What is it?

Lord, we await is the most powerful hymn I'm ever likely to write, a setting of a poem that I wrote after visiting Romania for the first time in 1990. It is available in two arrangements, the first for congregation and piano, the second for unaccompanied mixed voices (SATB). The 4-part arrangement works very well alongside the original arrangement, if you have the resources to do that, because the harmonies are completely compatible, as you can hear demonstrated in the last verse of the video below.

Lord, we await your Spirit's anointing;
We surrender all we have and are to your will.
Lord, we adore you; worship before you.
Fill us with your love, precious heav'nly dove,
Be glorified in our praise.

We give to you our heartfelt devotion.
Lord of lords be in our prayers and grant us your peace.
Tried in the fire of stressful emotion,
We have seen your way, moulding us like clay;
Be glorified in our praise.

We live for you, our Lord and Redeemer,
Bearing witness to your love when darkness prevails.
Lord, you assure us, ever before us;
You are just and true, we have faith in you;
Be glorified in our praise.

Hail, Holy Jesus, risen in glory!
All is yours by sov'reign right, created through you.
Lord, we implore you, praying before you,
Blow your breath of life through this world of strife,
Be glorified in our praise.

As I write this, Ukraine - a country that borders Romania and in which I have worked, with people whom I love - is threatened with obliteration by Russia. Nobody has the right to treat other people in that way, full stop. The words of this hymn stand as a fitting tribute to the people of Ukraine.

It only now occurs to me that 'Lord, we await' was the first piece I wrote in response to what might be described as a humanitarian situation. Ever since my university days I’ve had a heart for Romania and Albania. Don’t ask me why or how, that’s just the way it is. So when my wife and I found ourselves standing in the middle of Bucharest not long after Romania’s 1989 revolution, it felt pretty overwhelming. During that visit we spent time with some lovely folk up in Cluj-Napoca in Transylvania. The welcome we received from Christians who had never met us before – and not just Christians, but just about everyone we met – blew us away. So when I got back to England I wrote this song for some of the people whom we had met.

Since then I have worked a lot in Romania and now speak Romanian reasonably well. So if you are reading this and can remember us from that 1990 visit, I can say to you with hand on heart: Vă mulţumesc din inima de experienţa. Ţara dumneavoastră este într-adevăr o ţară minunată, cu oamenI prietenoşi, în care mă simt bunvenit. Sincer vă spun că mă simt un pic român!