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Christmas Hymns: Go, My Children, With my Blessing

© John L. Hoh, Jr.

"Go, My Children, With my Blessing," Let All the People Praise You, #54

1.
Go, My children, with My blessing, Never alone.
Waking, sleeping, I am with you; You are My own.
In My love's baptismal river I have made you Mine forever.
Go, My children, with My blessing, You are My own.

2.
Go, My children, sins forgiven, At peace and pure.
Here you learned how much I love you, What I can cure.
Here you heard My dear Son's story; Here you touched Him, saw His glory.
Go, My children, sins forgiven, At peace and pure.

3.
Go, My children, fed and nourished, Closer to Me;
Grow in love and love by serving, Joyful and free.
Here My Spirit's power filled you; Here His tender comfort stilled you.
Go, My children, fed and nourished, Joyful and free.

4.
I the Lord will bless and keep you And give you peace;
I the Lord will smile upon you And give you peace;
I the Lord will be your Father, Savior, Comforter, and Brother.
Go, My Children; I will keep you And give you peace.

Tonight is New Year's Eve and I thought I would share the hymn Jaroslav Vajda wrote as a benediction. In a departure from many of his other hymns, this one is not set to a Carl Schalk composition. It uses a Welsh lullaby, a tune I have heard on CDs of lullabies we bought when my son was born. (I have included the lyrics to one, called "All Through the End," at the end of this article.)

In verse one Vajda relates to us the claim God can make about us and the care he has for us. God is with us "waking and sleeping." And God has made us his through the baptismal water. Luther often said that he never said that he was baptized but that he is baptized. In Luther's mind, that seemingly one-time action has life-long consequences. God keeps the promises made through that baptism, promises to remain with us, to create and strengthen faith through that baptism. In summary, that though we might change after our baptism, God remains changeless and remains faithful to his promises and to us.

Verse two is a benediction of what we learn and take from God's Word. The setting in this hymn is the church service where we learn about God's amazing grace. It can also refer to those informal moments when we study God's Word-personal study, small group Bible classes, family devotions, in our prayer life, among other times.