This page is provided so that you can hear the tunes of items which we use in church. Mostly they are written by the vicar. Please note that they are copyright - we are very happy to give permission to you to use them, but we would like to hear about it. Please include any use on your Christian Copyright Licence returns.
Down this page:
- the words,
- the story,
- the sheet music,
- media player.
Jesus, loving saviour
Jesus, loving Saviour
This song has a soloist and a choir whose words are interleaved at some points. So I'll write the soloist's part in dark blue and the chorus part in green, and interleave them where possible. The chorus follows the tune of the old hymn "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild".
VERSE 1:
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
Gentle Jesus, loving Saviour,
I know I'm always in your favour,
not because of good things I have done,
not because I'm liked by ev'ryone,
in fact I'm really rather small,
but you care for me and for all
your children.
I praise you Lord of love divine.
VERSE 2:
Loving Shepherd of the sheep.
Gentle Jesus, caring Shepherd,
My life is with your mercies peppered:
yet I've not deserved the good you give,
for I don't make life easy to live,
in fact I'm really quite a pain,
we must drive you nearly insane,
your children,
yet you are Lord of love divine.
CHORUS 1:
Gentle Jesus meek and mild
O Jesus, where would we be without your love?
- Look up-on - - a - - - - - lit-tle - - child
Your sac-ri-fice up-on the cross
Pi - ty - - - - - my - - - sim-
has paid for all our sin and loss,
-pli- - - - -ci- - - - -ty,
Jesus, we've no need to prove our Saviour.
Suf- - -fer - me - to - come - to - thee.
VERSE 3:
Ch: Jesus, Lord of heaven and earth
Gentle Jesus, Lord Almighty,
If you are close, no-one can fight me,
pow'rs of hell can not defeat my soul
for you're there, restoring, making whole.
Although I stumble into sin,
yet your cleaning Spirit is in
your children:
I praise you Lord of love divine.
CHORUS 2:
Jesus, Lord of heav'n and earth,
I am yours, you gave me birth
into life beyond this flesh:
I receive as you refresh.
New words copyright © John Hartley 2006.
(The italicised words are parts of the original by Charles Wesley, and the first line of the hymn by Jane Leeson which goes to the same tune.)
Story behind the song
This song was written for the Christian Songwriters Network "modernize an old hymn" challenge. The challenge is to take an old hymn and write a new song based on it, so that there will be obvious allusions to the old one but the new one will be clearly original.
In this case, the original hymn "Gentle Jesus, meek and mild" (no. 451 in Hymns Ancient & Modern Revised) is by Charles Wesley - however, it has the same meter as "Loving Shepherd of the sheep" by Jane Leeson, and I've used the tune "Buckland" by Leighton G Hayne (which can be found in a slightly different harmonization at: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/s/lstsheep.htm . I've written the three verses, the descant solo over the chorus which follows verse 2, and the new words of the chorus following verse 3.
John Hartley
Windows Media Player. When you click the left-hand "play" button your computer should have started to play the tune. If it didn't, you might be able to get the tune by clicking here, or by right-clicking the link, choosing "save target as", saving it onto your computer, and then opening it with a music-playing program.
Please remember that a midi file of a tune isn't supposed to be a state-of-the-art musical arrangement - it is only supposed to give a basic idea of how the tune goes. Any reasonable organist / keyboard player / music group could make it sound far better.