Welcome to Dove Songs

By Barri Armitage

About the Songs:  Oh Lord My Light  

   "The Lord is my light and my salvation;  
whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; 
of whom shall I be afraid?"

                                                                 Psalm 27:1
           

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As in the first collection, “Think on These Things,” the songs sing of Scriptures that affirm there can be light and hope in the midst of an unstable world through trust in God.  These songs focus on Jesus Christ, our light and salvation, the Dayspring from on high, Who has come to shed His light and give His people hope.  He is the Good Shepherd Who gave His life for His sheep, and now, as the living Christ will “carry us gently” until He returns to set up His Kingdom.

     The melodies are new and expanded arrangements of folk songs that have lost most of the authors’ names to Time, but have kept the tunes in a nation’s collective memory as the older generation sings to the younger.

1.  “OH, LORD, MY LIGHT,” adapted from Psalm 27, affirms the theme of the album–“ the Lord is my light and salvation, so wait on the Lord and be of good courage.”  David pleads with God to not forsake him in a time of danger. The tune is adapted from “The Banks of the Sweet Primroses,” a song that collectors have found in almost every part of England .

2.  “HE CARRIES US GENTLY,”  based on Deuteronomy 1:31-32, gives confidence in the Lord, Who carried Israel all the way from Egypt to the Promised Land and provided all their needs.  This encourages Christians in our journey to the Kingdom, for “our Shepherd knows when it is safe on the ground, or when He must carry on shoulders so strong.”  The tune is adapted from an old Scottish melody set to the folk song, “Bonnie Dundee.”

3.  “ZACHARIAS FORETELLS DELIVERANCE” is based on Luke 1:68-79.  On the day John the Baptist was circumcised, his father’s speech was restored.  He was filled with the Holy Spirit and proclaimed a prophecy of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, “to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death [and] guide our feet into the way of peace.”  The tune is adapted from a Scottish folk song, “The Rowan Tree.”  A rowan is a European mountain ash.

4.  “THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD,” based on Psalm 23, is David’s well-known affirmation of trust and confidence in his Shepherd.  It is set to a lyrical Welsh folk song, “The Dove,” and accompanied by a wirestrung harp, also called a clarsach.

5.  “MY SHEEP WILL HEAR ,” continuing the Shepherd theme, is adapted from John 10.  The Good Shepherd says, “I call each of My sheep by name. They know My voice and follow Me. In love, I lay down My life for them.”  These comforting words are set to a Scottish lullaby, “Baloo Baleerie,” which also conveys a babe’s sense of safety in its mother’s arms.

6.  “FOLLOW THE CLOUD,” adapted from Exodus 13:17-22, remembers the Lord’s providence to Israel in the wilderness. The song affirms the desire of Christians, His spiritual Israel , to follow “our Banner, our Fire, our Cloud...till the whole world knows You are God.”  It is set to the march-like beat of a Welsh folk tune, “Sosban Fach.”

7.  “NO GREATER LOVE,” adapted from John 13:34 to 15:17 , gives Christ’s instruction to His disciples on Passover as He was about to show such love by laying down His life for His friends.  The same instruction applies to the followers of the Good Shepherd today.  The words are set to an old Irish folk song, “There Is a Colleen Fair as May.”

8.  “THAT THEY MAY BE ONE ” is based on Christ’s prayer on Passover night that is recorded in John 17.  He said to His Father, “while I was in the world, I kept them in Your Name.”  Now that His hour had come to die, He prayed that God would keep them and make them one as He and the Father are one.  He said this prayer was not only for the disciples present, “but for those also which shall believe on Me through their word” (vs. 20).   The tune is an old Irish melody set to a folk song with a fitting title, “When He Who Adores Thee.”

9.  “PERFECT LOVE CASTS OUT FEAR,” adapted from I John 4:18 , assures the Christian that by knowing that God is love, and with proper fear of Him in trust and obedience, one need not fear the day of judgment (vs. 16-17),  nor what men may do.  The chorus repeats the theme: “Rejoice, and fear not!”  The tune is from an English folk song, “I Cannot Sing the Old Songs,” written in the nineteenth century by Charlotte Barnard who used the pseudonym, Claribel.

