LSB #815 "All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Philippians 2:5-11, Mark 10:45, Isaiah 55:10-11

Philippians 2:5-11:  "5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Mark 10:45:  "'For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'"

Isaiah 55:10-11:  "10 'For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.'"

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The passage from Philippians 2 is paraphrased in the third through fifth verses of the hymn, specifically verses 5-8 in the hymn's third verse, verse 9 and the first part of verse 10 in the hymn's fourth verse, and the second half of verse 10 and verse 11 in the hymn's fifth verse.

Mark 10:45 is the basis for the second verse.

The passage from Isaiah 55 (specifically "it shall accomplish that which I purpose") is alluded to in the line "Wherefore, by God's eternal purpose, Thou..." in the fourth verse.

"All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine"

I've written about small features in "All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine" twice before, but when it was the hymn in a Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service last month (on 12 September), I noticed an-other one.

In the line "[Thou] Art high exalted o'er all creatures now" near the beginning of the fourth verse, the phrase "all creatures" is sung to notes of all different pitches (spanning a fifth:  A G D), providing a sense of breadth or entirety.  Here's the musical phrase (from the tune "Engelberg") to which the line is sung:

"All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine"

I wrote about a small feature in "All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine" a number of years ago, but when it was the hymn in the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service on the 23rd last month, I noticed something else.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Engelberg."  Here's the first musical phrase:

In the fifth verse, the text here is "Let ev'ry tongue confess with one accord."  The phrase "ev'ry tongue" is sung to notes of all different pitches (F, A, and G), giving something of a sense of breadth.

"All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in "All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine," sung to the tune "Engelberg."  The second line of the fourth verse is "[Thou] Art high exalted o'er all creatures now," sung to this phrase:

"High" is sung to the highest pitch in this phrase (the highest pitch in the whole tune, in fact), so there's a musical sense of the word's meaning.