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.
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
The day between Good Friday and Easter is a strange, unsettling one. It is a day between, between the traumas of Christ’s death and the glories of his resurrection. But this Saturday is the day we live all our days, living each day in between Good Friday and Easter. We try to live in the hope of Easter, though it is not yet realized, and we are weak. As the hymn puts it:
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. (ELW Hymn 808, verse 4)
We can live in the sure and certain hope that such a dawn will come, and that our journey ends in Jesus and God’s unfailing love.
Prayer
God, journey with us. Assure us of your presence and your love. Strengthen our faltering feet, guide us on our way, and welcome us home at the end. Amen.