10.  “TRUST THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART,” adapted from Proverbs 3, is Solomon’s advice to his son, and to us, regarding the way to a long life, peace, good understanding, and favor in the sight of God and man.  He writes, “keep [God’s] commandments;...bind [mercy and truth] about your neck; write them on the table of your heart;...[t]rust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not to your own understanding” (vs. 1-5).  The melody is adapted from a traditional Irish folk song, “I Love My Love in the Morning.”

11.  “GOD OF ALL COMFORT,” based on II Corinthians 1:3-7, praises the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our tribulation, so we may be able to comfort others with the comfort we ourselves received from God.  What peace this Scripture can give in the midst of pain and grief!  The music is adapted from an Irish folk song, “Down by the Salley Gardens” and accompanied by a wirestrung harp.

12.  “UNTO THE PERFECT DAY ,” based on Proverbs 4:18-19, reinforces the album’s theme of the light and hope.  The chorus repeats, “The path of the just is like dawn’s light as it ever more brightens the way” and ends with a plea, hearkening back to song # 6, “Lord, help us to follow Your shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day” (the day of Messiah’s return).  The tune is modified from an old Scottish ballad, “Will Ye Gang to the Hielands?”

14.  “IN THE JOY OF YOUR NAME” is based on Psalm 89:15-16, and explores some of the Names of God in other Scriptures.  We can walk in joy because we can: have confidence in God as “Abba,” an intimate term for Father, borrowed from children’s language; have redemption through Jesus Christ, our Savior; know that the mighty God, El Shaddai, will fully supply our needs; rely on the Lord, our Provider; walk in the beauty of holiness, set apart by the Lord Who sanctifies; be protected by the Lord, our Shepherd; have peace through the Lord, our Peace; do the will of Adonai, our Master; be made whole by the Lord, our Healer; be led to victory by the Lord, our Banner; have our sins covered by the Lord, our Righteousness; know He is the “Lord Who is There,” close to us; trust in Him as an advocate Who is Lord of Hosts; and always be under the tender care of the Most High God.  In Exodus 34:5-7, the Eternal gives Moses more characteristics of His Name.  No wonder we can sing and rejoice!  The verses are from a Welsh folk song, “Loudly Proclaim,” and the “chorus” melody is from an Irish folk song, “Steal Away.”

15.  “COME UNTO ME,” based on Matthew 11:28-30, is Christ’s invitation to the weary and heavy-laden to come to Him for rest.  The yoke He gives is easy because it is tailored to fit our shoulders perfectly.  The tune is from a traditional Irish folk song, “Come All Ye Young and Tender Maidens,” and is accompanied by a wirestrung harp.

16.  “WHAT CAN SEPARATE US?” is based on Romans 8:31-39.  Paul begins by asking, “If God be for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also give us all things?”  Then Paul lists many types of distress and concludes that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (vs. 39).  The tune is from a traditional English folk ballad, “The Golden Vanity,” the name of a ship spared from enemy forces when a cabin-boy gave his life to save it. 

     Seeing "a light at the end of the tunnel" can give us courage to keep going through the dark, just as God's promises to the Israelites gave them hope in the wilderness. This collection of songs sings of that light and that hope.  The songs follow one another like parts of a story.

     The melodies are based on the rich lore of folk songs that have been passed from generation to generation.  The authors' names have been lost in the maze of time, but the tunes have had staying power over the centuries.

 1.  "THINK ON THESE THINGS" gives the secret of joy:  think on God's truth and its ultimate fulfillment in His Kingdom.  This will keep you positive and lift you past the burdens you may bear.   The origins of this ancient Irish melody are unknown.  The first words known to have been set to it were "Would I were Erin's apple blossom o'er you" by Alfred Graves.  Then Thomas Moore used the tune for "My Gentle Harp" to the tune.  Later, "Danny Boy" appeared.  Hubert Parry, author of  the song, "Jerusalem," called the melody "the most beautiful tune in the world."

 2.  "JOY WILL COME IN THE MORNING" encourages you to look ahead to the "sunrise"  in order to gain strength in the night filled with sorrows.  I wrote this for a friend going through a wrenching personal tragedy.  The tune is old Scottish.  Lady John Scott picked up both the words to "Loch Lomond" and the tune from a poor boy singing it on the streets of Edinburgh.

