Hymns of the Church – Hymn 245 – Can you count the stars – 8 November 2022, Anno Domini (In the Year of our Lord)

 

 

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E healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds. 4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. 5 Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.   (Psalm 147:3-5)

 

            The thousands, and even millions, of stars that sparkle in the purple canopy of night are tiny points of light that offer promise of the coming Star of Day at morning sunrise. Can you count the visible stars? No, for the many stars that you see imploded eons ago, but their light is still en route from the star to your vision. And there are many stars you do not see whose light is yet to reach the earth though their beams tra
vel in light-year speeds.

 

            This hymn was intended for children, but we are all children of God if we know Christ as Lord and Savior. The author was a German pietist named Wilhelm Hey (1836) and the tune by the same name is an old German children’s folk tune. The hymn is number 245 in the 1940 Hymnal.

 

Can You Count The Stars

 

Can You Count The Stars That Brightly

Twinkle In The Midnight Sky?

Can You Count The Clouds, So Lightly

O’er The Meadows Floating By?

God, The Lord, Doth Mark Their Number,

With His Eyes That Never Slumber;

He Hath Made Them Every One,

He Hath Made Them Every One.

 

Do You Know How Many Children

Rise Each Morning Blithe And Gay?

Can You Count Their Jolly Voices,

Singing Sweetly Day By Day?

God Hears All The Happy Voices,

In Their Merry Songs Rejoices;

And He Loves Them, Every One

And He Loves Them, Every One.

 

Can You Count The Stars That Brightly Twinkle In The Midnight Sky? Can You Count The Clouds, So Lightly O’er The Meadows Floating By? God, The Lord, Doth Mark Their Number, With His Eyes That Never Slumber; He Hath Made Them Every One, He Hath Made Them Every One. Is it a matter of wonder that God numbers the stars that He created by the power of His Word, especially in view of the fact that He has numbered the hairs of our head as well? The clouds, too, are artistic works of amazement to the young imagination. Rightly so since it was a Pillar of cloud by day and Fire by Night that symbolized the Lord’s Presence with the Children of Israel. It was a cloud that received the Lord at His assumption into Heaven. Our Lord never slumbers nor sleeps but is forever watchful over the works of His hands and the people of His chosen elect.

 

Do You Know How Many Children Rise Each Morning Blithe And Gay? Can You Count Their Jolly Voices, Singing Sweetly Day By Day? God Hears All The Happy Voices, In Their Merry Songs Rejoices; And He Loves Them, Every One And He Loves Them, Every One. While it is true that there are millions of happy children who awake to joy each dawning of the day, there are also many more millions who awake to grinding penury and devoid of all hope in this world. They know not the Lord and Maker of the stars and of all living things. These exist in such numbers that no man can count. The children, whom God loves so dearly, Have not won the compassion of the modern church whose halls are of marble and spires are proud and boastful. The absence of a voice to tell them of their Lord is an indictment against the church and her missions. Jesus loves the happy children, but He loves the poor child born in darkness and uncaring social status as well.