Preparing for Sunday

Song Highlight: Be Thou My Vision

Our hymn highlight this week is Be Thou My Vision and it is one of those hymns that has truly stood the test of time. This hymn, written by an unknown poet, dates back to 8th Century Ireland, very likely influenced by the work and ministry of St. Patrick three hundred years prior. How often the hymn was used throughout the centuries is not known, but in 1905 it was translated by a scholar in Dublin named Mary Elizabeth Byrne and was shortly thereafter put to meter and rhyme by Elanor Hull. Fittingly put to an Irish folk tune, this hymn quickly became popular in the English speaking church, making its way into many protestant hymnals. 

This hymn was written as a prayer and to this day it is still one of the most popular and most beautiful traditional hymns to sing. And it’s easy to understand why. Even though it was written in the 700’s, many of the struggles and prayers that the author wrote about we can easily identify with. We too pray that God would be the vision and guide of our heart, being our best thought both in day and in night. We pray that God would give us His wisdom in order for us to live in obedience to Him as His children. We prayerfully trust that He alone is our battle shield and our sword against the attacks of the evil one being the only one who can give shelter to our weary souls. We must pray that no earthly treasure or praise from man would captivate our life, but rather that Christ alone would be the true treasure of our heart. And lastly, we can rest and adore God for the hope that we have of complete and total victory through the work of Christ. With that hope we again ask that God would be our vision and guide until we reach our glorious home.

When you sing this song, sing it as a prayer asking God for these things so that you may live in accordance with His will. And sing it with joy knowing that many of those who have run the race before us sang and prayed for the exact same thing by singing the exact same hymn.

(Hymn information credit: Robert J. Morgan “Then Sings My Soul: 150 of the World’s Greatest Hymn Stories”)