Joyfully Singing

As The year draws to a close. I think back with thankfulness of all the ways the good Lord has blessed my life; through the thoughtful council of friends, the unexpected opportunities to learn new things, the meeting of new friends, the opportunities to bless others and see the power of God overflow out of my life into theirs. Truly it has been a blessed year; another year of serving Christ.   Below I will list some of the things I did and learned this year: 1. God answers the prayers of those who believe on Him. (you laugh, and I know I should have known this already but this was the first year I really trusted in His power. And consequently saw amazing results!) 2. Made my bed ever morning. (I know, even worse! ;) ) 3. Learned to skate. 4. Learned to ride a bicycle. 5. Learned to ride a horse. 6. Learned to swim. ( Yes, I really am seventeen! ) 7. Did the above three in a skirt, modestly, something my sisters dared  I couldn't do! 8. Learned over Twenty new hym...

....Vivaldi's Gloria.  Finally on the last day, a grand finale as it were, I want to share this beautiful classical Christmas piece with you. When I say Classical Christmas music, most, I believe, think of Handel's Messiah.  But everyone knows about Messiah; not so this one. I didn't even know until a few weeks ago that my mother had actually played violin and sung tenor in this piece when her high school performed the entire piece. That was exciting to learn.  This is sung entirely by women; even those low parts which sound like they are sung by men! There are twelve parts, all sung in Latin. I have posted them below with their English Translations.  I know this is a long piece but please do make some time to listen to this before Christmas, you will not be dissapointed. It is absolutely magnificant! There will be a pause between each movement so you will be able to tell the breaks. Notice the words: Starting with the angel's praise to God when they visited the...

.....The Coventry Carol. Unlike most Christmas carols, this is a mournful one. It speaks of the sorrows of the Christmas season. When Herod, fearing the birth of another king, sent and slaughtered all the male children in Bethlehem. Now perhaps if Herod had known a little more about this king, he may have known that it would do absolutely no good as we know now. Nevertheless. It did fulfill a prophesy from Isaiah, " A voice was heard in Rahmah, of weeping and great lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be comforted because they were no more ."   When we think of Christ coming to earth let us also remember what He came to earth to do. To become sin! To take on all the guilt of sin as heinous as Herod's horrifying massacre. Let us remember that no sin is too great that God's grace cannot cover it. Let us remember that though Herod would generally be considered more wicked than you or I for the executing of those innocent lives, apart from the...

.......Good Christian Men Rejoice/In Dulci Jubilo. The words to this song were written in the 1850's but the melody dates back to the fourteenth century! It is said to have made even the most pious of men dance for joy when they heard it sung; but that is simply legend.   The tune was first set to a Latin poem called  "In Dulci Jubilo" (In Sweet Rejoicing) but is now more commonly known in America as the song, "Good Christian Men Rejoice".  Written by John M. Neale.   Enjoy the song, This video was the best I could get that didn't have an advertisement before but had both songs!  Have a wonderful Lord's day.                      Good Christian men, rejoice with heart and soul, and voice; Give ye heed to what we say: Jesus Christ is born today; Ox and ass before Him bow; and He is in the manger now. Christ is born today! Christ is born today! Good Christ...

......Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne.  I grew up with this beautiful Christmas hymn and assumed that most everyone else knew it too until we started singing it last year in Choir and our instructor asked who already knew the song, me and my siblings  were the only ones who raised our hands! I was surprised, however it alerted me to a fact, more people need to hear this hymn!  It was written in the eighteen hundreds by Emily Elliott and Timothy Mathews (My Brother Timothy called it the Timothy and Elliot song and reserved it as a special song for himself and his then little brother Elliot!) And contains five verses arranged in prayer form.                   Indeed, may God someday call to us and assure us that there is room by His side for us, what a glorious moment that will surely be!                  ...

......The Star Carol.  Up until today all the songs I have posted have no later than the 1800's but this song, written in the nineteen forty's by Alfred Burt is an exceptionally beautiful carol which, also our choir sang this year and which I would like to share with you all. This choir who sang it, did a good job sound wise; the only problem is that most of them look rather bored! This is a good example of how much one's manner while singing can detract from the overall quality of the choir. But, all that aside, do learn this song if you don't know it. The words are below, as always!                                      Long years ago on a deep winter night, High in the heav'ns a star shone bright, While in a manger a wee baby lay, Sweetly asleep on a bed of hay. Jesus the Lord was that ...

