Mighty Lord (The Lord is dawn in darkness) - Foley

This is a folk-style song about God's might. It was written by American Roman Catholic priest, liturgist, composer and member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) John Foley SJ (b 1939).

An early printing says it was suggested by Psalms 86, 100 and 148.

The song was included on the Foley's first-ever solo album "Wood Hath Hope", which was released by North American Liturgy Resources (NARL) in 1978.

It is set to an unnamed tune, also by Foley. This has a time signature. In the key of F, the first few notes are C C C A_ A B A G F D B, C with accompanying chords F / Bb / F.

Printed sheet music for just this song is no longer available for purchase, but lead-sheet style music for the collection is available from OCP.

Although it is not widely available in hymnals - and not as good as Foley's other work from the same album - requests to this website show that the song is still used in come countries.

Downloads

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Examples

Choir with band:

Lyrics

The lyrics are copyright so cannot be reproduced here. But they are currently available on this website. A rough outline is:

The Lord is dawn in darkness,
He is light for day.
He knows our weakness,
Yet He walks our ways;
He is steady love to ev'ry creature that lives,
He is mighty Lord.

Chorsu:
For He is mighty Lord,
God of all,
He is love and Lord of us all.
For He is mighty Lord,
God of all,
He is love and Lord of us all.

And let the heavens praise Him
In the sun and moon.
Let stars give thanks to Him
At night and noon.
Praise Him, all the earth,
The mountains, hills and the trees,
He is mighty Lord.

O, serve the Lord with gladness.
Serve the Lord with song,
And know He made us see
He has loved us long.
He is steady love
and He alone is our God.
He is mighty Lord.

O, teach us Lord to go with you
to walk your ways;
To love your light
to know your brightness stays.
Help us help each other with the love
that you are.
You are mighty Lord.