Walking Therein

Saturday Psalm & Praise - Be Thou My Vision

I have a Debby Boone cassette tape around here somewhere with this song on it. I really like that tape. I should find it on a cd and just buy it. For now though, I can just listen to Jocelyn sing it all over the house. Do your children sing, out loud, for no reason, just a worship song, deep in there, that just comes bubbling out? It is one of the sweetest sounds a Momma can hear - a child singing a tune, whether off-key, high, low... even the wrong beat or words. I love to hear our children doing dishes, walking through the house, sitting at their schoolwork, singing an old hymn or a praise song. Beautiful.  

Be Thou My Vision

Ancient Irish hymn, possibly from the 8th Century, tr. by Mary E. Byrne

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my Wisdom, Thou my true Word;
I ever with Thee, Thou with me, Lord;
Thou my great Father, I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.
Thou my soul's shelter, Thou my high tower.
Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance, now and always:
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,
High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven, my victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heav'ns Son!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be my vision, O ruler of all.

Be Thou My Vision is a traditional Christian hymn, which can be traced to Ireland but is now sung in English-speaking churches around the world.

The text (Rop tú mo baile) is often attributed to Dallan Forgaill in the 8th century; in any case, this text had been a part of Irish monastic tradition for centuries before the hymn itself was written. It was translated from Old Irish into English by Mary E. Byrne in "Eriú," Journal of the School of Irish Learning, in 1905. The English text was first versified by Eleanor H. Hull in 1912, and this version of the lyrics is the most common. However, slight variations of these lyrics are sometimes seen. The first verse of Hull's version follows:

Thus, the English translation of the hymn itself is fairly recent and the Elizabethan vocabulary and structure is somewhat an anachronism. Be Thou My Vision has become the quintessential Irish hymn in English-speaking churches and is often sung around St. Patrick's Day. Despite its traditional nature and the seemingly archaic quality of the text, Be Thou My Vision has become a popular song performed by Contemporary Christian musicians.

The music is the Irish folk song, Slane, which is about Slane Hill where in 433 A.D. St. Patrick defied the paganHigh King Lóegaire of Tara by lighting candles on Easter Eve. Besides this general connection to Christianity, the folk song has little prior connection to the text.

 ~Wikipedia

Oh Lord... Be Thou my vision. Let me see life and circumstances... mine, Matt's, our children's, family, friends.... with your Vision. With your Wisdom. Your Dignity.

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.
Thou my best thought, by day or by night,
Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

blessings! -Jacque

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8:34 AM, Saturday, December 22, 2007 .. Posted by ApplesofGold

Oh-another one of my favorite songs! Thank you-reading the words to this and hearing the tune in my mind made my heart swell with joy.
I have this hymn on a celtic lullaby CD-it's so beautiful. Holly

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8:55 AM, Saturday, December 22, 2007 .. Posted by MamaArcher

thanks Jacque- I love this hymn! Mine is up now!
Kristine

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11:19 AM, Saturday, December 22, 2007 .. Posted by alicia

One of my favorites :D

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9:40 PM, Saturday, December 22, 2007 .. Posted by LeviSuarez

Hi Auntie, I hope we can see you guys again.
Sus is getting bigger.
Please comment back.

Levi

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5:40 PM, Sunday, December 23, 2007 .. Posted by totustuus

This is one of my favorite hymns...I LOVE Celtic music. Add lovely that are Christ-centered lyrics and you have something grand. Michael Card (do you know of him?) has a Celtic album where he sings this and it's my favorite arrangement.

Everybody sings in our house; we're a very musical family. Six of us play the piano, I play the organ, and Victoria plays the flute. There is always music in our house!!

Best regards (and Merry Christmas!!),
Sylvia

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11:14 PM, Sunday, December 23, 2007 .. Posted by quietcajun

I really liked:

Be Thou my battle-shield, sword for my fight,
Be Thou my dignity, Thou my delight.


I have really struggled with really DELIGHTING in the Lord and for a long time prayed that I would understand the Joy of the Lord. More and more it is coming to me as I trust in Him more and lean fully upon Him and not on myself.

Thank-you for taking time to share this and all of the lovely hymns you share. I LOVE hymns.

singing

5:42 AM, Monday, December 24, 2007 .. Posted by heartofwisdom

"Do your children sing, out loud, for no reason,"

Yes, all the time and I LOVE it. Too precious. Softens the heart doesn't it. Makes you realize we are continuously planting seeds and how important it is.

Thanks for sharing this hymn.