HYMN: Send Forth Your Faithful Preachers

As I said in the last post, it almost always seems that my time at District Convention proves fruitful for writing hymn texts. I wrote two yesterday, both for the Easter Vigil project I’m working on with the Reverend Doctor John Fleischmann. They’re both rough first drafts, and any feedback you’d desire to provide would be appreciated. Here’s the second text. I don’t yet know what I/we want to do for a tune.

Send Forth Your Faithful Preachers

for the Easter Vigil

Jonah Preaches to Nineveh—Jonah 3:1-10

1. Send forth Your faithful preachers,

And call us to repent.

Grant faith that we may listen

And heed the one You sent.

With sackcloth and in ashes 

We call, O God, to You.

Oh, turn us from our evil;

Our steadfastness renew.

2. The Word came unto Jonah:

“I say to you, arise!

To Nineveh I send you

To warn of their demise.”

So Jonah, as commanded,

Went forth to raise the cry.

“In forty days, the city,

Great Nineveh, will die.”

3. The people heard the message.

They heard and they believed.

The king and all his people

Knew God was not deceived.

They clothed themselves with sackcloth;

In ashes sat the king.

“Let all repent of vi’lence

And ev’ry evil thing.”

4. God saw their true repentance,

Rejoicing to relent.

No tragedy befell them;

On Christ His wrath was spent.

May we, with that great city,

From evil turn away,

And cling to Christ, our Savior,

No more to go astray.

86 86D