How long, O God, must shells rain down (website only)
How long, O God, must shells rain down
and violence scar divided lands?
How long must children know the fear
that hatred breeds and death demands?
Your people cry for lasting peace
and pray for rescue from above.
'How long, O Lord', is all our prayer.
We need the overwhelm of love.*
As each day dawns we look to heaven
and cry ‘how long? How long, O Lord!’
Breathe grace into our troubled souls,
speak gently to our shattered world.
God in the rubble, hear our cry,
don’t let us be abandoned here.
Have you forsaken those you love?
Why must your children know this fear?
Our homes, our families are gone.
The dreams we had are shattered glass.
Must we endure this living hell
and never know a peace that lasts?
You see each sparrow as she falls,
and count the loss and grieve the pain.
Yet as we wait with tear-stained hearts
we ask ‘will flowers bloom again?’
We lift our eyes to Calvary
where Jesus carried evil’s curse,
when hope refused to yield to hate
and grace redeemed the universe.
Yet as we ask, ‘How long, O Lord?
How long must evil have its way?’
we cling to heaven’s unfettered love
but ache for colour through the grey.
Words: Gareth Hill © 2024 Publishing/www.songsolutions.org
Metre: 88.88.88.88 (DLM extended)
Suggested tunes: Gareth wrote these words with the tune Before the throne of God above (StF 717) in mind. (See notes below.) One alternative tune is 'St Patrick (Stanford)', Hymns & Psalms 695.
Ideas for use
There is a rise and fall in the tune 'Before the throne of God' that works well with the flow of Gareth's words. In particular, the stretch up to higher notes in the second half of the tune matches the yearning and hopefulness Gareth explores:
Yet as we ask, ‘How long, O Lord?
How long must evil have its way?’
we cling to heaven’s unfettered love
but ache for colour through the grey.
Note that the word 'heaven' in this quote from the final verse should be sung as a single syllable.
*Also note that, with this tune, the final line of each verse is repeated.
Given the nature of the text, these words could also be used as a read prayer with appropriate music playing underneath. They are words, of course, that may be used at any time during times of reflection on armed conflict.
More information
Gareth's words were written in the weeks preceding 7 October 2024 – the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attacks in 2023. During the following 12 months, the Israeli response saw over 42,000 people killed. Gareth's hymn has been composed to encapsulate some of the threads we could express in our worship. It can’t ask every question and it doesn’t dare to propose a route to peace but, in the tradition of biblical lament, it aches for a resolution.
The question ‘How long, O Lord’ repeats through the text and echoes psalms of lament and the words of Habakkuk:
‘How long, Lord, must I cry for help?
But you do not listen!
I call out to you, “Violence!”
But you do not deliver!
Why do you force me to witness injustice?
Why do you put up with wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence confront me;
conflict is present and one must endure strife.’ (Habakkuk 1: 2-3)
The Revd Gareth Hill is a supernumerary Methodist minister. A number of his hymns have been published in Singing the Faith and on this website. They include his response to the anniversary of the Aberfan tragedy, God who knows our darkest moments.