BLOG JULY 4TH 2019. “O GOD F EARTH AND ALTAR

BLOG. JULY 4TH 2019. “O GOD OF EARTH AND ALTAROn this July 4th, and with this troubled nation in turmoil,  I send along as my Blog this classic hymn-prayer by G. K. Chesterton as a cry from the heart:

“O God of Earth and Altar
Bow down and hear our cry
Our earthly rulers falter
Our people drift and die
The walls of gold entomb us
The swords of scorn divide
Take not thy thunder from us
But take away our pride

“From all that terror teaches
From lies of tongue and pen
From all the easy speeches
That comfort cruel men
From sale and profanation
Of honour and the sword
From sleep and from damnation
Deliver us, good lord

“Tie in a living tether
The prince and priest and thrall
Bind all our lives together
Smite us and save us all
In ire and exultation
Aflame with faith and free
Lift up a living nation
A single sword to thee.”

Amen, and Amen.

This hymn appears on the English Hymnal (1906) inside Part VII: Church And People under the heading “National”. It is the 562nd hymn on that book.

Iron Maiden’s vocalist Bruce Dickinson quoted the first stanza…

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About rthenderson

Sixty years a pastor-teacher within the Presbyterian Church. Author of several books, the latest of which are a trilogy on missional ecclesiology: ENCHANTED COMMUNITY: JOURNEY INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE CHURCH, then, REFOUNDING THE CHURCH FROM THE UNDERSIDE, then THE CHURCH AND THE RELENTLESS DARKNESS. Previous to this trilogy was A DOOR OF HOPE: SPIRITUAL CONFLICT IN PASTORAL MINISTRY, and SUBVERSIVE JESUS, RADICAL FAITH. I am a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, a graduate of Davidson College, then of Columbia and Westminster Theological Seminaries.
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One Response to BLOG JULY 4TH 2019. “O GOD F EARTH AND ALTAR

  1. Ann Rose says:

    Thank you for posting Chesterton’s poem today! It is spot on for what we need to be praying. You are so gifted at connecting great Christian writers and thinkers from the past with what we need to hear again now.

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