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.
The Covenant
The Covenant
I make my covenant with you,
your offspring and all your livestock too:
never again will I destroy by a flood,
never again will I wipe out all that's good.
I will set my bow high in the sky
as witness that I have sworn you will not die.
You will be our God,
we will be your people,
bought by your own blood,
shed for us,
upon the cross.
I make my covenant with blood,
to bless you and lead you into good.
Through you and your descendants blessings will flow,
through you all nations and all peoples will know
I am God alone, true sov'reign Lord,
your refuge, your shield and your greatest reward.
You will be our God ...
I AM the Lord of Abraham,
and to him I swore to give his land.
I will stretch forth my arm and call you by name,
I will bring forth my people out of their pain.
Keep my covenant and you will see
my blessings upon your land eternally.
You will be our God ...
I make my covenant afresh,
but unlike the first, I'll come in flesh.
I'll send my Son, the Christ, to die for your sin.
I'll send my Holy Spirit, he'll come within.
You will be made new by my own grace.
Your sins will be covered and you'll see my face.
You will be our God ...
"The Son of Man now gives his life:
a ransom, to heal the world of strife."
"Drink of this cup, it is my blood which is poured:
I will not drink again 'till all is restored."
In this covenant I am betrayed
that you all may reign with me, brightly arrayed.
You will be our God ...
Words and tune copyright © John Hartley 2006.
Story behind the song
As is (I hope) obvious as one reads the lyrics, I wrote this song in order to trace the establishment of God's Covenant with people. The five verses record five stages:
- to Noah (Genesis 9),
- to Abraham (Genesis 12 &15),
- to Moses (Exodus 3, 6 and 34);
- since the people proved unable to keep their side of the covenant, the promises of a new covenant in Jeremiah 31, Ezekiel 36 and Isaiah 52-53 as fulfilled in the New Testament; and
- some of Jesus' remarks as recorded in Mark's Gospel (10:45, 14:24-25 and 14:41) which show how his death instituted the new covenant.
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.