.....A Virgin Unsupported.  A very lovely carol which tells clearly and precisely the Christmas story; urging us in the chorus to rejoice for our Savior was born on this day!                                    1. A Virgin unspotted, the prophet foretold, Should bring forth a Savior, which now we behold. To be our Redeemer from death, hell and sin, Which Adam's transgression had wrapped us in. Chorus: Then let us be merry put sorrow away;               our Savior, Christ Jesus was born on this day!  2. At Bethlehem city in Jewry, it was That Joseph and Mary together did pass, All for to be taxed with many one more, Great Cesar commanded the same should be so. Chorus 3. But when they had entered the city so fair, A number of people so mighty was there, That ...

.....It Came Upon a Midnight Clear.  This is such a contemplative and beautiful song; one of my favorites. This is also one of the most messed with Christmas carols! In fact it has been so switched  that once at family bible time (where most of us sing without a hymn book) mommy and I were singing different lines here and there from what the rest were singing! I was glad to find out today that my renderings were the right ones!  Below I have posted Edmund Sear's, the author, original lines.   So tell me, are those the verses you know!                               It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old, From angels bending near the earth, To touch their harps of gold: "Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heaven's all-gracious King." The world in solemn stillness lay, To hear the angels sing. ...

.....O Come All Ye Faithful! This one is an extremely old Carol, first written in Latin during the middle ages. It is not known for certain who wrote the lyrics or the music though there is much speculation on the subject.  This song has such a "joyful and triumphant" tune that it fits perfectly with the lyrics. Extremely well matched.     Below I have put the original Latin and the English translation. When we were children we had a little children's Christmas hymn book with both English and Latin verses. I had the first verse in Latin memorized as did a couple of my siblings it was a really educational experience!                                  A DESTE fideles laeti triumphantes; venite, venite in Bethlehem; Natum videte Regem Angelorum: O COME , all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant: o come ye...

.....Angels From the Realms of Glory.  This is a beautiful Christmas hymn, calling all peoples to come and worship Christ. Written in the 1800's by James Montgomery a Scottish poet, and set to a tune written a few years later, it is indeed a glorious and majestic song. Unfortunately, I couldn't find out much about the history of the writing of this hymn nor much about the author himself. I also couldn't find a nice sounding video which included all the verses and sang it to the right tune. I went with tune over all the verses, because I can post those below; take a look at the fifth verse, we don't see that one in many hymnals and yet that one is one of my favorites. I've often wondered why some verses to some songs seem to be left out and forgotten though they seem so fitting! However that is another topic for another day.  Please enjoy this beautiful video!                    ...

.....Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.  This song is really deep in theology. The words are rich and full of meaning. Unfortunately I do not have much time right now to go in to the History of this hymn but do take the time to study the lyrics. They unfold th e attributes of Christ in a beautiful and triumphant way.   Yes, "Triumphant" is the word I would use to describe this song! Enjoy this video, and have a blessed Lord's day.            Hark the herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King! Peace on earth and mercy mild God and sinners reconciled" Joyful, all ye nations rise Join the triumph of the skies With the angelic host proclaim: "Christ is born in Bethlehem" Hark! The herald angels sing "Glory to the newborn King!" Christ by highest heav'n adored Christ the everlasting Lord! Late in time behold Him come Offspring of a Virgin's womb Veiled in flesh the Godhead see Hail the incarnate Deity Pleased as man with ...

 .....What Child is this!    "What Child is this who lays to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?"  Indeed the question that has been asked by many throughout the past two thousand years; a question of wonder and awe. That Christ should take on finite sinful flesh and that, in the form of a helpless babe dependent on others is truly a cause for wonder.  The lyrics were written by William Chatterton Dix, who at the age of twenty nine was struck down by a near fatal illness and compelled to keep to his bed for many a dreary month. In order to combat depression, he spent his time writing this and many other hymns.  The words were later set to another of those wonderful old English tunes which have become legendary along with everything else we know and love about Merry olde England!  "Greensleeves".                           ...

 .....God Rest Ye merry Gentlemen!   I know that I did this last year; the only problem was that last year I only posted the lyrics without any video. Unacceptable! So I am doing it again this year this time, without the lyrics and only a video! Because I am rather in a rush.  Tomorrow, I promise, I'll have my act together. Until then, enjoy one of the oldest and most beloved English carols sung by the King's College Choir!  Merry Christmas.

If any one of my readers has never heard this piece before, please let me know! This is perhaps one of the most well known Cannon's in all of history; right up there with Mozart's "Fur Elise" and Bach's "Jesu Bleibet Meine Freud".   For any of you who does not know what a cannon is, I will explain. A cannon is a piece of music where a simple melody called an aria is taken and played through over and over again, each time getting more and more complex in it's harmonies and yet still keeping the simple melody in the back round. Each of the times it is played over with a different harmony is called a variation . I would say that cannons are almost my favorite kind of classical music!  I was listening to this on somebody's blog and suddenly I wondered why I hadn't posted this on MY blog! It is such a beautiful piece. Now, if any one of my readers doesn't like Pachelbel's Cannon, I would love to hear about that as well!  But, please enj...

