Music Notes from Denise, October 18, 2025

This Sunday we will read Luke 18 when Jesus tells his disciples “to pray always and not to lose heart.” And in 2nd Timothy we read, “always be sober, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, carry out your ministry fully.” Our music will reflect these directives. We will have a guest pianist to sub for me, Cathy Smith, who graciously prepares beautiful piano music for our worship. Cathy is a retired vocal music teacher from Wentzville Holt high school and is currently on the faculty of St. Charles Community College vocal music department.

Our Processional hymn will be Holy Spirit, ever living and our Sequence hymn is My faith looks up to thee, written by Ray Palmer, who is often considered to be one of America’s best 19th century hymn writers. It was written in 1830 when Palmer was fresh from College. He described its composition: “I gave form to what I felt, by writing, with little effort…I recollect I wrote with very tender emotion, and ended the last line with tears.” It was given to Dr. Lowell Mason for use in a work being compiled into Spiritual Songs for Social Worship: adapted to the use of Families. The tune was written by Mason and has become known as Olivet. (John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, 1907; hymnary.org)

The St. Martin’s choir will sing a beautiful song to the tune of Londonderry Aire, We are the Lord’s, composed by Roland E. Martin in 2010 for St. James Music Press. Doug Edmonson will start the song with a solo, followed by the full choir. The text is as follows:

We are the Lord’s; His all sufficient merit, Sealed on the cross, to us this grace accords.

We are the Lord’s and all things shall inherit; Whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.

We are the Lord’s; then let us gladly tender We are the Lord’s; then let us gladly tender

Let heart and tongue and life combine to render No doubtful witness that we are the Lord’s.

We are the Lord’s; no darkness brooding o’er us Can make us tremble while this star affords

A steady light along the path before us—Faith’s full assurance that we are the Lord’s.

We are the Lord’s; no evil can befall us In the dread hour of life’s fast loosening cords;

No pangs of death shall even then appall us. Death we shall vanquish, for we are the Lord’s.

Our Communion hymn will be What a friend we have in Jesus. The life of Joseph M. Scriven, the author of this text, was hard and filled with tragedy. At a young age he had to give up his military ambitions due to poor health. Things were looking up as he prepared to be married, but on the eve before his wedding, his fiancée died tragically in a drowning accident. Scriven moved to Rice Lake, Ontario, and was soon to be wed again. His second fiancée, however, also died suddenly from an illness shortly before the wedding. With no job in a hard economy, Scriven had to live with friends and acquaintances. His volunteer work with the impoverished and sickly as he tried to live as closely to the Sermon on the Mount as possible was frowned upon by those friends, however, and they quickly disassociated themselves from him. Penniless and alone, Scriven was later found drowned in Rice Lake. It’s a tragic story and, like all tragedies, hard to make sense of. And yet, God still works in and through our stories and losses to fulfill His purposes. Shortly after Scriven moved to Ontario, it’s said he wrote the text “What a Friend” to send back to his mother in Ireland to comfort her in a time of sorrow. After its publication, a neighbor asked if Scriven really did write it, and he replied, “The Lord and I did it between us” (Lutheran Hymnal Handbook). As one of the best-known hymns of comfort, it is certain that the Lord used Scriven to bless many in their own times of sorrow.  (hymnary.org).  

We will close with our final hymn: Standin’ in the need of prayer from our Lift Every Voice hymnal. It’s a spiritual that has been altered over the years but still have important meaning for us today. We often need to recognize our own shortcomings and our need to continue our relationship with God through prayer. Instead of worrying about what others are saying or doing, we need to pray about our own words and thoughts, and how we can support God’s kingdom in our own lives and in the life of St. Martin’s church.