Scripture Verse

I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send? And who will go for Us? Isaiah 6:8

Introduction

Words: John H. Holmes, 1913.

Music: Mei­ri­on­nydd Will­iam F. Lloyd, in Can­ia­dau Sei­on, ed­it­ed by R. Mills, 1840 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Lloyd (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
John H. Holmes
(1879–1964)
Wikimedia Commons

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Lyrics

The voice of God is call­ing
Its sum­mons in our day;
Isaiah heard in Zi­on
And we now hear God say:
Whom shall I send to suc­cor
My peo­ple in their need?
Whom shall I send to loos­en
The bonds of shame and greed?

I hear My people cry­ing
In slum and mine and mill;
No field or mart is si­lent,
No ci­ty street is still.
I see My peo­ple fall­ing
In dark­ness and des­pair.
Whom shall I send to shat­ter
Te fet­ters which they bear?

We heed, O Lord, Your sum­mons,
And an­swer: Here are we!
Send us up­on Your er­rand,
Let us Your ser­vants be.
Our strength is dust and ash­es,
Our years a pass­ing hour;
But You can use our weak­ness
To mag­ni­fy Your pow­er.

From ease and plen­ty save us;
From pride of place ab­solve;
Purge us of low de­sire;
Lift us to high re­solve;
Take us, and make us ho­ly;
Teach us Your will and way.
Speak, and be­hold! We an­swer;
Command, and we ob­ey!