During this season of Lent we invite you to connect the practices of prayer, reflection and discussion with our life in worship together. Each week in worship, the Pastors’ sermons will explore themes generated by the content and history of African American Spirituals, each paired with a companioning Biblical text. Below are lyrics, music, scripture and reflection questions so that you might as an individual, family or small group continue to be shaped by God through the Spirituals, the scriptures and prayer.
The Music and Lyrics
Go Down, Moses
When Israel was in Egypt’s land,
Let my people go,
oppressed so hard they could not stand,
Let my people go.
Refrain:
Go down, Moses, way down in Egypt’s land,
tell old Pharaoh: Let my people go.
Thus saith the Lord, bold Moses said,
Let my people go,
If not I’ll smite your first born dead,
Let my people go. [Refrain]
Henry “Harry” Thacker Burleigh (1866-1949) was born in Erie, PA. He said this of his motivation for setting spirituals:
. . . In Negro spirituals my race has pure gold, and they should be taken as the Negro’s contribution to artistic possessions. In them we show a spiritual security as old as the ages. . . . These songs always denote a personal relationship. It is ‘my Saviour,’ ‘my sorrow,’ ‘my kingdom.’ The personal note is ever present. America’s only original and distinctive style of music is destined to be appreciated more and more.
Todd Farwell sang Burleigh’s arrangement of Go Down, Moses in worship on March 30, 2014, with Gabe D’Abruzzo at the piano.
The Scripture
The Reflection
Week Four – Double Message
Many Spirituals held double meanings. While the words of the song might have sung of praise or hope in God, there were often encoded messages that provided important information to African American men and women to escape from slavery to freedom through the Underground Railroad. Spirituals bore witness to subversive power that could overturn the “powers that be” – and of the abiding hidden strength among those who were oppressed, but who were themselves lifelines to freedom.
Reflect:
- Where do you find that you need direction in your life? Is there a new direction to which you are being called?
- How can our faith allow us to tap hidden strengths in the midst of weakness, or power in the midst of vulnerability? How have you experienced this in your life?
Act:
- As a family, or with a friend, come up with a secret phrase that reminds you of God’s love and presence.