Lord Jesus, You Shall Be My Song (ELW 808, focus on verse 4)
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.
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Devotion
The final verse of our theme hymn begins: “I fear in the dark and the doubt of my journey.” This is a helpful refrain as we move into the final week of Lent. Fear, doubt, shadows, and uncertainty fill this season, in scripture and song. We too may live with fear and doubt, shadow and uncertainty, this season and in many seasons of life.
The hymn hopes for courage—“courage will come,” but not just yet—with the sound of Jesus’ steps by our side, as our companion on the journey. Singing of a dawn to come, with family saved by the love of Christ, even at the end. Lent’s end is near. But other ends come unannounced, unexpected. Lenten spirituality offers us a way to prepare for myriad endings, feeling the dark and doubt in liturgical time, so that when they arrive at other times, we may be prepared to sing toward a new dawn.
Prayer
O God, though we fear through dark and doubt, be our light and our courage. Until our journey draws to its end, let us sing your dawn throughout the earth. Amen.