

     in it will we rejoice,

          praising God's everlasting love

               with heart and mind and voice.

God is my refuge and my strength,

     my might, my joy, my song,

          my shield, salvation, sure defense

               throughout my whole life long.

Open the gates of righteousness,

     Lord, let me enter there,

          that I may lift my thanks to you

               in hymn and song and prayer.

See now the wonder God has done:

     the once rejected stone

          has now become the cornerstone,

               the Lord's own Chosen One.

Blest is the One who comes to us

     in God our maker's name,

          bringing to us God's life and light,

               to every age the same.

This is the day the Lord has made;

     in it will we rejoice,

          praising God's everlasting love

               with heart and mind and voice.

~ written by Joy F. Patterson, copyright © 1993, Music © 1993 Hope Publishing Company.  Posted on Hope Publishing Onine Hymnody website.  http://www.hopepublishing.com/html/main.isx?sitesec=40.2.1.0&hymnID=3172#   If you use this hymn in worship, be sure to report it on your CCLI license.

Contemporary Hymn: Psalm 23

Here’s a simple new hymn inspired by Psalm 23.  It was written by Daniel Damon.  See below for a link to the music.

Take Me to the Water

Take me to the water

flowing deep and wide;

like a shepherd, lead me

to the riverside.

By the quiet waters,

gladly I lay down

all the things that keep me

from your holy ground.

Jesus, in the darkness

make the pathway clear;

I will fear no evil,

knowing you are near.

On a rocky table

in the wilderness,

set a feast before me-

let my foes find rest.

Show me fields of mercy

as I greet the dawn;

to your house of blessing,

I will follow on.

~ written by Daniel Charles Damon. Words © 2007 Hope Publishing Company.  Posted on Hope Publishing’s Online Hymnody website.  A PDF of the musical score available at http://www.hopepublishing.com/media/pdf/hset/hs_2545.pdf  If you use this song in worship, be sure to report it on your CCLI license.

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 46

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 46 (the suggested psalm for  Proper 4A, Proper 29C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 46: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-46.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 98

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 98 (the suggested psalm for  Easter 6B, Proper 27C, Proper 28C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 98: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-98.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 145

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 145 (the suggested psalm for  Proper 20A, Proper 13A, Proper 9A, Proper 12B, Proper 27C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 145: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-145.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 17

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 17 (the suggested psalm for  Proper 13A, Proper 27C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 17: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-17.html

Contemporary Hymn: Luke 19: 1-10

Here’s a hymn inspired by the story of Jesus’ encounter with Zacchaeus (Luke 19: 1-10).  It was written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette.

Zacchaeus was a Tax Man

Zacchaeus was a tax man who one day climbed a tree,

For he was short in stature and said he could not see.

And yet he had a problem that mattered even more:

He didn't see the suffering his greed had caused the poor

O Lord, you saw Zacchaeus -- so wealthy, yet alone.

You said, "Come down -- and hurry! I'm coming to your home."

For you broke bread with sinners and saw within each one

A person loved and treasured -- God's daughter or God's son.

It wasn't just the treetop that helped Zacchaeus see;

Your love and welcome showed him how different life could be.

He said that he'd start over and work to make things fair;

He'd speak the truth, bring justice, and find new ways to share.

O Christ, you bid us welcome and help us all to see!

May we respond by building a just society.

Then children won't be hungry and all will share your bread.

Then those who now must struggle will live in joy instead.

~ written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, based on Luke 19: 1-10.  Copyright © 2010 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved. Email: bcgillette@comcast.net 

Suggested tune: AURELIA (“The Church’s One Foundation”)

Alternate tune: ANGEL'S STORY ("O Jesus, I Have Promised").

Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor (Upper Room Books 2009)and Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship (Geneva Press, 2000) and serves with her husband Bruce as the co-pastors of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. A complete list of the 160+ hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, many with peace and justice themes, can be found at www.carolynshymns.com.

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 84

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 84 (the suggested psalm for  Proper 16B, Proper 25C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start. 

Follow this link to Psalm 84: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-84.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 65

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 65 (the suggested psalm for  Thanksgiving A, Proper 10A, Proper 25C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 65: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-65.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 121

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 121 (the suggested psalm for  Lent 2A, Proper 24C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 121: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-121.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 119

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 119 (the suggested psalm for  Epiphany 6A, Epiphany 7A, Proper 18A, Proper 10A, Proper 12A, Lent 5B, Proper 26B, Proper 24C, Proper 26C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start. 

Follow this link to Psalm 119: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-119.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 111

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 111 (the suggested psalm for Epiphany 4 B, Proper 15 B, Proper 23 C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 111: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-111.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 37

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 37 (the suggested psalm for Proper 22 C, Epiphany 7 C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 37: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-37.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 91

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 91 (the suggested psalm for  Proper 24B, Proper 21C, Lent 1C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 91: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-91.html

Advent: Heaven's Coming Down

Here’s a beautiful song text for Advent from songwriter Sean Hall, on the album February Birds.

Heaven's Coming Down

Sean Hall

Jesus speaks the voice of justice

Our universe resounds

He cries for mercy

For the helpless

Can you hear the sound?

Heaven's song of liberation

In the heart resounds

A song of freedom

For the captive

Can you hear the sound?

Heaven's coming down

Let’s raise our voices loud and clear

And join him in his song

Heaven's coming down

This is the melody of God

When justice and freedom rise

Heaven's coming down

Can you hear the sound?

 As we love our neighbors well

The song will carry on

Acts of beauty

Hands of mercy

We will live the song

Heaven's coming down

~ Sean Hall, on the album February Birds. 
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/FebruaryBirds

Advent Poem: O Oriens

Here’s an Advent poem/song from Madeleine L’Engle, inspired by the traditional “O Antiphons.”  It was posted on Prayers and Creeds.

Advent Poem:

O Oriens

O come, O come Emmanuel
within this fragile vessel here to dwell.
O Child conceived by heaven’s power
give me thy strength: it is the hour.

O come, thou Wisdom from on high;
like any babe at life you cry;
for me, like any mother, birth
was hard, O light of earth.

O come, O come, thou Lord of might,
whose birth came hastily at night,
born in a stable, in blood and pain
is this the king who comes to reign?

O come, thou Rod of Jesse’s stem,
the stars will be thy diadem.
How can the infinite finite be?
Why choose, child, to be born of me?

O come, thou key of David, come,
open the door to my heart-home.
I cannot love thee as a king–
so fragile and so small a thing.

O come, thou Day-spring from on high:
I saw the signs that marked the sky.
I heard the beat of angels’ wings
I saw the shepherds and the kings.

O come, Desire of nations, be
simply a human child to me.
Let me not weep that you are born.
The night is gone. Now gleams the morn.

Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel,
God’s Son, God’s Self, with us to dwell.

~Madeleine L’Engle   Posted on Prayers and Creeds. http://prayersandcreeds.wordpress.com/

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 113

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 113 (the suggested psalm for  Proper 20C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 113: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-113.html

Contemporary Songs: Psalm 51

If you’re looking for contemporary Praise & Worship song suggestions to use with Psalm 51 (the suggested psalm for  Ash Wednesday, Lent 5B, Proper 13B, Proper 19C), you can find a list at my Contemporary Psalms blog. http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/  The blog is not finished (and likely never will be, since I keep coming across new songs!), but it’s a start.

Follow this link to Psalm 51: http://contemporarypsalms.blogspot.ca/2013/05/psalm-51.html