Scripture Verse

I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. John 14:18

Introduction

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Carolyn W. Gillette (1961–)

Words: Ca­ro­lyn W. Gil­lette, 2002. This hymn was com­mis­sioned by Pres­by­ter­ian Dis­as­ter As­sist­ance, Pres­by­ter­ian Church (U.S.A.) for the con­gre­ga­tion­al re­source Out of the Depths: Voic­es of the Pres­by­ter­ian Faith Com­mu­ni­ty at Work Af­ter Sep­tem­ber 11, in me­mo­ry of the ter­ror­ist at­tacks of Sep­tem­ber 11, 2001.

GOD, WE’VE KNOWN SUCH GRIEF AND ANGER
© 2002 Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
All rights reserved. Used by per­mis­sion.

Music: In Ba­bi­lo­ne in Oude en nieuwe Hol­lantse Boer­en­li­ties en Con­tra­dans­eu (Old and New Dutch Pea­sant Songs and Coun­try Danc­es), cir­ca 1710. Ar­ranged by Ju­li­us E. Rönt­gen, 1906 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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Julius E. Röntgen (1855–1932)

Lyrics

God, we’ve known such grief and an­ger
As we’ve heard your peo­ple cry.
We have asked you, How much long­er?
We have sad­ly won­dered, Why?
In this world of so much suf­fer­ing,
May we hear your word anew:
I will ne­ver leave you or­phaned;
I will not aban­don you.

By your grace comes re­sur­rect­ion;
By your love, you cast out fear.
You give strength and sure di­rect­ion
As we seek to serve you here.
You give com­fort to the griev­ing,
And you bless the ones who mourn.
May we trust in you, be­liev­ing
Out of cha­os, hope is born.

Hope is ours for, God, you love us!
You have claimed us by your grace.
And through Je­sus, you have called us
To bring hope to ev­ery place.
In each res­cue work­er’s car­ing,
In each faith­ful vo­lun­teer,
In each Chris­tian’s love and shar­ing,
God, we glimpse your king­dom here.