Category: Bible

Great prophet of pity – A hymn inspired by Romans 12: 1-8

Great prophet of pity - A hymn inspired by Romans 12: 1-8

Great prophet of pity, subversive in love,
unsettle our comfort, divert and reprove;
that, moved from self-interest, and shielded from pride,
we might yet embody the gifts of your bride.

O raise up your people and fit them to care
for all who are lonely or lost in despair.
The reed that is bending, the wick that burns low,
through grace and persistence, God, help them to grow.

From each generation, race, colour or creed,
Christ, gather together, united by need,
the ones that you value, and God, may we find,
in spite of ourselves that your welcome is kind.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2003  Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd.
Metre: 11 11 11 11
Tune: ST DEINIO

She felt just like a ragged dog – a hymn based on Matthew 15: 21-28

She felt just like a ragged dog - a hymn based on Matthew 15: 21-28

1	She felt just like a ragged dog 
	that scratched around for food, 
	denied, despised and kicked aside 
	and never any good.
	
2	Yet now she stood inside the door 
	and pleaded with this man, 
	for each taboo had little weight, 
	her grief had wider span.
	
3	Her child had need of healing help 
	and she would make Christ hear, 
	the urgency of anguished need 
	had overcome her fear.
	
4	And in that moment he would learn, 
	audacity would teach
	that human laws and well worn creeds 
	put no-one out of reach.
	
5	Compassion ruled and loved compelled 
	to action on that day, 
	and Jesus' reach was broadened as 
	he learnt that grace held sway.

Andrew E Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2012  Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: CM 
Tune: AULD LANG SYNE

Can perfect love cast out the fear and hate – a hymn inspired by a text suggested by Gordon Taylor

Can perfect love cast out the fear and hate 
Words inspired by a text suggested by Gordon Taylor at a hymn workshop of the Hymn Society of Great Britain and Ireland in Lincoln July 2023. The theme is a response to the Government’s Illegal Immigration Bill.

Can perfect love cast out the fear and hate 
that festers in a hardened, ravaged heart, 
when lives abandoned to a savage sea,
have hope denied, grace drowned out from the start.

As cold officials act with callous power
we sing the words that plead and pray for care,
to see humanity in each new face
to wipe away the tears of rank despair.

How long, O God, will we discard the lives, 
that you have birthed that we should seek to save, 
who caught by circumstance, or course of life,
we destine to a swirling, watery grave.

Yes perfect love can cast out fear and hate 
that festers in each hardened, ravaged heart, 
when we reach out to others in their need.
Through gracious words, new hope has power to start.

© Andrew Pratt 19/7/2023 Words © 2023 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk. Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 10.10.10.10
Tune: YANWORTH

The children would follow the peal of your piping – Hymn – Matthew 11: 16 – 17

A hymn inspired by Matthew 11:16-17 Jesus said, “But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn'”.

The children would follow the peal of your piping,
the ring of your reason, the joy of your love,
the children would follow, and none would deter them
from plateaus so barren to mountains above.

And those who are childlike still follow your calling;
a calling to suffer, yet dusted with hope.
The way to fulfilment, to peace and to plenty.
is fissured and rutted but still we will cope.

God's joy is the centre of all that we hope for,
a calling for everyone, not just for some;
the music is moving, can't stop ourselves singing,
still Jesus is piping and still people come!

Andrew Pratt (born 1948)
Words © 2006 Stainer & Bell Ltd, London, England copyright@stainer.co.uk . Please include any reproduction for local church use on your CCL Licence returns. All wider and any commercial use requires prior application to Stainer & Bell Ltd
Metre: 12 11 12 11
Tune: STREETS OF LAREDO