Help us, O God, to Understand

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Edward
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Help us, O God, to Understand

Post by Edward »

Help us, O God, to Understand
1.
Help us, O God, to understand
Our Savior's love for us.
He paid the price for all our sins
And died upon the cross.
2.
We read thy words and feel thy pow'r
Leading mankind to Thee;
Lighting the way which guides us to God
Yet thou to Calvary ...
3.
Meekly, the Lamb bore all our sins,
Tearing His hands and feet;
Piercing our hearts with Perfect Love,
Where grief and healing meet.
4.
From blood and water blooms the seed
From which Salvation springs;
We eat its fruit, and feast on the grace
The Lord’s Atonement brings
5.
Help us to love Him more each day
Though Him we cannot see.
His perfect love and endless Grace
Will lead us back to Thee.
6.
When we are baptized by His power,
Or at His table meet,
Open our minds, and fill our hearts
As Thee, dear Lord, we greet.
7.
Jesus – Thy name we sing with praise;
Come our Messiah be!
Master our souls, oh Son of God!
We give our hearts to Thee.

Amen.

Original Text (verses 1 & 5); music: D. Evan Davis, 1923-1979.
Verses 1- 4, 6 & 7: Edward R. Huntington 1983-20??
Last edited by Edward on Sat Nov 25, 2023 1:51 pm, edited 17 times in total.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"
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Edward
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Location: The Lands of Aman

Re: Help us, O God, to Understand

Post by Edward »

Bryn asked me to add a few verses to this text from the Children's Songbook (page 73) entitled Help us, O God, to Understand. I thought about various directions to take it for a few days, but in the end the added verses came to me in their completed forms almost entirely as you see here only this morning, during an exceptionally long return address by a newly-returned sister missionary who gave me AMPLE time to write them quickly on the back of my Sunday School study guide. The color of the imagery draws much from O Savior Thou Who Wearest A Crown, but the actual composition of the text and the placement of ideas in each verse drew most heavily from God Moves in a Mysterious Way, which incidentally was Wilfred Woodruff's favorite hymn and is certainly in my top three.

I needed the text to remain strongly didactic, as this is still meant to be accessible to children as a teaching tool, but I also wanted a 'beginning' and 'end' to the central flow of that growing 'understanding' which is the central plea that also serves as the title. I thought that, as the lyrics begin with a request to understand "Our Savior's love for us," there would naturally follow a progression of thought that would be simple enough to show, then instruct, then invite, and finally, offer a benediction.

I tried to strip the poem of any sense of "story," but rather to depict the events of the Atonement from a doctrinal point of view. So to keep those doctrinal truths constantly in the forefront, I worked to "show" the sacrifice itself rather than create some pretty narrative in which to couch the idea, which is often a distraction when teaching the Atonement to children (not to mention older people). With that foundation, the progress of the narrative moves, I hope, organically and truthfully, from teaching doctrines, to illustrating key steps that will, in fact "help us ... to understand." Davis' verses teach about loving Him, but I wanted more meat, so I made sure to include baptism and the Sacrament, and to depict them as 'spiritual equals' by giving them balanced space in the text. Also, the word "or" does much to emphasize their co-equal importance.

So the arch of the poem is now, first, a plea to understand the Savior's love. That love is then shown plainly as the Atonement itself, and as we 'witness' those events, we start to taste of the sweetness of Eternal Life. We are then moved to emulate His life and participate in the Saving Ordinances that will allow us to approach Him at last, and as we by our faith and works finally encounter the Lord Himself, we understand His love because He is love, and so we freely give Him our selves by offering our hearts. I hope these new verses might uplift others as they certainly uplifted me as I received them. Indeed I received them, for to say I 'created' them would be assuming credit I cannot claim to possess; they came to me almost without any need for revision. I am happy with it.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"
:gandalf2:
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Tuly
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Re: Help us, O God, to Understand

Post by Tuly »

This is beautiful. Thank you Edward.
"Condemn me not because of mine imperfection,... but rather give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections, that ye may learn to be more wise than we have been." Mormon 9:31
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Edward
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Joined: Sat Jun 03, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: The Lands of Aman

Re: Help us, O God, to Understand

Post by Edward »

Edited December 20, 2020 to improve the flow of the text as well as to refine the focus of the poem's message.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us"
:gandalf2:
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