Unless the Lord the House Shall Build

Representative Text

1 Unless the LORD the house shall build,
the weary builders toil in vain;
unless the LORD the city shield,
the guards a useless watch maintain.

2 In vain you rise ere morning break,
and late your nightly vigils keep,
and of the bread of toil partake;
God gives to His beloved sleep.

3 Lo, children are a great reward,
a gift from GOD in very truth;
with arrows in his quiver stored
who joys in children of his youth.

4 And blest the man whose age is cheered
by stalwart sons and daughters fair;
no enemies by him are feared,
no lack of love, no want of care.

Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #127

Text Information

First Line: Unless the Lord the house shall build
Title: Unless the Lord the House Shall Build
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

ILLA (Mason)


ROSE HILL


BOURBON

A pentatonic (five-pitch) folk tune from the southern United States, BOURBON fits well with the penitential text of Psalm 38. The tune calls for unison singing, with accompaniment providing a firmly articulated rhythm. Like many pentatonic tunes, when unaccompanied it can be sung in canon after eith…

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #7033
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 8 of 8)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #7033

Text

Christian Worship #127D

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #127

Text

The Presbyterian Hymnal #238

TextPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #365

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #127A

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #127B

Text InfoTextAudio

Glory to God #46

Include 13 pre-1979 instances
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