It is not often that I have a Sunday in Auckland.

But when I do, there is one thing I love to do: have a date with my mother. 7pm on Sundays. Songs of Praise, out of the UK. Together we delight in the mingling of story with song, as we both sit there with maps and hymnbooks open (Mum with her big map book, her big hymnbook – and her big magnifying glass! … and me just on my smartphone).

Last Sunday we were taken to Calderdale in Yorkshire. I had never even heard of the place and this added to the fun. In this episode the hymns were beautiful – like this one:

Lord of all hopefulness, Lord of all joy,
Whose trust, ever child-like, no cares can destroy,
Be there at our waking, and give us, we pray,
Your bliss in our hearts, Lord, at the break of the day.


Lord of all eagerness, Lord of all faith,
Whose strong hands were skilled at the plane and the lathe,
Be there at our labours and give us, we pray
Your strength in our hearts, Lord, at the noon of the day.


Lord of all kindliness, Lord of all grace,
Your hands swift to welcome, your arms to embrace,
Be there at our homing, and give us, we pray
Your love in our hearts, Lord, at the eve of the day.


Lord of all gentleness, Lord of all calm,
Whose voice is contentment, whose presence is balm,
Be there at our sleeping, and give us, we pray,
Your peace in our hearts, Lord, at the end of the day.

Now, at this point, I must confess to a bit of a compulsive behavioural disorder when I see a text like this one. It starts to appear to me like a text from which to preach. So I draw near to observe the details. In my mind I start to flick through Who, What, When etc – and then it is across to the verbs, the repetition and, of course, ‘the little words that mean so much’.

Stick with me here.
It will be worth the effort.

Asking “When?” is the obvious place to begin as each verse inhabits a different part of the day: ‘the break of the day … the noon of the day … the eve of the day … the end of the day.’ Everybody loves this feature of the hymn.

Asking “Who?” is the next one. It is a hymn loaded with tender truths about God, isn’t it? But before we go too far, let’s take a look at ‘a little word that means so much’: of.  If you ever learn Greek, the word “of” can have a dozen different meanings. Usually, it conveys possession – but here it conveys source, or origin. Yes, the glorious truth is that the Lord is the source of hopefulness, joy, eagerness, faith, kindliness, grace, gentleness and calm. Beautiful.

Looking for repetition is often the way to feel the intensity of a text. This is felt through the multiple “all”s and “day”s – but also in the repetition of “Be there … and give us, we pray”. This becomes the way the songwriter draws the singer into these truths about God.

Asking “What?” – or, the things in the text – opens up the central truth in the hymn. It is as we wander through this hymn noticing God’s trust, hands, arms, voice and presence mingling with our waking, labours, homing and sleeping that we arrive at the central affirmations of the hymn: ‘Your bliss in our hearts … Your strength in our hearts … Your love in our hearts … Your peace in our hearts’.

And, of course, the thing that touches all our hearts with this hymn is the way this mingling and these affirmations align exactly with the right time of day and that the whole day is covered. Love it!

Hopefully, I haven’t ruined the hymn for you because now it is time to soak in it. Read through the words once more, slowly, and then come back here and soak in this choir’s performance of the hymn, assisted by an oboe (much to Barby’s joy, as this is the instrument she mastered – all the way to the Delhi Symphony Orchestra!).