The Lord Bless You and Keep You

In Numbers 6 we find one of the most lovely instructions in all of the Old Testament.  God gives words to Moses to bless the children of Israel.  The passage reads:

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,  “Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, ‘On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.'” (Numbers 6:22-26)

Those words have a permanent place in my memory.  As a young Lutheran boy, every service closed with those words as a benediction.

They’ve also been set to music and the “Great Hymns of the Faith” hymnal we use at GCA contains the classic choral arrangement by Peter C. Lutkin (1858-1931).  It’s a short, beautiful bit of music.  So, I decided many months ago to record it.

My original plan was to create “The GCA Digital Choir” — gathering various singers from the congregation, recording them separately and individually, doubling voices, and building the tracks until I had formed a virtual choir.  But, the project grew rather unwieldy.  So tonight, after sitting on the project for months, I sat down and took the four essential voices — Charlie singing soprano, Carol as alto, Jamey as tenor and Daniel holding down the bottom notes — and began mixing.  The end result was quite pleasant.

Just click below.  Hope you enjoy it.  And thanks to the folk who were kind enough (and patient enough!) to sing along.

The Lord Bless You and Keep You

3 thoughts on “The Lord Bless You and Keep You

  1. Tom Taylor

    I first heard this at, I believe, after one of your sermons and absolutely loved it. It’s good, no change that to great, to know I can now listen to it anytime I wish. Thank you all.

    Reply

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