God of All the Nations (A Hymn)
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| Mount McLoughlin, Oregon |
On Sunday I'm preaching a sermon based on a reading from Mark 7:24-30. It's the story of Jesus' encounter with the Syro-Phoenician woman. It's rather startling in its portrayal of a Jesus who displays a bit of ethnocentrism. We too can fall prey to this attitude. In fact, it is quite prominent these days. Here in the United States and around the world. I wonder, did the Syro-Phoenician woman open Jesus' eyes to the wider world? If so, might her relentlessness in pursuit of help for her daughter, enlighten us as well?
With that in mind, I offer this hymn: This Is My Song. The first two verses were written by Lloyd Stone in 1934. I've added the third verse added by Georgia Harkness in 1939, which in this version has been altered. This verse is not included in the video below, but you will find it in the lyrics at the end of this post. The song is set to the tune of Finlandia (Jean Sibelius, 1899).
A song of peace for lands afar and mine
This is my home the country where my heart is
Here are my hopes my dreams my holy shrine
But other hearts in other lands are beating
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
2 My country's skies are bluer than the ocean
And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine
But other lands have sunlight too and clover
And skies are everywhere as blue as mine
O hear my song Thou God of all nations
A song of peace for their land and for mine.
3 This is my prayer O Ruler of all nations
Let thy reign come; on earth Thy will be done
In peace may all earth’s people draw together
And hearts united learn to live as one.
O hear my prayer, though God of all the nations;
Myself I give thee; let thy will be done.
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