Just A Closer Walk With Thee (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 697)
Refrain:
Just a closer walk with thee,
grant it, Jesus, is my plea;
daily walking close to thee,
let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
1 I am weak but thou art strong:
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
as I walk, let me walk close to thee. [Refrain]
2 Through this world of toil and snares,
if I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but thee, dear Lord, none but thee. [Refrain]
3 When my feeble life is o’er,
time for me will be no more;
guide me gently, safely o’er
to thy kingdom shore, to thy shore. [Refrain]
Text and Music: North American Traditional; Public Domain
Devotion
There is wailing in our midst. Lament oozes from our souls. The pandemic, politics, unemployment, structural fractures, shuttered businesses and aborted travel plans bend us and bow our heads. Words are both halting and machine-gun angry, explanations evasive, answers cloudy as we await a vaccine to open life again. Often, we are speechless and perplexed. Music and melody may fill the gap. “Riverdance” is a dancing and melodic story of Irish resolve to find home, to find deliverance from famine, poverty, and death which shrouded persons and families. “River” is a metaphor for the path to the future, a path tinged with lament. Expressing this reality is Davy Spillane playing “Caoineadh Cu Chulainn” on the Uilleann Pipes. (YouTube) Prepare to weep. The hymn, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” is a lament, crying out to Jesus to “keep me from all wrong, to share my burdens, to guide me safely, gently to thy kingdom shore, to thy shore.” God in Christ is our shore, our home.
Prayer
Christ of Deliverance, thank you for the way through these times. It is pleading, pleading, pleading to Jesus to guide us home. Amen