12, 2007
Song #9

Bönhörelsen
A Prayer Heard

1)
På knä bredvid en massig sten
Kneeling on a massive stone

En kvinna för sin make beder
A woman for her husband prayed

I morgonstund, i kvällen sen
Morning and evening found her

Hon der för Herren faller neder
Bowed down before the Lord

Upon a broad and massive stone
A woman for her husband prayed
At dawn and dusk she knealt alone
Her earnest prayer before Him laid

2)
O Jesus frälsa du min man
O Jesus, save my man

Hans hjerta hårdt som sten krossa
Break his stone-hard heart

Du håarda hjertan smälta kan
You can melt the hardened heart

Och syndens grofva fjettra lossa
(grandpa often substitutes "e" for "ä")
And sin's coarse fetters loose

O Jesus, will you save my man,
And melt his heart of stone?
Your saving power only can
The sinful bonds atone

3)
Hon beder hvarje dag ett år
She prayed every day for a whole year

Hon fortfar två, ja tre och fyra
Two, three, even four times over

Men intet svar ännu får
But no answer did receive

Dock syns hon glad mot stenen styra
Yet with fond hope she sought the rock

For one whole year she daily prayed
Not once, but round the clock
But though no answer came her way
Fond hope lived at the Rock

4)
Så trampar hon en liten väg
So she made her little way

Emellan stenen och sin stuga
Between her house and prayerstone

Den nöttes blott af hennes stig
That finally a path was worn

Då hon för Herren går att buga
Where she had gone to pray

Repeatedly she made her way
Between the house and stone
So often did she go to pray
A path of faith was worn

5)
När så hon bedit sexton år
When she had prayed for sixteen years

Blef manen frälst nu sången skallar
Her man, now saved, sings a new song

När begge två till sten gå
Now more than ever to the rock she goes

Att samma Frälsare åkalla
To make her invocation

When she had pleaded sixteen years
At last they sang as one
And to the Rock her footsteps bear
Borne with a thankful song

6)
Så handlar Gud han hörer bön
This is God's way, he hears our prayers

Fastän det stundom något dröjer
Solid the time (whatever) delay
(We may await with confidence)

Han gifva alltid riklig lön
He always gives a rich reward

Då bra hos bedjären sig röjer
Then (it is) good at prayer oneself to make a path
(When prayer becomes our pathway)

It is God's way, to answer prayer
On His appointed day
A rich reward is always there
If on the path we stay

7)
Du trötte bedjare, håll ut
You weary petitioner, hold out

Bed troget och förbida stilla
Pray faithfully and still remain

Ty vet att du skall få till slut
For be assured that in the end

Det stora liksom och det lilla
You will receive both great and small

Though weary, do not cease to pray
Take comfort in the thought
How many years, how many days
Our woman's goal was sought

Narrative:
What a word picture of "constancy in prayer" as ministers might say. Don't you like the imagry of the rock; the path; the endurance? Fortunately the particulars of the song, the classic pious woman and the perennial wayward husband, are briefly stated and incidental to the main message.

( O God our Help in Ages Past- #65 green hymnal)

A Prayer Heard

1)
Upon a broad and massive stone
She for her husband prayed
At dawn and dusk she knealt alone
Her earnest prayers to say

2)
O Jesus, will you save my man,
And melt his heart of stone?
Your saving power only can
The sinful bonds atone

3)
For one whole year she daily prayed
Not once, but round the clock
But though no answer came her way
Fond hope lived at the Rock

4)
Repeatedly she made her way
Between the house and stone
So often did she go to pray
A path of faith was worn

5)
When she had pleaded sixteen years
At last they sang as one
And to the Rock her footsteps bear
Borne with a thankful song

6)
It is God's way, to answer prayer
On His appointed day
A rich reward is always there
If on the path we stay

7)
Though weary, do not cease to pray
Take comfort in the thought
How many years, how many days
Our woman's goal was sought