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| (Scenic Ireland. Click for source.) |
Mary Byrne's 1905 English Translation of "Be Thou My Vision"
Can Be Our Prayer to God or Our Statement of Faith
Mary Byrne's English translation (from 1905) of "Be Thou My Vision" is very powerful when you pray it to God. It was an old Irish song of worship from hundreds of years ago. We don't know who exactly wrote it. But, some think it could have been influenced by Patrick of Ireland, who God used to bring Christianity to that island nation.
Worshiping God with music is very powerful and moving. I was thinking that we could read the text of "Be Thou My Vision" but substitute "You are" in place of Be thou" to make it a statement of praise. Or, we can leave it as "Be thou" and use it as a prayer to God. Personally, I like both options.
Another way of looking at this is to use this old Irish hymn as both praise and prayer. We want God to be our vision, our focus, our delight. But, we can thank Him that He is our shelter and our Father, for instance.
(Also, we could change "King of the seven heavens" to "High King of Heaven".)
We have Mary Byrne's translation below.
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Be thou my vision O Lord of my heart
None other is aught but the King of the seven heavens.
Be thou my meditation by day and night.
May it be thou that I behold even in my sleep.
