Hymn of the Week: November 1, 2024

I Bind Unto Myself Today
Glory to God: 6

Text Attributed to St. Patrick
Music: Irish Melody arranged by Charles Villiers Stanford 1902

I bind unto myself today
the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever
by power of faith, Christ's in carnation
his baptism in the Jordan river,
his death on Cross for my salvation;
his bursting from the spiced tomb,
his riding up the heavenly way,
his coming at the day of doom
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself today
the virtues of the starlit heaven,
the glorious sun's life giving ray,
the whiteness of the moon at even,
the flashing of the lightning free,
the whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
the stable earth, the deep salt sea
around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
the power of God to hold and lead,
God's eye to watch, God's might to stay,
God's ear to hearken to my need,
the wisdom of my God to teach,
God's hand to guide, God's shield to ward;
the word of God to give me speech,
the heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, 
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the name,
the strong name of the Trinity,
by invocation of the same,
the Three in One, the One in Three,
of whom all nature hath creation,
eternal Father, Spirit, Word.
Praise to the Lord of my salvation;
salvation is of Christ the Lord!

Originally shared: November 1, 2021

Today’s hymn celebrates the Trinity with the timeless Irish hymn. The analysis of the text comes from the hymnology archive.

This hymn sets out the richness and depth of the Christian understanding of God. The hymn begins by surveying the vast panorama of the works of God in creation—one of the great themes of Celtic Christianity. The wonders of nature are reminders that God’s presence and power undergird the world of nature.

The hymn then turns its attention to the work of God in redemption. It declares that the same God who created the world—the earth, the sea, the sun, moon, and stars—acted in Jesus Christ to redeem us.

We are thus invited to reflect upon the history of Jesus Christ: his incarnation, baptism, death, resurrection, ascension, and final coming on the last day. These powerful ideas do not displace the belief that God created the world, and maybe discerned in its wonders; it supplements this, by focusing on another area of the power and activity of God. All these, Patrick affirms, are the actions of the same God who created us and redeems us through Jesus Christ.

Yet the hymn has not quite finished; there is another aspect of the activity and presence of God to be surveyed. Again, this is not to be seen as an alternative or substitute for what is already believed; it rounds off the full and authentic Christian vision of the character and power of God. The same God who called the universe into being and redeemed us through Jesus Christ is also the God who is present with us here and now.

The hymn thus affirms that the one and the same God created the world, entered into our work, and redeemed us in Christ, and is present as a living reality in this present moment. No other account of the nature and activity of God is adequate to do justice to the Christian witness to God, and no other doctrine of God can therefore be thought of as “Christian.”[2]This hymn belongs to a tradition of songs called lorica, songs of protection sometimes called breastplate songs. The idea is that these songs are a weapon in times of spiritual warfare, drawing on the biblical imagery of the armor of God in Ephesians 6:10-18, Isaiah 59:17, and 1 Thessalonians 5:8.