 3.  "TURN NOW TO ME" shows God as a Father giving a call to repentance, with His deep wish for only the good for physical Israel; for His church, the "Israel of God" ( Galatians 6:16); and eventually, for the whole world.  The Scottish tune is "Turn Ye To Me," a love song.

 4.  "OH, LORD, YOU HAVE SEARCHED ME" is a heartfelt cry of repentance asking God to examine the psalmist and show where he needs to change.  I chose "Greensleeves" as the tune because as I was setting the psalm to poetry, the words fit so smoothly to this English melody that together they inspired me.  I hope they will do the same for you!  As with the other folk songs, the origin of the melody is unknown,. What is obvious, however, is the tune's popularity, under different titles and versions, for at least five hundred years.

 5.  "HEALED BY HIS STRIPES" follows the repentant attitude of Song #4 although self-examination is a daily process, it is expecially important in preparation for the  Passover service as we take the bread, we meditate on the pain Christ endured and His Body, broken for our healing.  Sections of an old Irish melody from, "The Banks of the Roses," are part of the tune.

 6.  "BOUGHT WITH A PRICE" dwells on the precious sacrifice of the life and death of Jesus Christ, our Passover, ransoming us from death.  The melody is from an old Irish air now known as "The Foggy Dew."

 7.  "BLESS THE LORD, OH MY SOUL" is the outpouring of praise for the blessings God gives:  healing our sicknesses,  forgiving our sins, and ransoming us from death.  A love poem for Annie Laurie, written by William Douglas in 1685, was later set to this Scottish folk melody.

 8.  "SONG OF MOSES" rejoices after the deliverance at the Red Sea and continues the theme of praise for God's power to save.  The origin of the rousing English tune is unknown, but it goes back to the sixteenth century.  A century or so later, an unknown author wrote the words for the song,"The British Grenadiers."

 9.  "UNDER THE SHADOW OF HIS WINGS" gives comfort and assurance to the Christian in the "wilderness wanderings," just as God protected and provided for ancient Israel.  The tune for the verse is the Scottish, "O Waly, Waly," which may mean "O Willow, Willow."  There are other versions in England and America.  You may have heard it called “The Water Is Wide”.  The chorus melody for "Under the Shadow of His Wings" is from the American folk song, "Oh, Shenandoah."

10. "THANK OFFERING" is from Psalm 116, part of the Spring Holy Day "Hallel" or praise series (Psalms 113-118).  The prayer expresses heartfelt thanks for past deliverance and a desire to always trust in God.  The tune is based on an ancient Irish air.  Around 1850 Sir Samuel Ferguson of Belfast used the melody for "The Lark in the Clear Air," a beautiful love song.

11. "OH, LORD, OUR BELOVED" is the love song of the Church to Christ, her Beloved.  The music was written by Bonnie Hood Witmer, the only song in this project that is not a folk song.

12. "THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN" continues the theme of the Bride of Christ, based on the wife of Proverbs 31.  Thomas Moore, who collected folk tunes and wrote his own words, used this old Irish melody for "Believe Me If All Those Endearing Young Charms."  It seems especially appropriate for the "virtuous woman" as the words speak of a husband's undying love, even as his wife ages and loses the outward beauty of youth.

13. "REJOICE IN ALL THINGS" reinforces one of the truths to "think on."  God only wants good for us as He allows circumstances to develop our character. We can rejoice, knowing He works all that happens to us, even painful experiences, for the best.  The old Welsh tune is set to a song called "Myfwany" meaning "Dearest."

14. "PRAISE THE LORD FOREVER" is from Psalm 113, another of the Hallel series of psalms (see song #10).  This focuses on "the light at the end of the tunnel," when Christ has returned and the whole earth praises Him.  His people do so now!  The Irish tune is "Come Back to Erin."

15. "FEAR NOT, LITTLE FLOCK" is more assurance of God's tender care.  The tune is a beautiful English melody set to "Early One Morning."

16. "FULL OF GRACE, SEASONED WITH SALT" circles back to the opening song:  gracious speech is from a heart free of bitterness, is a result of dwelling on God's faithfulness, and is offered to His praise.  The Welsh tune is a peaceful lullaby, “Suo Gan.”

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