Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song (ELW 808, focus on verse 3)
1 Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey;
I’ll tell ev’rybody about you wherever I go:
you alone are our life and our peace and our love.
Lord Jesus, you shall be my song as I journey.
2 Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.
May all of my joy be a faithful reflection of you.
May the earth and the sea and the sky join my song.
Lord Jesus, I’ll praise you as long as I journey.
3 As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant,
to carry your cross and to share all your burdens and tears.
For you saved me by giving your body and blood.
As long as I live, Jesus, make me your servant.
4 I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey;
but courage will come with the sound of your steps by my side.
And with all of the family you saved by your love,
we’ll sing to your dawn at the end of our journey.
Text: Les Petites Soeurs de Jésus and L’Arche Community; tr. Stephen Somerville, b. 1931
Text © 1987 Les Petites Soeurs de Jésus, admin. Augsburg Fortress. Tr. © 1970 Stephen Somerville, admin. Augsburg Fortress.
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
Verse three of “Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song” invites, beckons, and draws us into the ways we live as servants of Jesus. Sharing the space of suffering, burdens, and tears with others is how we connect to him. The Good News is that Jesus’ saving act on the cross has already been accomplished for us. Now we are invited to continue to lean into, embrace, and respond to Christ’s deep love for the world on each step of our life’s journey. Today, as we get ready to sing with a servant heart, inhale, hold space, and exhale, ready to enter into all that is to come. As we sing even in the midst of our own and others’ suffering, burdens, and tears, we also sing expecting to be restored, lifted up, and have our tears wiped away. In our journey with Jesus, the song carries and reminds us we are not alone. Our servant heart beats with a rhythm that leads us to love.
Prayer
Thank you, Jesus, for the gift of song. Help us to lean into whatever melodies or rhythms we need to pay attention to in this day and time. May love always lead us in our song. Amen.