Jesus, you loved us first, and love us still;
Lead us to live within your holy will.
Guide us to live with care, and yet with hope to dare,
In all things everywhere, your love fulfill.
Teach us to live within your wisdom true,
Not choosing foolishly in what we do.
Making the most of time, led by your grace sublime,
May we in all things rhyme our lives to you.
Let songs of praise resound, our voices ring;
Let melodies abound in everything.
Lead us in holy psalm, loud praise or healing balm;
In conflict or in calm, lead us to sing.
Place in us grateful hearts; teach us to say
All of our gratitude in every way.
To You our Lord on high our praises multiply;
Let thanks be our reply here, now, today.
TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2021 (after Ephesians 5:15-20)
MUSIC: Tune SOMETHING FOR JESUS, 6.4.6.4.6.6.6.4., Robert Lowry, 1871.
One thing I’ve adopted when nothing works for an extended time is to take up a tune from my past (one that doesn’t appear much in the hymnals most present in my experience nowadays) and create a text for it. This quiet Robert Lowry tune somehow cooperated with the Ephesians reading for the twelfth Sunday after Pentecost of this year, though this text is far from a close paraphrase.
