[Editors' note: Below is a hymn written by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette to inspire churches to further support and pray for famine relief in Somalia and the Horn of Africa.]
O God, You Love the Needy
7.6.7.6 D LLANGLOFFAN ("Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers")O God, you love the needy and care for all the poor!
Today our hearts are heavy with news of drought and war.
When plantings yield no harvest, when hungry people die,
When families flee, defenseless -- Lord, hear your people's cry!To us they seem so distant; their grief is far away.
Yet you, O Lord, are present and know their needs this day.
You call us to weep with them in all they journey through --
To reach our hands out to them, for they are loved by you.O God, in Christ you teach us that love means sacrifice;
May we give what is precious so others will have life.
Now bless these gifts we're bringing for neighbors who are poor,
Till mourning turns to singing and famine is no more.
Biblical References: Isaiah 25:4; Exodus 3:7; Romans 12:15; Matthew 16:24-26; Isaiah 65:17-25; Luke 13:29-30; Luke 14:12-14
Tune: Welsh Folk Melody, Evans' Hymnau a Thonau, 1865 as in English Hymnal, 1906.
Text: Copyright © 2011 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: bcgillette@comcast.net Website: www.carolynshymns.com
Hymn Use Permission: Churches that support Sojourners have permission to use these hymns. This hymn is available formatted with the music as a free PDF from the United Methodist Worship Office.
Carolyn Winfrey Gillette is the author of Songs of Grace: New Hymns for God and Neighbor (Discipleship Resources/Upper Room Books, 2009) and Gifts of Love: New Hymns for Today's Worship (Geneva Press, 2000) and the co-pastor of Limestone Presbyterian Church in Wilmington, Delaware. Sojourners' past postings by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette includes hymns for creation care, economic justice, Matthew 25/disaster relief, immigration, the Gulf oil spill, war in Iraq, and the 10th anniversary of September 11. A complete list of the 190+ hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette, many with peace and justice themes, can be found at www.carolynshymns.com
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