"Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia"

When I wrote about the Biblical sources for "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia," I noticed a small connection between the text and the tune ("Mfurahini Haleluya").

What I noticed concerns the first musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Christ has arisen, alleluia," and in the fifth verse, the text is "Christ has arisen; He sets us free."  For both of these, the first two syllables of "arisen" are sung to an ascending interval (a fourth: C to F), musically giving a sense of the word's meaning.

LSB #466 "Christ Has Arisen, Alleluia"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 28:5-7, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57

Matthew 28:5-7:  "5 But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where he lay.  7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.  See, I have told you.'"

1 Corinthians 15:55-57:  "55 'O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?'  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

+++

The verses from Matthew appear in the third verse and the first half of the fourth verse ("The angel said to them, 'Do not fear! / You look for Jesus who is not here...'" and "'Go spread the news:  He's not in the grave...'").  The verses from 1 Corinthians appear most clearly in the refrain, specifically in the line "Death's fearful sting He has come to destroy," but "the victory" in verse 57 seems to be referenced in the line "Even the battle with sin is won" at the end of the hymn's fourth verse.

"For our Redeemer burst from the tomb, / Even from death, dispelling its gloom" in the first verse is drawn from Job 19:25:  "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth."

"Helft mir Gott's Güte" (TLH #112)

Because I'll be travelling to two different weddings next month, I'm putting these recordings on hiatus until July.

"Lift High the Cross"

"Lift High the Cross" was one of the hymns in church this week, so I thought I'd finally get around to writing about something I noticed in it years ago.

The first line of the refrain is "Lift high the cross, the love of Christ proclaim," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Crucifer":

The first interval is an ascending fourth (G to C), musically representing that "Lift[ing] high."

LSB #465 "Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds"

Biblical citations in the hymnal: Revelation 5:13, 7:11-12; Romans 8:11; Colossians 3:1-12; 1 Corinthians 15:57

Revelation 5:13:  "And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'"

Revelation 7:11-12:  "11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'"

Romans 8:11:  "If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you."

Colossians 3:1-12:  "1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

"5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming.  7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you must put them all away:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.  11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

"12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience..."

1 Corinthians 15:57:  "But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

+++

The first verse - particularly the lines "Now all the vault of heav'n resounds" and "Sing, choirs of angels, loud and clear!" - comes from both citations from Revelation.

The verse from Romans appears in the line "Now still He comes to give us life" in the second verse.

The first two lines of the third verse come from Colossians 3, although they're in the opposite order.  "O fill us, Lord with dauntless love" seems to be drawn from verse 12, and the next line "Set heart and will on things above" comes from verses 1 and 2.

The line "Christ has triumphed!" appears throughout the hymn, and I think this is what's taken from 1 Corinthians 15:57.

+++

The third line of the third verse ("That we conquer through Your triumph") has some resemblance to Romans 8:37:  "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

The fourth line of the third verse ("Grant grace sufficient for life's day") seems to draw from 2 Corinthians 12:9:  "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

"Aus der Tiefe" (TLH #111)

Since this is a shorter tune, I went through it three times.

"I Am Jesus' Little Lamb"

On Worship Anew for Good Shepherd Sunday, one of the hymns was "I Am Jesus' Little Lamb," and I noticed a small thing about just the text.

The second line of the second verse is "Jesus is my staff and stay, " and the alliteration of "staff and stay" illustrates the order that God maintains over creation for the sake of His sheep.

LSB #464 "The Strife Is O'er, the Battle Done"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 Corinthians 15:55-57; 2 Timothy 1:10; Ephesians 2:1, 4-6; Isaiah 53:5

1 Corinthians 15:55-57:  "55 'O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?'  56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.  57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Timothy 1:10:  "and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel"

Ephesians 2:1:  "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins"

Ephesians 2:4-6:  "4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved - 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus"

Isaiah 53:5:  "But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."

+++

The text is public domain:

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

The strife is o'er, the battle done;
Now is the victor's triumph won;
Now be the song of praise begun.
Alleluia!

