Hymn of the Week #11: "Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel"
As this hymn reminds us, "the world has need of helping hands and hearts that know and feel." There is plenty of good work we can do. There are plenty of people that we can help and bless each day. "Come help the good work move along. Put your shoulder to the wheel!" In honor of our pioneer predecessors, let's get behind our modern-day metaphorical wagon wheels and give a hearty push!
The music for this hearty hymn can be downloaded for FREE here.
This week's hymn is a fervent prayer. In "More Holiness Give Me," we plead with the Lord for more patience in suffering, more sorrow for sin, more faith in the Savior, more joy in service, more gratitude, more hope in his word, and more meekness in trial. We will always need more of these godlike qualities, and it is only through sincere prayer (accompanied by faith and obedience) that we can attain them.
There are two contrasting settings of this hymn at singanewsong.org. The first tune comes from The Sacred Harp, a well-known collection of American folk hymns. The tune name is MORNING TRUMPET. It expresses struggle and striving through fervent prayer.
The second tune is emotionally less turbulent and is much more cheerful in tone.This tune is a traditional English melody called JACOB'S LADDER.
For me, these two tunes typify the different types of experiences that I have had in prayer. Sometimes it is a struggle and sometimes it is a great comfort. Which of these tunes resonates best with you?
