Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
This hymn is often used for significant occasions – ordinations, funerals, coronations, etc. (and in our case, Baccalaureate) – likely because it juxtaposes a call to action with an abiding sense of God’s guidance amidst struggle, using the Exodus story to convey this imagery. This imagery includes references to the God who provides the “bread of heaven” to those walking in “barren lands.” The second stanza points to the “fire and cloudy pillar” that the Israelites followed, as well as the “crystal fountain” the rock from which “the healing stream doth flow” – a God that sustains its people through hunger and thirst.
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land.
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
Hold me with thy powerful hand.
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more.
Open now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing stream doth flow;
Let the fire and cloudy pillar
Lead me all my journey through.
Strong Deliverer, strong Deliverer,
Be Thou still my Strength and Shield.
How Can I Keep From Singing?
The origin story for this hymn isn’t clear, but a compelling theory is that it was a Quaker hymn that Robert Lowry (the credited writer) discovered. It wasn’t uncommon for a compiler to assume credit for a hymn. The likelihood of Quaker origin is evidenced in the narratives of overcoming persecution – and the Quakers faced a lot of it for their theology and pacifism. One verse that is omitted from modern hymnals paints the picture:
In prison cell and dungeon vile
Our thoughts to them are winging,
When friends by shame are undefiled
How can I keep from singing?
My life flows on in endless song; above earth’s lamentation,
I hear the clear, though far off hymn that hails a new creation.
[Refrain:]
No storm can shake my inmost calm while to that Rock I’m clinging.
Since love is Lord of heav’n and earth, how can I keep from singing?
Through all the tumult and the strife, I hear the music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul. How can I keep from singing? [Refrain]
What though my joys and comforts die? I know my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round? Songs in the night he giveth. [Refrain]