Musical Notes

Hello OCBC family!

Tomorrow will be the anniversary when William Williams was born.  You may ask, who is William Williams?  This man was a Welsh evangelist who was born on February 11th, 1717.  His original desire was to be a doctor, but while he was in college his life was impacted by of the ministry of Welsh evangelist, Howell Harris, an eighteenth century contemporary of John and Charles Wesley.  He left the medicine school and started his preparation for ministry.  Also, at this time there were not too many hymns in Welsh and William started to write hymns to be used in Welsh liturgy.  For forty-three years he preached and sang throughout Wales.  “He sang Wales into piety,” said one writer.  Because of his influence through singing, soon all of Wales was singing their way to the coal mines and soccer matches; they loved to sing.  William’s famous hymn is “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah” which is a picture of Christians going as pilgrims like the Israelites in the wilderness.  An author said about this hymn, “We may not know the route by which God is leading us, but we humbly count on His guidance.”

Enjoy the lyrics of “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.”

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;
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;
be thou still my strength and shield.

When I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fears subside;
death of death and hell's destruction,
land me safe on Canaan's side.
Songs of praises, songs of praises,
I will ever give to thee;
I will ever give to thee.

In His service,
Israel

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