A Charge to Keep I Have is not a well known hymn. Thomas.”  Old “Kentucky” was not field music. for it is the charge of the Lord and Master. Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live; And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare A strict account to give! Display Title: A Charge to Keep I Have First Line: A charge to keep I have Tune Title: BOYLSTON Author: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788 Meter: S.M. Authoritative information about the hymn text A Charge to Keep I Have, with lyrics, PDF files, printable scores, MIDI files, audio recordings, piano resources, and products for worship planners. It reads (slightly amended): "A charge to keep I have-- / A God to glorify, / Who gave His Son my soul to save, / And fit it for the sky." Copyright 2008, Richard Niell Donovan Follow him on Twitter or on Facebook. He is the author of Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to our Faith and The End of Our Exploring: A Book about Questioning and the Confidence of Faith. A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. Genre Gospel. Tune: BOYLSTON, Meter: SM. It’s impossible to talk about hymns for very long without running into that hymn making machine that was Charles Wesley. But that is where Wesley found his inspiration for this hymn. Which is to say, the eternality of the soul raises the stakes of the charge we have been given. 4 Help me to watch and pray, A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. To do my Master’s will! A Charge to Keep I Have ~ Charles Wesley, 1707-1788. Print and download A Charge to Keep I Have sheet music composed by Lowell Mason. Alternate: Come, ye the love the Lord, And let your joys be known: Join in a song of … To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill: O may it all my powers engage To do my Master’s will! To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill: O may it all my powers engage. The United Methodist Hymnal Number 413. More hymn stories about the people, circumstances, and faith that led to their creation. My calling to fulfill: 1 A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. A Charge To Keep I Have Words: Charles WesleyMusic: Lowell MasonAll the glory goes to God for these song recordings because He is Holy, Holy, Holy. To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill: Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage To do my Master’s will! The book includes a selected bibliography and an index of authors, translators, composers, and tune names Includes bibliographical references (pages 322-324) and index A charge to keep I have, Stanza 3: Arm me with jealous care, As in thy sight to live, Music: Lowell Mason, 1792-1872. Help me to watch and pray, And on Thyself rely, Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live, And O, Thy servant, Lord, prepare, A strict account to give. 2 To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill; Oh, may it all my pow'rs engage To do my Master's will! In fact, I have never once sung it. And also, "To serve the present age, / My calling to fulfil; / O may it all my powers engage, / To do my Master's will." 3 Arm me with jealous care As in Thy sight to live, And now Thy servant, Lord, prepare A strict account to give! Hymn Story A Charge to Keep I Have Hymn lists by book of Bible The brothers, John and Charles Wesley, had a tremendous impact in the 18th century—an impact that continues even today. To serve the present age, Wesley's title is a paraphrase of Leviticus 8:35: "keep the charge of the LORD, so that you may not die." Keep it “that ye die not”; it is death, eternal death, to be­tray the trust that we are charged with; by the con­sid­er­a­tion of this we must be kept in awe. “A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. A Charge to Keep I Have is not a well known hymn. Charles was the great writer of hymns. Hymns Ancient and Modern, hymn: A Charge To Keep I Have 700+ Christian Hymns and Spiritual songs from the worlds best known hymnal, Hymns Ancient & Modern lyrics with midi music track, also with PDF for … 1. Joe was inspired to make this generous loan during the church service preceding the inaugural ceremonies. “To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will.” Wesley first published this hymn in his Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures in 1762. O may it all my powers engage To do my Master's will! UM Hymnal editor Carlton Young notes that the “collection contained 166 hymns, most of them … Stanza 2: To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill- O may it all my pow'rs engage To do my Master's will! The charge to keep is, in this case, one that wholly orients Wesley toward the present age. A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. SoundCloud. While he is most famous–and justly so–for his Christmas offering , he wrote some 6000 hymns. It was in this church service when we sang the hymn "A Charge to Keep I Have". Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live; And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare A strict account to give! Leviticus 8:35 says: at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. A God to glorify, Help me to watch and pray, And on thyself rely, Oct 31, 2016 - Authoritative information about the hymn text A Charge to Keep I Have, with lyrics, PDF files, printable scores, MIDI files, audio recordings, piano resources, and products for worship planners. John, of course, was the great preacher and evangelist. 1 A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify. “To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will.”. Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live; But that doesn’t mean it’s n ot important. 4. Each entry comes with the hymn's full text and musical score. A strict account to give! Charles Wesley: A Charge to Keep I Have, hymn - Play streams in full or download MP3 from Classical Archives (classicalarchives.com), the largest and best organized classical music site on the web. A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. CH-2) To serve the present age, My calling to fulfil: O may it all my powers engage To do my master’s will! A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. So it takes very little imagination to see how Wesley derived the following lines from Henry’s commentary: “A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify. Stream A Charge To Keep I Have - Hymn 'Lined' By Candace Heggs by Edwillis from desktop or your mobile device. In fact, it was the basis for the original title of George W. Bush’s pre-Presidential book, from which we can only conclude that it continues to have a presence within the Methodist tradition (I have not verified this). We stand not in a relationship of transformation or of conversion, but a relationship of service. a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. This hymn was included under the title of “Brotherly Love” in Fawcett’s Hymns Adapted to the Circumstances of Public Worship and Private Devotion (1782). 2. To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage To do my Master’s will! Posts Tagged ‘a charge to keep I have’ A Charge to Keep I Have. Sheet music arranged for Hymn, and Piano/Vocal in C Major. and it must be our daily care to keep this charge. O may it all my powers engage Help me to watch and pray, In fact, it was the basis for the original title of George W. Bush’s pre-Presidential book, from which we can only conclude that it SKU: MN0133806 "A Charge to Keep I Have" and fifteen other hymns followed the study of Leviticus. Arm me with jealous care, As in thy sight to live, And oh, thy servant, Lord, prepare A strict account to give! A charge to keep I have, God to glorify. The words are, of course, insightful. His hymns include “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” “Jesus, Lover of My Soul,” “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” and “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling,” and at least six thousand more. The choice of this title is but one indication of the role this hymn has played in the life of President Bush, as well as the influence of this hymn 250 years beyond its composition. Assured, if I my trust betray, Many things have changed, on this side of the cross. But where Wesley poeticized them, it was the classic evangelical expositor Matthew Henry who provided their substance: We have ev­ery one of us a charge to keep, an eter­nal God to glor­i­fy, an im­mor­tal soul to pro­vide for, need­ful du­ty to be done, our gen­er­a­tion to serve; and it must be our dai­ly care to keep this charge, for it is the charge of the Lord our Master, who will short­ly call us ac­count about it, and it is our ut­most per­il if we ne­glect it. Sung as a solo by a sweet and spirited voice, it slightly resembled “Golden Hill,” but oftener its halting bars invited a more drawling style of execution unworthy of a hymn that merits a tune like “St. Stanza 1: A charge to keep I have - A God to glorify, Who gave His Son my soul to save And fit it for the sky. A Charge to keep I have Cambridge Ralph Harrison, 1748-1810 S.M. As is the case with hymns by the Wesleys, “A charge to keep I have” is grounded in Scripture. A never-dying soul to save, But that doesn’t mean it’s n ot important. 1. John, of course, was the great preacher and evangelist. These glowing phrases became the basis for Charles Wesley's hymn, A Charge to Keep I Have. I shall for ever die. His own conversion prompted "And Can It Be That I Should Gain" while the anniversary of that conversion inspired "O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing". To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill: Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage To do my Master’s will! Charles was the great writer of hymns. 