Poetry and music by A. M. Cagle, 1959
My hope is in the Lord,
The blessed, bleeding Lamb,
I’ll seek His blessings every noon,
And pay my vows at night.
I had my music playing on shuffle yesterday evening, and this is usually a good arrangement since most of the music I listen to is fairly peaceful. However, I was a bit startled when suddenly this rousing Sacred Harp tune in a minor key came bursting forth from my speakers.
This particular hymn is a good example of the ongoing tradition that Sacred Harp is—while many Sacred Harp tunes date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, this song was written in the 1950s. They sing it at a quicker pace in the recording I have, but the video above is a good example as well. Amazon has a few recordings of it for 99 cent download; the one I have is from the album “In Sweetest Union Join,” which I highly recommend if you want to get a large variety of Sacred Harp songs for a good price.