Part 6 (1/2)

Lord, with tears I pray Thee ever: Lead intocleanses Heart and soul of all offences, Blotting out , Let in Thee , All ht and joy

Though all earthly things I cherish Like the flowers may fade and perish, Thou, I knoilt stand beside e of sin

Yes, es ponder! shi+eld me, Lord, when foes assail me, Be my staff when life shall fail 's Easter hymns strike the triumphant note, especially such hymns as ”Christ Arose in Glory”, ”Easter Morrow Stills Our Sorrow”, and the very popular, Move the signs of glooarden of the dead For the wreaths of grief and yearning, Plant bright lilies in their stead Carve instead of sighs of grief Angels' wings in bold relief, And for columns, cold and broken, Words of hope by Jesus spoken

His Easter hys for other church festivals In this respect, they resemble the hymnody of the whole church, which contains rereatest events in its history It is as though the thee of nificent hymns on the thee the quick and the dead Of the latter, the hyiven below is perhaps the lish

Lift up thy head, O Christendom! Behold above the blessed ho There dwells the Lord, thy soul's delight, Who soon with power and glory bright Is for His bride returning

And when in every land and cliuilty world appalling, Then shalt with joy thou lift thine eyes And see Hi

While for His coet not why His last return The Savior is delaying, And ask Him not before His hour To shake the heavens with His power, Nor judge the lost and straying

O saints of God, for Sodo Then cries the Lord: ”Behold, I come!” And ye shall answer: ”To Thy ho!”

Then loud and clear the trudom falls, And God's elect assement throne, And calls His ransoladness treer of Pentecost And his hymns on the nature and work of the Spirit do rank with his very best He believed in the reality of the Spirit as the living, active agent of Christ in His church As the church ca of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, so our Lord still builds and sanctifies it by the Spirit, working through His words and sacraments His numerous hymns on the Spirit are drawn from many sources, both ancient and inals is so free, however, that it is difficult in most cases to knohether his versions should be accepted as adaptations or originals Ofversion of the widely known hymn, ”Veni Sancte Spiritus,” may serve to illustrate his work as a transplanter of hyloo Help us with a joyful lay Greet the Lord's triu

Couest of heart andGive us peace in storm and strife, Fill each troubled heart and life With Thy joy excelling

Make salvation clear to us, Who despite our sin and dross Would exalt the Spirit For without Thine aid and love All our life and work must prove Vain and without merit

Raise or boith Thine arm, Break temptation's evil char new, Cleanse us with Thydew, Tears of deep contrition

Blessed Fount of life and breath, Let our hope in view of death Blossoht and vernal; And above the silent tons of life eternal

Many of Grundtvig's original hy, a fact which is especially evident in a number of his Pentecost hymns Pentecost comes in Denmark at the first breath of suins to unfold her latent life and beauty This similarity between the life of nature and the work of the Spirit is strikingly expressed in a nuether with its beautiful tune, is rated as one of the most beautiful and, lyrically,Danish flavor, however, it may not ht of the hymn is that, as in nature, so also in the real of the Spirit completes God's plan of salvation and opens the door for the unfolding of a new life The translation is by Prof S D Rodholm

The sun now shi+nes in all its splendor, The fount of life and row And suold In Jesus' naales are filling The quiet night withMay rest in peace and ith song, May dreaht rise

It breathes from heaven on the flowers, It whispers home-like in the bowers, A baler closed, And gently purls a brooklet sweet Of life's clear water at our feet

This works the Spirit, still descending, And tongues of fire to , That broken hearts race and love revealed In Hiht hand

Awaken then all tongues to honor Lord Jesus Christ, our blest Atoner; Let every voice in anthems rise To praise the Savior's sacrifice And thou, His Church, with one accord Arise and glorify the Lord

Of his other nuiven below is, perhaps, one of the most characteristic

Holy Ghost, our Interceder, Blessed Con to hold with us communion That with Thee in blessed union We may in our life succeed

Heavenly Counsellor and Teacher, Make us through Thy guidance richer In the grace our Lord hath won Blest Partaker of God's fullness, Make us all, despite our dullness, Wiser e'en than Solomon

Helper of the helpless, harken To our pleas when shadows darken; shi+eld us from the beasts of prey Rouse the careless, help the weary, Bow the prideful, cheer the dreary, Be our guest each passing day

Cohtens Every cross that scars and frightens, Succor us frouilt and shame Warm our heart, inspire our vision, Add Thy voice to our petition As we pray in Jesus' na also believed in the kingdom of God, not only as a proht adorace and love abundant At His font and altar-board

Ado is one of the most favored

Founded our Lord has upon earth a realm of the Spirit Wherein He fosters a people restored by His lory attain, They shall the kingdoe is speeding, Millions receive and proclai For with His word God doth His Spirit accord, Raising all barriers ihest residing, And by the Spirit the wants of Thy people providing, Be Thou our life, shi+eld and defender in strife, Always a

Then shall Thy people as Lord of the nations restore Thee, Even by us shall a pathway be straightened before Thee Till everywhere, Bending in worshi+p and prayer, All shall as Savior adore Thee

The kingdo on earth

Most wonderful of all things is The kingdoue has fully sounded

Invisible as ht from pole to pole Like beacons from a mountain

Its secret is the word of God, Which works what it proposes, Which lowers h and broad And clothes the wastes with roses

Though foes against the kingdon frolory rises like a olden corn While birds above it twitter

It is the glory of the King Who bore affliction solely That he the crown of lifeTo sinners poor and lowly

And when His advent comes to pass, The Christian's strife is ended, What noe see as in a glass Shall then be colory true and vernal, And usher in the golden year Of peace and joy eternal

But the kingdom of God here on earth is represented by the Christian church, wherein Christ works by the Spirit through His word and sacra's , in the translation of Pastor Carl Doving, has become widely known in all branches of the Lutheran church in A's translation is not wholly satisfactory, however, to those who know the forceful and yet so appealing language of the original, a fate which, we are fully aware,new version

Built on a rock the church of God Stands though its towers be falling; Many have cru, Calling the young and old to come, But above all the souls that roah, abides not in Teh above earthly strife and sin, He hath his mansions perfected Yet He, whom heavens cannot contain, Chose to abide on earth withtheir body His te stones, Built for the Spirit's indwelling He at His font and table owns Us for His glory excelling Should only two confess His na His

Even the temples built on earth Unto the praise of the Father, Are like the hoather Glorious things in the us heirs of His kingdom

There we behold the font at which God as His children received us; There stands the altar where His rich Mercy froer relieved us There His blest word to us proclaim: Jesus is now and e'er the same, So is His way of salvation