Exquisitely Spiritual Musical Moments

I have been blessed to sing music my entire life.  Since the Primary songs I belted out as a child and the 78 records of my parents I would play in the basement in my Salt Lake City home, singing music has constantly given me great joy.  I remember singing with my mom on a few occasions as we worked together in the kitchen, probably where I learned to sing harmony.

While I enjoy listening to orchestral music and other forms of non-choral music, most of my profoundly emotional moments have occurred when I have become emotionally involved with the lyrics of choral music. From West High Seminary Choir along with three other West High choirs, to the BYU Men's Chorus and the Oratorio Choir, to the Vernon Rose Chorale, to the BYU A'Cappella Alumni Choir, to various community choirs, I have been blessed to sing many wonderful songs along the way that have yielded numerous memorable experiences.

Besides my present involvement in our Ward (congregational) Choir, I have the privilege of singing in the Southern California Mormon Choir.  It gives me a chance to sing which affords me great satisfaction and happiness, and it also exposes me to yet more music with profoundly wonderful lyrics.  Occasionally in rehearsal or in a performance, I will get caught up in the experience, the interplay of beautiful music with beautifully meaningful words for me, and I will choke up and be unable to sing.

On those occasions, which are quite sacred to me, I have felt overwhelmed by beauty, by my many blessings, by the thought that I have ears to hear and a voice to sing, and by the ability to feel and be moved by the experience.  Sometimes at those blessed times, I feel that God is very near and that He takes pleasure in what I am feeling.

My intent is to share some choral music that I have the opportunity to sing, via others performing it on You Tube, as I could find them.  I'm writing the words so that perhaps you too can be moved.  Be advised that these songs are religious in nature, but then, I feel God's presence in my life, and I possess strong spiritual feelings.  They are very much a part of who I am.

My Shepherd Will Supply My Need (Old American Folk Hymn, arranged by Mack Wilberg)

My Shepherd will supply my need; Jehovah is His name; 
In pastures fresh He makes me feed beside the living stream.
He brings my wandering spirit back when I forsake His ways,
And leads me for His mercy's sake, in paths of truth and grace.

When I walk through the shades of death Thy presence is my stay;
One word of Thy supporting breath drives all my fears away.
Thy hand in sight of all my foes, doth still my table spread;
My cup with blessings overflows, Thine oil anoints my head.

The provisions of my God attend me all my days;
Oh may Thy house be my abode and all my work be praise;
There would I find a settled rest while others go and come,
No more a stranger nor a guest, but like a child at home. 

God So Loved the World  (John 3:16, arranged by John Steiner)

God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son,
That whoso believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world,
But that the world through Him might be saved.

God so loved the world that He sent His Only Begotten Son,
That whoso believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
God so loved the world, God so loved the world, God so loved the world.

Death Shall Not Destroy My Comfort (Old American Folk Hymn, arranged by Mack Wilberg)

Death shall not destroy my comfort,
Christ shall guide me through the gloom;
Down he'll send some heavenly convoy
To escort my spirit home.

Chorus
Oh, hallelujah! How I Love my Savior,
Oh, hallelujah! That I Do.
Oh, hallelujah! How I love my Savior!
Mourners, you may love him too.

Jordan's stream shall not o'erflow me. 
While my Savior's by my side;
Canaan, Canaan, lies before me!
Soon I'll cross the swelling tide.

Chorus

See the happy spirits waiting,
On the banks beyond the stream!
Sweet responses still repeating, 
Jesus! Jesus! is their theme.

Chorus

Pilgrim Song  (Traditional American Song, arranged by Ryan Murphy)

My brethren, I have found a land that doth abound with fruit as sweet as honey;
The more I eat, I find, the more I am inclined to shout and sing hosanna.

Chorus
My soul doth long to go where I may fully know the glory of my Savior;
And as I pass along I'll sing the Christian song, I'm going to live forever.

Perhaps you think me wild or simple as a child; I am a child of glory;
I am born from above, my soul is filled with love; I love to tell the story.

Chorus

My soul now sits and sings and practices its wings, and contemplates the hour
When the messenger shall say, "Come quit this house of clay, and with bright angels tower."

Chorus

And as I pass along, I'll sing this Christian song, I'm going to live forever.

Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing (Old American Folk Hymn, arranged by Mack Wilberg)

Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing Thy praise;
Sreams of mercy never ceasing, call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it, mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer, hither by thy help I'm come;
And I hope by Thy good pleasure safely to arrive at home.
Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

Jesus sought me when a stranger wandering from the fold of God;
He to rescue me from danger interposed His precious blood.
Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.

O to grace how great a debtor daily I'm constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee.
Prone to wander Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love;
Here's my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.