Score and Recording
Program Notes and Lyrics
Written in summer 2013 for Bethel CRC in Waupun, WI, this text is more often associated with the English tune ANGEL’S STORY than the Finnish folk tune NYLAND which appears in the Gray Psalter Hymnal (#285). When my pastor insisted that we sing the traditional English tune because no one knew that “Finnish dirge” (as he called it!), I decided to use this beautiful tune (in my opinion!) for the offertory instead. There is a gentleness and innocence about this tune that appealed to me. Between phrases of the hymn are diminutions of the melody in 3/4 time contrasted against the more straightforward 4/4 time. Ironically (or rather, typically, because of our fallen nature) when we arrive at the text “nor wander from the pathway,” the music wanders abruptly into a “dazzling” waltz with “tempting” chromatic surprises. When the child-like innocence returns, it affirms that our trust in God is not naïveté but assurance gained through world-weary experience.
1. O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end;
be now and ever near me, my Master and my Friend.
I shall not fear the battle if you are by my side,
nor wander from the pathway …
2. O let me feel you near me; the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw still nearer and shield my soul from sin!
1. O Jesus, I have promised to serve you to the end;
be now and ever near me, my Master and my Friend.
I shall not fear the battle if you are by my side,
nor wander from the pathway …
2. O let me feel you near me; the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle, the tempting sounds I hear.
My foes are ever near me, around me and within;
But, Jesus, draw still nearer and shield my soul from sin!