Today's selection of listener requests includes a beautiful recording of There is a balm in Gilead by the New Zealand Youth Choir. You can hear some tight harmonies from the Musical Island Boys, and there's a hymn by Shirley Murray to mark Waitangi Day - God bless our land.
Southern rata, Auckland Islands Photo: Craig McKenzie, Wikimedia Commons
SONG: E TE ARIKI
Artist: Viva Voce, John Rosser (dir), Michael Bell (piano)
Words/Music: Trad/Wi-Patena Te Pairi
Recording: NZ Hymnbook Trust
E te Ariki,
Whakarongo mai rā ki a mātou,
E te Ariki,
Titiro mai rā ki a mātou,
Tēnei mātou Ō tamariki,
E whakapono Ana mātou,
Ki a koe
Auē! Auē!
Te matua te tamaiti.
Wairua tapu e.
Te matua te tamaiti.
Wairua tapu e.
[Oh Lord, listen to us. Oh lord, look at us. This is us, your children. We believe in you.
The father, and the son and Holy Spirit.]
SONG: HOW SHALL I SING THAT MAJESTY
Artist: Choir of Wells Cathedral, Malcolm Archer (dir), Rupert Gough (organ)
Words/Music: Mason/Naylor
Recording: Hyperion 112101
How shall I sing that Majesty
which angels do admire?
Let dust in dust and silence lie;
sing, sing, ye heavenly choir.
Thousands of thousands stand around
thy throne, O God most high;
ten thousand times ten thousand sound
thy praise; but who am I?
Enlighten with faith's light my heart,
inflame it with love's fire;
then shall I sing and bear a part
with that celestial choir.
I shall, I fear, be dark and cold,
with all my fire and light;
yet when thou dost accept their gold,
Lord, treasure up my mite.
How great a being Lord, is thine,
which doth all beings keep!
Thy knowledge is the only line
to sound so vast a deep.
Thou art a sea without a shore,
a sun without a sphere;
thy time is now and evermore,
thy place is everywhere.
SONG: CHRIST, WHOSE GLORY FILLS THE SKIES
Artist: St Michael’s Singers, Coventry Cathedral
Words/Music: C Wesley/Smart
Recording: Kingsway KMCD 891
Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only light,
Sun of righteousness, arise,
Triumph o’er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Day star, in my heart appear.
Dark and cheerless is the morn
Unaccompanied by thee;
Joyless is the day’s return
Till thy mercy’s beams I see;
Till they inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.
Visit then this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, radiancy divine,
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.
SONG: AMAZING GRACE
Artist: St Michael Singers
Words/Music: Newton/Trad
Recording: Kingsway KMCD 599
Amazing grace! how sweet the sound.
That saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found.
Was blind but now I see.
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved:
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
Through many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thurs far,
And grace will lead me home.
The Lord has promised good to me.
His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil
A life of joy and peace.
When I've been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
I've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when I first begun.
SONG: GENTLE AS SILENCE
Artist: Tony Grant
Words/Music: Estelle White
Recording: RNZ Private CD 815
Oh, the love of my Lord is the essence,
Of all that I love here on earth,
All the beauty I see He has given to me,
And His giving is gentle as silence.
Every day, every hour, every moment,
Have been blessed by the strength of His love,
At the turn of each tide, He is there at my side,
And His touch is as gentle as silence.
There’ve been times when I’ve turned from His presence,
And I’ve walked other paths, other ways,
But I’ve called on His name in the dark of my shame,
And His mercy was gentle as silence.
SONG: THERE IS A BALM IN GILEAD
Artist: Jennifer Moss (soprano), National Youth Choir of New Zealand (1984), Peter Godfrey (dir)
Words/Music: Trad
Recording: RNZ 811
Refrain:
There is a balm in Gilead
to make the wounded whole,
there is a balm in Gilead
to heal the sin-sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged
and think my work's in vain,
but then the Holy Spirit
revives my soul again.
Refrain:
If you cannot preach like Peter,
if you cannot pray like Paul,
you can tell the love of Jesus
and say, "He died for all."
Refrain:
SONG: IT IS WELL WITH MY SOUL
Artist: Musical Island Boys
Words/Music: Spafford/Bliss
Recording: Private 954
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
And Lord, haste the day when the faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well, it is well with my soul.
SONG: GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH
Artist: Howard Harvey, Celebration Singers Christchurch, Francis Dennis (dir),
Words/Music: Williams/Hughes
Recording: Private 3030
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
hold me with thy powerful hand;
bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me now and evermore,
feed me now and evermore.
Open now the crystal fountain,
whence the healing stream shall flow;
let the fire and cloudy pillar
lead me all my journey through;
strong deliverer, strong deliverer,
be thou still my help and shield,
be thou still my help and shield.
When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side;
songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee,
I will ever give to thee.
SONG: GOD BLESS OUR LAND
Artist: Viva Voce, John Rosser (dir), Michael Bell (organ)
Words/Music: Murray/Brinson
Recording: NZ Hymnbook Trust 941300
God bless our land, in every generation,
God bless our people, growing as one nation,
God bless our islands, home and whenua,
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
God give us hope in common cause and caring,
each bringing treasures, baskets for the sharing,
grieving the wrongs of history no more –
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
God bless our land, its beauty and its blending
into communities of warm befriending,
proud in the cultures settled on our shore –
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
God bless the child whose feet are firmly planted
here in our place of freedoms daily granted,
seedbed and soil for peace and aroha –
Aotearoa, Aotearoa
