Never in our lifetimes have any of us experienced anything quite like the situation we find ourselves in now. It reaches across six of our seven continents, across all age groups and ethnicities, and, so far has outstripped our best efforts to control it. People are reacting with worry, with fear, with confusion. Some are strong, thoughtful, generous, and patient. Some are angry, selfish, and apathetic. Maybe most of us are all of those things at one time or another. As a musician, in times of crisis I often turn to the hymns of our faith, possibly the most diverse collection of poetry you could imagine. And the hymn that called out to me today was number 764 in our Glory to God hymnal, entitled For the Troubles and the Sufferings of the World. For the troubles and the sufferings of the world, God, we call upon your mercy: the whole creation’s laboring in pain! Lend an ear to the rising cry for help from oppressed and hopeless people: Come! Hasten your salvation, healing love! We pray for peace, the blessed peace that comes from making justice, to cover and embrace us. Have mercy, Lord! We pray for power, the power that will sustain your people’s witness: until your Kingdom come, Kyrie eleison This hymn is full of phrases that really speak to our present situation: For the troubles and the sufferings of the world – This coronavirus has certainly caused trouble and suffering to the whole world. God, we call upon your mercy – we certainly do. Healing love – we so need healing. The blessed peace that comes from making justice – to me this is one of the most powerful lines in the hymn. Kyrie eleison – Have mercy, Lord. The hymn also echoes the familiar pattern of a psalm of lament, with a cry for help followed by an affirmation of trust in God. You heard a paraphrase of the archetypal psalm of lament, Psalm 13, in this Sunday’s worship
Click here to listen to this hymn, offered by the choir of First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, directed by Tom Trenney. Tom was forced to cancel a trip to Ann Arbor earlier this month because of restrictions on group gatherings. Soli Deo Gloria, Dave VanderMeer
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