A HYMN FOR TODAY

Daysong

The sands of time are sinking;
The dawn of heaven breaks;
The summer morn I’ve sighed for,
The fair, sweet morn awakes.

Green pastures are before me,
Which yet I have not seen.
Bright skies will soon be o’er me,
Where darkest clouds have been.

No night is there, no sorrow,
No death and no decay,
No yesterday, no morrow,
But one eternal day.

7.6.7.6 – Various authors

Tune: Lasst uns Alle New

Gesangbuch Ander Teil, 1632
arr. Matthew L. Harber, 2011

#670 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

“Daysong” is another “composite” hymn, demonstrating that properly-metered lyrics can be matched to many tunes written in that same meter. This allows worship leaders to “mix and match,” creating “new hymns” from verses of different hymns but with the same themes.  Setting them to different or unfamiliar tunes can revive older tunes and “freshen” verses worshipers might be tempted to sing by “rote” due to their familiarity.

The hymns from which this “composite” is constructed are “The Sands of Time” by Anne Ross Cousin, 1857 (#710); “In Heavenly Love Abiding” by Anna L. Waring, 1850 (#667 & 668); and “There Is a Habitation” by Love H. Jameson, 1882 (#749) – all hymns which have stood the test of time due to strong, Biblical lyrics, written in proper metrical form.