Hymn of the Month: I Cannot Tell

Today my most favorite month of the year begins. I absolutely love Christmas time and all the lovely things that go with it. Our family does choose to remember the incarnation of our Lord differently than most Christian Americans on this holiday, but we have never felt we lost anything by not having Christmas Trees or Santa Claus. We may write on here about some of the things we do differently this month.

Now for the hymn. "I Cannot Tell" is sung to the Irish folk tune "Londonderry Air" (you may know it as "Danny Boy").

I cannot tell why He whom angels worship,

Should set His love upon the sons of men,

Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,

To bring them back, they know not how or when.

But this I know, that He was born of Mary

When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,

And that He lived at Nazareth and labored,

And so the Savior, Savior of the world is come.

I cannot tell how silently He suffered,

As with His peace He graced this place of tears,

Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,

The crown of pain to three and thirty years.

But this I know, He heals the brokenhearted,

And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,

And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,

For yet the Savior, Savior of the world is here.

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,

How He will claim His earthly heritage,

How satisfy the needs and aspirations

Of East and West, of sinner and of sage.

But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,

And He shall reap the harvest He has sown,

And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendor

When He the Savior, Savior of the world is known.

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship,

When, at His bidding, every storm is stilled,

Or who can say how great the jubilation

When all the hearts of men with love are filled.

But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,

And myriad, myriad human voices sing,

And earth to Heaven, and Heaven to earth, will answer:

At last the Savior, Savior of the world is King!

William Y. Fullerton (1929)

But made himself (Christ) nothing,

taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.

Philipians 2:7

Laura