I Heard The Voice of Jesus Say

 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Come unto Me and rest;
lay down, thou weary one, lay down
thy head upon My breast!”
I came to Jesus as I was,
so weary worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting-place,
and He has made me glad.

2 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“Behold, I freely give
the living water; thirsty one,
stoop down, and drink, and live!”
I came to Jesus, and I drank
of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
and now I live in Him.

3 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
“I am this dark world’s Light;
look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
and all thy day be bright!”
I looked to Jesus, and I found
in Him my Star, my Sun;
and in that Light of life I’ll walk,
till all my journey's done.

Text by Horatius Bonar, 1846

How Firm A Foundation

1 How firm a foundation you saints of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent Word!
What more can he say than to you he has said,
to you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

2 "Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed,
for I am your God, and will still give you aid;
I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand,
upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

3 "When through the deep waters I call you to go,
the rivers of sorrow shall not overflow,
for I will be with you in trouble to bless,
and sanctify to you your deepest distress.

4 "When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie,
my grace all-sufficient shall be your supply;
the flame shall not hurt you; I only design
your dross to consume and your gold to refine.

5 "The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no, never, no never forsake!"

For more great info on this marvelous hymn see source below:

http://www.hymnary.org/text/how_firm_a_foundation_ye_saints_of

Wow, what a great message is delivered in this hymn and to such a rejuvinating tune!  "What more can He say?"  Christ is God's Word to us!  He is with us!  He will never forsake us!  Hallelujah!

Sleepers Awake

"Wachet Auf" (also known as "Sleepers Awake") is a chorale cantata by J. S. Bach.  For a splendid wealth of details about this great cantata, read here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wachet_auf,_ruft_uns_die_Stimme,_BWV_140

The words are magnificent, but it's the tune I find especially nourishing.  There are several marvelous piano transcriptions of the main tune.  Wilhelm Kempff recorded his own (see Amazon.com) and there's another by Busoni that many pianists have recorded, which I also like and sometimes play at weddings.

A side-by-side look at Exsultet texts

A side-by-side look at Exsultet texts



The Exsultet is such a beautiful hymn, one of my favorite parts of the Easter Vigil.  The above link takes you to Fr. Zuhlsdorf's Blog article comparing two English translations compared side-by-side with the original Latin text of the hymn.

Jesus Priceless Treasure

1 Jesus, priceless treasure,
source of purest pleasure,
friend most sure and true:
long my heart was burning,
fainting much and yearning,
thirsting, Lord, for you.
Yours I am, O spotless Lamb,
so will I let nothing hide you,
seek no joy beside you! 

2 Let your arms enfold me:
those who try to wound me
cannot reach me here.
Though the earth be shaking,
every heart be quaking,
Jesus calms my fear.
Fires may flash and thunder crash;
yea, though sin and hell assail me,
Jesus will not fail me. 

3 Hence, all worldly treasure!
Jesus is my pleasure,
Jesus is my choice.
Hence, all empty glory!
What to me your story
told with tempting voice?
Pain or loss or shame or cross
shall not from my Savior move me,
since he chose to love me. 

4 Banish thoughts of sadness,
for the Lord of gladness,
Jesus, enters in;
though the clouds may gather,
those who love the Savior
still have peace within.
Though I bear much sorrow here,
still in you lies purest pleasure,
Jesus, priceless treasure! 

Psalter Hymnal, 1987

Find more information on this site:

http://www.hymnary.org/text/jesus_priceless_treasure

Blessed Assurance

Blessed Assurance, Jesus Is Mine

This is one of my favorite hymns because it was one of my Dad's favorites and we sang it nearly every time we sang together, which was nearly every night.  The link above (in the heading) and the text below come from Hymnary.org a great place to find all kinds of info regarding hymns.

Full Text

1 Blessed assurance; Jesus is mine!
Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine!
Heir of salvation, purchase of God,
born of his Spirit, washed in his blood.

Refrain:
This is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long;
this is my story, this is my song,
praising my Savior all the day long.

2 Perfect submission, perfect delight,
visions of rapture now burst on my sight;
angels descending bring from above
echoes of mercy, whispers of love. [Refrain]

3 Perfect submission, all is at rest,
I in my Savior am happy and blest;
watching and waiting, looking above,
filled with his goodness, lost in his love. [Refrain]

Up From The Grave He Arose

1. Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior,
waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!

Refrain:
Up from the grave he arose;
with a mighty triumph o'er his foes;
he arose a victor from the dark domain,
and he lives forever, with his saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!

2. Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior,
vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord!
(Refrain)

3. Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior;
he tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord!
(Refrain)
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh322.sht