The pow'rs of death have done their worst,
But Christ their legions hath dispersed.
Let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!

The three sad days have quickly sped,
He rises glorious from the dead.
All glory to our risen Head!
Alleluia!

He broke the age-bound chains of hell;
The bars from heav'n's high portals fell.
Let hymns of praise His triumph tell.
Alleluia!

Lord, by the stripes which wounded Thee,
From death's dread sting Thy servants free
That we may live and sing to Thee.
Alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

+++

The text from 1 Corinthians seems to be the main source, and it appears most clearly in the first verse and the phrase "death's dread sting" in the fifth verse.

The 1 Corinthians text could also be cited for the second through fourth verses, but "abolish[ing] death" from 2 Timothy 1:10 seems to be drawn from too.

The other three citations (Ephesians 2:1, 4-6 and Isaiah 53:5) all seem to be in the last verse.  Isaiah 53:5 is the most clear, appearing at the beginning: "by the stripes which wounded Thee."  Although it uses a specific phrase from 1 Corinthians 15:55, the line "From death's dread sting Thy servants free" contains the idea of freedom from the death that is sin that's present in the verses from Ephesians.

Although not cited, the third verse - specifically Christ as the "Head" - seems to draw from Colossians 1:18, which also mentions the resurrection:  "And he is the head of the body, the church.  He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent."

"Allein Gott in der Höh'" (TLH #110)

"Long before the World Is Waking"

One of the hymns in church on Sunday was "Long before the World Is Waking" (the text is drawn from John 21:1-17, which was one of the readings).  I noticed a few small features.

The first is purely about the text.  The third and fourth lines of the fourth verse are: "Fear and failure, doubt, denying, / Full and free forgiveness find."  The alliteration of "Full and free forgiveness find" helps to give a sense of the all-encompassing nature of that forgiveness.

The other things I noticed deal with the fifth and sixth musical phrases (the tune is "All Saints"):

In the fourth verse, the text here is "All the soul's dark night is past, / Morning breaks in joy at last" (which I believe is taken from Psalm 30:5).  "Breaks" is sung with a melisma (G A), so while it's used in a more metaphorical sense, there's a musical "break[ing]" of the word into more than one pitch.

In the fifth verse, the text is "All our days, on ev'ry shore, / Christ is ours forevermore!"  "Ev'ry" is sung with a melisma here (D C Bb), and that extra syllable gives a sense of number.

LSB #463 "Christ the Lord Is Risen Today; Alleluia"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 28:5-7, 1 Corinthians 5:7-8, John 1:29, Romans 6:9

Matthew 28:5-7:  "5 But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where he lay.  7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.  See, I have told you.'"

1 Corinthians 5:7-8:  "7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened.  For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.  8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."

John 1:29:  "The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"

Romans 6:9:  "We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him."

+++

The text is public domain:

Christ the Lord is ris'n today;
Alleluia!
Christians, hasten on your way;
Alleluia!
Offer praise with love replete,
Alleluia!
At the paschal victim's feet.
Alleluia!

For the sheep the Lamb has bled,
Alleluia!
Sinless in the sinner's stead.
Alleluia!
Christ the Lord is ris'n on high;
Alleluia!
Now He lives, no more to die.
Alleluia!

Hail, the victim undefiled,
Alleluia!
God and sinners reconciled,
Alleluia!
When contending death and life,
Alleluia!
Met in strange and awesome strife.
Alleluia!

Christians, on this holy day,
Alleluia!
All your grateful homage pay;
Alleluia!
Christ the Lord is ris'n on high;
Alleluia!
Now He lives, no more to die.
Alleluia!

+++

The first line is from Matthew 28:6, specifically "He is not here, for he has risen."

Parts of verses two and three ("For the sheep the Lamb has bled... Sinless in the sinner's stead" and "God and sinners reconciled... When contending death and life... Met in strange and awesome strife") could be drawn from either 1 Corinthians 5:7-8 or John 1:29.

Romans 6:9 appears in the line "Now He lives, no more to die," which occurs at the end of the second and fourth verses.

"Bethlehem"(TLH #109)