I will sing of my Redeemer

First, I just want to recommend two CDs (both collections of hymns) that I listen to during the dead of the night nowadays and at times when I have had enough of the "live worship" CDs:

- Be Still My Soul (Selah - a trio of Todd Smith, Nicol Smith and Allan Hall)

- Hymns of Worship (Fernando Ortega)

For me, there's something about hymns that the praise and worship songs have never quite been able to replace. Maybe it's because many of the hymns are borne out of suffering and hardship, and ultimately testify of our Saviour's grace and the hymn-writers' faith. They are also simple, beautiful and touching.

Interestingly, the first song on both CDs is Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour.

The sleeve notes for Selah's CD include this extract:

My brother Todd and I spent a good deal of our growing years (1978-1986) in Zaire (in Africa), where our parents are missionaries. "Bika Mono Ve" is Kituba for "Pass Me Not, O Gentle Saviour". I remember hearing this song during the time when a close friend of ours in Congo, almost an adopted member of our family, was put in jail for a crime he did not commit. When Dad and a group of friends went to visit him there, this was the song they sang over and over again. - Nicol

Selah sings the song in Kituba and in English.

Pass me not, O gentle Saviour

Hear my humble cry

While on others Thou art calling

Do not pass me by.

Saviour, Saviour, hear my humble cry

While on others Thou art calling

Do not pass me by.

---

The song that tugged at my heart when I was listening to Fernando Ortega's CD was I Will Sing Of My Redeemer. It was the first time that I had heard of this hymn. I listened to it for another 10 times and went online to search for the lyrics and guitar chords.

I Will Sing Of My Redeemer

Words: Phil­ip P. Bliss, 1876. This is per­haps the last hymn Bliss wrote be­fore he died in a train wreck. He sur­vived the in­i­tial crash, but was killed try­ing (un­suc­cess­ful­ly) to res­cue his wife. The lyr­ics were found in his be­long­ings af­ter the ac­ci­dent. This song is al­so one of the first ever re­cord­ed on a phon­o­graph. George Steb­bins made the re­cord­ing dur­ing a dem­on­stra­tion of Thom­as Ed­i­son’s new in­ven­tion in New York C­ity.

Music: James Mc­Gran­a­han, 1877

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His wondrous love to me;
On the cruel cross He suffered,
From the curse to set me free.

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate to save,
In His boundless love and mercy,
He the ransom freely gave.

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I’ll tell,
How the victory He giveth
Over sin, and death, and hell.

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

I will sing of my Redeemer,
And His heav’nly love to me;
He from death to life hath brought me,
Son of God with Him to be.

Sing, oh sing, of my Redeemer,
With His blood, He purchased me.
On the cross, He sealed my pardon,
Paid the debt, and made me free.

Galatians 3:13

Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree" )

I hope that the two songs will encourage all of us in our walk with God - as they speak of the undying love of our Saviour, the enduring gift of His grace, the tremendous cost of our redemption, the resounding affirmation of His victory and the absolute certainty of His Second Coming. Amen.