Happy Thanksgiving! Please enjoy this lovely German hymn! And may we all lift up a song of thanksgiving to our Maker for His unfathomable blessings which are new every morning.

From October 31 - November 3 Our family attended "The Worship of God conference" In a lovely scenic conference center in the Mountains. Ridgecrest, to be precise! I met lots of friends, some old, some new. I heard lots of encouraging talks. I sang and sang, and sang some more. Especially on Saturday night when a large group of talented singers bundled into a room with a grand piano and a few violinists to praise God through singing hymns. It is so wonderful to blend one's voice in praise to God with other believers especially when they know how to sing. In fact I personally think it is the closest one can feel to being in heaven while on earth. Even Prayer, though wonderful also, is not quite the same.  Anyway this was a conference on the worship of God in the meetings of the church especially but also about worshiping God in the family. Guess what I heard a lot of which I'm really eager to share on this blog. Yes, I'm sure you knew first thing what I mean!   ...

Being born on the thirty-first of October often caused me no little grief growing up. I hated seeing the horrible images people put up, on my birthday! I hated having trick-or-treaters showing up on the doorstep in the middle of my party, and, to top it off, I hated having  people call me a "boo baby" in stores! But their was one consolation; I always knew that my birthday was also the commemoration of a very special event in History, that of the sparking of the fire of reformation and revival in the town of Wittenburg, Germany by a fiery  monk named Martin Luther. When He nailed his Ninety-five theses to the door of Wittenburg chapel.  So that is what I focus on now. Forget about Halloween!            But this is a music blog so I am about to share with you once again the most popular hymn of the reformation. (Next year, I promise, I'll find some obscure hymn that no one has ever heard of to post instead!)  ...

I didn't expect to be doing a follow up post on my last one; but after I wrote about those other tunes, I just had to look for them on youtube, and once I heard them I just had to post them for you all to hear.  They are both such beautiful moving tunes. That I think that if I hadn't heard "Bethany" first I might have more likely picked "Horbury" or "Propior Deo" for my favorite. The third tune I listed, "St. Edmunds", I cannot find anywhere but that's okay three tunes are already quite enough for one song! So here is the British Methodists' favorite tune, "Propior Deo".                                                                    ...

This moving song was written first by Sisters, Sarah Flower Adams and Eliza Flower in 1841 based on  Genesis 28: 11-29.  I cannot find the tune Eliza composed for her sister's lines any where, but the song was originally written for a hymn book by William Johnson Fox with whom the sisters were well acquainted. The song, however, did not gain much popularity in the states until it was wedded with Lowell Mason's tune, Bethany. This is the tune most of you probably know. There are other tunes such as "Horbury", by John Bacchus Dykes, "Propior Deo" and "St. Edmund" by Arthur Sullivan, all of which are beautiful as well but for me. I like Mason's tune the best since I heard it first! It is also the most popular of all the tunes everywhere elsse  except in England, where "Horbury" is sung, and among the British Methodists who prefer "Propior Deo" . But "Bethany" has still found its way into the British hymnals!  This so...

When I think about The transition from season to season, I am constantly reminded of how great God's faithfulness is towards mankind. When I think of how He persistently pursues those whom He has called no matter what they do or say to Him, I am overwhelmed by His faithfulness. When I think of how time and time again He restores peace to the heart of the believer after they have allowed the Devil to upset them for the ninety-ninth time I can only cry, "How Great is Thy Faithfulness, O God my Father!"   Is it a mere accident that the seasons continue happening  at their appointed times without fail?     But as it is written: While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest,  and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. Genesis 8:22

September tenth was my parent's Twenty-fifth wedding anniversary. And I was reminded again how much I owe them for where they have brought me in life. I am constantly in awe when I remember just how much your life can be shaped by those to whom you were born. If there were no God, I could only say this thought would be depressing since all of us had no say whatsoever in the matter; but in light of the fact that there is a God and each one's birth is sovereignly appointed by Him for a good and glorifying reason. We can rejoice instead of bemoan our fate!  I happen to have two imperfect yet very godly parents. The impact they have had on my life for good is tremendous and I am so thankful. I'm thankful that I have never heard them fight in my entire life; I have never heard my mother nag my father even the tinniest bit; our parents were always careful never to go into debt we have never had any since the day they joined hands; even though when they married they didn't hav...