“Lead me Lord, lead me in thy righteousness,
Make thy way known before my face,
For it is thou, Lord, thou Lord only
That maketh me dwell in safety.”

More than sixty years ago, with only a mediocre alto voice, I was nevertheless accepted into St James’ Church Choir in Lower Hutt. We sang some wonderful choral music, and the words of this anthem, based on Psalm 5:8 and Psalm 4:8, have stayed with me ever since.

Lead me Lord in thy righteousness

• I have no righteousness of my own, but through the loving sacrifice of Christ I am led on my life journey covered with His righteousness.
  
  Make thy way plain before my face
• Only when I look towards Him do I see the way ahead and walk in His footsteps.
  
  For it is thou Lord, thou Lord only, that maketh me dwell in safety
• I know that His presence enfolds me in His love, and that He will keep me safe – not necessarily from physical harm, but also protection from succumbing to the values of secularism.
  
  We are all very much aware of the dangers to our physical safety at present.
  May we also be aware of the need for our spiritual safety.
  May we all know the loving presence of Christ as He leads us in His righteousness on the way of faith until we finally reach the safety of Heaven: where I am hoping to be accepted into the Heavenly Choir—transformed into a soaring soprano !!
  
  Keren