3. If you were looking for poetic inspiration, you would not likely go to a commentary on one of the Biblical books—and especially not a commentary on the book of Leviticus. Matthew Lee Anderson is the Founder and Lead Writer of Mere Orthodoxy. Posted by: rcottrill on January 8, 2010 Arm me with jealous care, as in thy sight to live, and oh, thy servant, Lord, prepare a strict account to give! Arm me with jealous care, as in thy sight to live, and O, thy servant, Lord, prepare a strict account to give! 2 To serve the present age, My calling to fulfill; O may it all my pow'rs engage To do my Master's will! To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage to do my Master’s will! But what really turned me on to it was Theron Brown and Hezekiah Butterworth’s delightful treatment of the song in their collection of background to hymns. While in some cases it might lead to a sense of escapism, here it works in the opposite direction. Text: Charles Wesley, 1707-1788. To do my Master’s will! All Rights Reserved | © 1997-2020 Richard Niell Donovan. A CHARGE TO KEEP I HAVE A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. Culture, politics, and religion for those who love words. And on Thyself rely, CH-1) A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, Who gave His Son my soul to save, And fit it for the sky. A never dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. Arm me with jealous care, As in Thy sight to live; And O […] The brothers, John and Charles Wesley, had a tremendous impact in the 18th century—an impact that continues even today. The language of ‘the sky’ inevitably piques my interest. In his commentary on that verse, Matthew Henry said: “We shall everyone of us have a charge to keep. A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. In fact, I have never once sung it. What’s more, judging by the Amazon listing for versions of the song, it seems to have a home within the black gospel movement. A Charge To Keep I Have - Hymn 'Lined' By Candace Heggs by Edwillis published on 2017-08-11T22:07:56Z. They write: This hymn of Charles Wesley was often heard at the camp grounds, from the rows of tents in the morning while the good women prepared their pancakes and coffee, and the tune was invariably old “Kentucky” by Jeremiah Ingalls. "A Charge to Keep I Have" Tune: BOYLSTON, Meter: SM Lined Hymn A Charge to Keep I Have John Wesley Text by Charles Wesley, 1707 - 1788 Music by Lowell Mason, 1792 - 1872 Charles Wesley Moderator C. P. Preston lining Hymn before annual address for the 2010 Baptist Convention Born: Pingback: Web Pulse – April 11, 2010 | Religious Affections Ministries(), it was the basis for the original title of George W. Bush’s pre-Presidential book, Theron Brown and Hezekiah Butterworth’s delightful treatment of the song in their collection of background to hymns, Earthen Vessels: Why Our Bodies Matter to our Faith, The End of Our Exploring: A Book about Questioning and the Confidence of Faith, Web Pulse – April 11, 2010 | Religious Affections Ministries, Journalists Are “Centering” Their “Trauma” Because It Enables Them To Acquire Power, The Cul-De-Sacs of the Christian Intellectual, Ten Questions the Press Should Have Asked President Biden, Can We Still Reason Together? And fit it for the sky. As in Thy sight to live; To serve the present age, My calling to fulfil, … Here’s the interesting feature of this song, and of Henry’s point:  the emphasis on the eternality of the soul and the judgment of God creates pressure to account well for the time and resources that we are given, and that pressure isn’t soul-destroying or anxiety inducing, but moves the soul toward prayer and acknowledging its dependency upon God. Scripture: Matthew 26:29-41; Ephesians 4:3; Psalm 143:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10; Psalm 40:8; 2 Peter 1:10; Luke 21:36; 2 Thessalonians 1:11; … A charge to keep I have, a God to glorify, a never-dying soul to save, and fit it for the sky. The stewardship we show has consequences well beyond the moment that we exercise it. And O Thy servant, Lord, prepare Wesley first published this hymn in his Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures in 1762. But, as is often the case, there are other verses to this hymn. A Conversation with Robert P. George. And let’s face it:  the combination of the ‘never-dying soul to save’ and ‘the sky’ encapsulates the central critique of classical evangelical spirituality. Mere Orthodoxy | Christianity, Politics, and Culture. A charge to keep I have About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features © 2021 Google LLC who will shortly call us to an account about it, and it is our utmost peril if we neglect it.”. To serve the present age, my calling to fulfill; O may it all my powers engage to do my Master's will! To serve to present age, My calling to fulfill. www.smallchurchmusic.com A charge to keep I have, A God to glorify, A never-dying soul to save, And fit it for the sky. Arm me with jealous care, The title of the book comes from the hymn, "A Charge to Keep I Have" (1762) by Charles Wesley. Posted by: rcottrill on July 27, 2011 Today in 1792 – Lowell Mason Born. 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