Lord, I believe (attempted hymn)

Submitted by Tessa on Fri, 01/01/2016 - 00:42

Lord, I believe Thy faithfulness sure:
Myself Thou shalt steadfastly secure.
With Thee in me through every trial,
Though my head droop it shall be rais’d higher.

Lord, I believe Thou orderest my way,
Come gloom or gladness; come night or day.
If my faith fail, or I should lose hope,
Thee, Lord canst bear with what I cannot cope.

Lord, I believe that weakness of mine
Is swallow’d in strength of the perfect Divine.
And Thou in Thy love givest to me
The sweet blessed Jesus: all I shall need.

Author's age when written
21
Genre
Poetry
Tags
God
prayer
faith
truth
hymn
Notes

I am not a natural at writing poetry, and I think this is one of two poems that I wrote without the pressure of doing it for an assignment. It came at a time of hardship, at a time when I was growing a lot in my faith. Like the anecdotes of some real, actual hymn writers, I felt almost as if the majority of it were dictated to me. Parts of it still seem clunky though, so I'm continuing to revise. :) If it helps, you can sing these words to the tune of "Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness."

Comments

James

Tue, 01/05/2016 - 06:33

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This is beautiful, Tessa. And it flows from the profound paradox in our Christian walk... that "when I am weak, then I am strong":

"And He said unto me, 'My grace is sufficent for thee, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.' Most gladly therefore will I glory rather in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in privations, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong."

-- II Chorinthians 12:9-10

This hymn you've written speaks powerfully to a Christian who has walked through hard places and felt his utter helplessness before God.

Thanks so much for sharing this!

<><~~~~~~~~~~~~><>
"The idea that we should approach science without a philosophy is itself a philosophy... and a bad one, because it is self-refuting." -- Dr. Jason Lisle

Damaris Ann

Tue, 01/05/2016 - 15:04

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Beautiful, Tessa.
Poetry that comes from the heart in a time of need is such a gift. It's when the Holy Spirit senses a need for comfort, and this is His way of giving it. It's happened to me many times. It's usually when I'm feeling lost or alone, and then that Still Small Voice whispers into your heart and says "I am here, and I am enough."
I hope you continue to write poetry. For not being a "natural" your fisrst attempt seems pretty perfect. :) Keep up the good works!

I don’t thrive off of chaos: chaos thrives off of me.

Tessa

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 19:43

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I have to admit, I had forgotten I was signed up for this site until these comments started coming in! Thank you all for your kind words. This poem is ringing true for me more than ever now. God continually reaffirms his goodness and faithfulness to me.

I wasn't planning on putting music to it. The meter is such that the tune "Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness" works with it well. :) If anyone is musically inclined and wants to write a tune for it though... go for it!

Redeemed,

Tessa

Damaris Ann

Tue, 01/19/2016 - 19:58

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Kyleigh should do it. :)

Isn't it beautiful how God gives us words to write a poem and then uses those same words to comfort/encourage/convict us later on? I've had that happen multiple times.
"The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell."

I don’t thrive off of chaos: chaos thrives off of me.

Kyleigh

Wed, 01/20/2016 - 05:27

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I can definitely give it a go. ;) Anything musical that comes to anyone's mind when they first read this? I'll think about it more later, but if anyone feels a specific mode or mood when they read it let me know.

Tessa

Thu, 01/28/2016 - 02:07

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I'm not too familiar with the apricot pie platform, but maybe if you convert it to a picture file (.jpg, .png, or something else?) you can finagle it in? I'd like to see what you've come up with. :)

Redeemed,

Tessa