Verse: Psalm 103:2
Hymn: Praise, My Soul, The King of Heaven (there is also another tune that this is sung to found here.) You can find the text here.
There are so many wonderful hymns of praise - as there should be! My favorite words in this hymn are "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore His praises sing." Each of those words is life changing for me. I could not save myself from the power and sickness of sin and death. I was an enemy of God, estranged from Him, having sinned against His holy law. Because of Christ's work on the cross, I am now ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven. Therefore, I will forevermore sing praises to the everlasting King! When I feel like life is out of control and seem to be battered by one disappointment or another, I stop and remember these words.
So, I have a confession - I have enjoyed going through the hymnal so much this year that I have decided to do a hymn wall in my house. I am taking the largest wall I can find in my home, and I am putting up the texts of our favorite hymns. You can find many on etsy or other places. I am keeping it pretty simple, but I have chosen to put up the full text (because context is so important since each text tells a complete story) of all of our favorite hymns. I wanted a place in our home where the children could look and be reminded of God's promises, His good words, and His everlasting Kingdom. I wanted my children to be able to look and see on that wall that there have been generations of faithful saints believing and proclaiming the promises of God even amidst great hardship. I realize that this doesn't have to be a wall of words for most people - it could be something small. But I guess as I continue to fight sin in my life, I felt like I needed to also see the reminders on my wall like: "He will hold me Fast" or "Great is Thy Faithfulness." All this to say, I am going to put up four words from this hymn on my wall - words that I need to remember every day: Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven.
Fun Facts
There are so many wonderful hymns of praise - as there should be! My favorite words in this hymn are "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven, evermore His praises sing." Each of those words is life changing for me. I could not save myself from the power and sickness of sin and death. I was an enemy of God, estranged from Him, having sinned against His holy law. Because of Christ's work on the cross, I am now ransomed, healed, restored, and forgiven. Therefore, I will forevermore sing praises to the everlasting King! When I feel like life is out of control and seem to be battered by one disappointment or another, I stop and remember these words.
So, I have a confession - I have enjoyed going through the hymnal so much this year that I have decided to do a hymn wall in my house. I am taking the largest wall I can find in my home, and I am putting up the texts of our favorite hymns. You can find many on etsy or other places. I am keeping it pretty simple, but I have chosen to put up the full text (because context is so important since each text tells a complete story) of all of our favorite hymns. I wanted a place in our home where the children could look and be reminded of God's promises, His good words, and His everlasting Kingdom. I wanted my children to be able to look and see on that wall that there have been generations of faithful saints believing and proclaiming the promises of God even amidst great hardship. I realize that this doesn't have to be a wall of words for most people - it could be something small. But I guess as I continue to fight sin in my life, I felt like I needed to also see the reminders on my wall like: "He will hold me Fast" or "Great is Thy Faithfulness." All this to say, I am going to put up four words from this hymn on my wall - words that I need to remember every day: Ransomed, Healed, Restored, Forgiven.
Fun Facts
Text: Henry Lyte (1793-1847)
- An orphan at a young age
- Pastored a small church, All Saints, in Devonshire, England.
- Wrote a collection of 300 hymns for his congregation called, The Spirit of the Psalms. Theses were paraphrases of the Psalms.
- This hymn became one of the most often sung in England.
- His other famous hymn is Abide with Me.
Tune: Mark Andrews (ANDREWS) 1875-1939
I wanted to also talk about Abide with Me, since we are already singing Lyte's other famous hymn. Challies just did a brief blog article about hymns. This article is worth the read, and you can find it here. I agree completely with him that it should not just be a funeral hymn. This hymn reaches into the very depths of my soul. This is not a hymn of praise, but a hymn of petition. The best news, is that we know that God keeps His promises and that He indeed always abides with His people. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us now, but how wonderful a day it will be when we will abide perfectly and eternally with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Lyte wrote this hymn shortly before his death and was inspired by a walk on the seashore. His last words were, "Joy! Peace!" This hymn was sung at the weddings of King George VI and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth. It was also sung at the funeral of Mother Teresa.
William Monk wrote the text EVENTIDE while watching a sunset during a period of great sorrow with his wife.
We don't often use the word abide, so make sure that your children understand what that means. Also, take them to John 15:4. When we abide in Christ, we can endure failing friends (stanza 1), constant change (2), the devil's attacks (3), or coming death (4).
- Studied music at Westminster Abbey
- Organist, choir director, and composer
- This hymn text was chosen by Queen Elizabeth II for her wedding and was placed to a tune Andrews had written in 1930 called ANDREWS rather than the original tune. LAUDA ANIMA was written in 1869. The queen's wedding occurred exactly one hundred years after the death of Henry Lyte.
I wanted to also talk about Abide with Me, since we are already singing Lyte's other famous hymn. Challies just did a brief blog article about hymns. This article is worth the read, and you can find it here. I agree completely with him that it should not just be a funeral hymn. This hymn reaches into the very depths of my soul. This is not a hymn of praise, but a hymn of petition. The best news, is that we know that God keeps His promises and that He indeed always abides with His people. We have the Holy Spirit indwelling us now, but how wonderful a day it will be when we will abide perfectly and eternally with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Lyte wrote this hymn shortly before his death and was inspired by a walk on the seashore. His last words were, "Joy! Peace!" This hymn was sung at the weddings of King George VI and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth. It was also sung at the funeral of Mother Teresa.
William Monk wrote the text EVENTIDE while watching a sunset during a period of great sorrow with his wife.
We don't often use the word abide, so make sure that your children understand what that means. Also, take them to John 15:4. When we abide in Christ, we can endure failing friends (stanza 1), constant change (2), the devil's attacks (3), or coming death (4).
Remember to order you copy of the hymnal we are singing through if you still need a hymnal!
Things to think about As You Sing ...
- As we start coming to the close of the year, start asking your children which hymns have been their favorites this year. I'm going to print off each of my children's favorite hymns and hang them in their rooms. I think it is fascinating to see which songs resonate with our children in the different phases of their young lives. Maybe a good Christmas idea for people you know this year.
- Read Psalm 103 with your children this week and memorize it with them if you haven't already
- You are given wonderful words and a wealth of reasons to praise God from Psalm 103.
- 22 verses from the Psalm are condensed into 5 stanzas. Stanza 1(vv. 1-5), Stanza 2 (vv. 6-7, 8-12), Stanza 3 (13-14), Stanza 4 (15-18), and Stanza 5 (20-22).
- The word, "bless," is repeated in the Psalm, but we see it as "Alleluia" in the hymn.
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