A Beautiful Korean Hymn for 10 June 2025 Anno Domini,
the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God’” (2 Corinthians 4:1-2)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcrBtiYjHc8
This is one of my favorite Korean hymns translated into the English by Dr. John Underwood, longtime Missionary to the Korean Church. The author is Lee Ho-Woon in 1951. There is another claim of authorship by Gertmenian in the late 20th century however, I find this claim mistaken since the Korean/English Hymn was first published in 1951. Each of us have a calling in God and this hymn emphasizes our need to respond to that calling.
CALLED OF GOD, WE HONOR THE CALL
- Called of God, we honor the call;
Lord, we’ll go wherever You say.
Where You lead, come pain or pleasure,
We would follow You every day.
Who shall turn us back from You, Lord?
Death itself, from going You way?
Who shall turn us back from You, Lord?
Death itself, from going You way? - Achor’s Vale, or desolate waste,
There weed bear the Gospel You gave,
Carry love through streets like
Sodom’s Anywhere, to seek and to save!
Or agree a slave to be, Lord,
In the joy of being Your slave
Or agree a slave to be, Lord,
In the joy of being Your slave! - 3. Honor, glory, power and praise,
Lord, to You, You only are due!
Shame and scorn and cross You carried;
Grant us grace to carry them too,
Without name or fame, but, oh, Lord,
Joy and thanks, to serve before You
Without name or fame, but, oh, Lord,
Joy and thanks, to serve before You! Amen.
Called of God, we honor the call; Lord, we’ll go wherever You say. Where You lead, come pain or
pleasure, We would follow You every day. Who shall turn us back from You, Lord? Death itself, from going You way? Who shall turn us back from You, Lord? Death itself, from going You way? Each believer has a calling in God else he could not have believed. That calling may come in diverse ways and for a variety of purposes; however, each must hear and respond to that calling if we will be fruitful to our Lord Jesus Christ. God called Abram before Abram truly knew Him. He called Gideon from the threshing floor, the youthful Samuel from his sleep, Elijah from the mountain slope. Sometimes, God thunders the call as at Sinai, sometimes He whispers it, and He may even strike down the called on a lonely Road to Damascus as He did Paul. But those whose hearts are joined to God will respond. We may responds hesitantly as did Jonah, or even without an utterance as did Matthew and some other of the Apostles, but we all respond in time. Following Christ, there is no real death, only the shadow thereof.
- Achor’s Vale, or desolate waste, There weed bear the Gospel You gave, Carry love through
streets like Sodom’s Anywhere, to seek and to save! Or agree a slave to be, Lord, In the joy of being Your slave Or agree a slave to be, Lord, In the joy of being Your slave! What concern might prevent us from hearing the call – could it be a wedge of the Gold of Achor? Could it be Jonah’s fear of Nineveh, or Lot’s sojourn in Sodom? Remember, God judged Sodom – not man. We leave that condemnation to God and continue our duty in propagating His Gospel. The first pony express did not happen in America, but 2,500 years ago in ancient Persia. In describing the postman’s delivery under Cyrus, Herodotus says “It is said that as many days as there are in the whole journey, so many are the men and horses that stand along the road, each horse and man at the interval of a day’s journey; and these are stayed neither by snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness from accomplishing their appointed course with all speed.”” Some have used almost the same phrase to describe the U.S. Postal Service: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds” Though the dependability of our mail delivery may be very important, nothing compares in importance to the delivery of the Gospel which it is every Christians calling to do in some manner or other.
- 3. Honor, glory, power and praise,Lord, to You, You only are due!Shame and scorn and cross You carried; Grant us grace to carry them too, Without name or fame, but, oh, Lord, Joy and thanks, to serve before You Without name or fame, but, oh, Lord, Joy and thanks, to serve before You! Amen.The called minister of God, as well as the novice Christian follower, does also bear the cross of scorn and shame, but in a manner not like our Savior. We walk behind as a child attempting to fill the long stride of the father, but we cannot bear the burden of the father. Neither can we bear that same burden of the cross as did Christ. He alone was a worthy sacrifice for our redemption. Too many today make a show of the cross they carry, but there is no redemption ion the prideful ostentation of the hypocrite. We walk humbly and reverently with our crosses, but joyfully at the opportunity to do so.
