"Seek Ye First"

"Seek Ye First" was one of the hymns on Worship Anew last month (3 August, Eighth Sunday after Pentecost), and I noticed a small feature in it.  Near the end of the first verse, there's the line "And all these things shall be added unto you!" sung to this musical phrase:

The phrase "all these things" is sung to notes of all different pitches (F# G A), lending a slight sense of this breadth.

LSB #801 "How Great Thou Art"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 15:3b-4, Genesis 1:1-25, Isaiah 53:3-12, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

Revelation 15:3b-4:  "'Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty!  Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!  4 Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?  For you alone are holy.  All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.'"

Genesis 1:1-25:  "1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

"3 And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.  4 And God saw that the light was good.  And God separated the light from the darkness.  5 God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.  And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

"6 And God said, 'Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.'  7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse.  And it was so.  8 And God called the expanse Heaven.  And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

"9 And God said, 'Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.'  And it was so.  10 God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.

"11 And god said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.'  And it was so.  12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.  13 and there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

"14 And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night.  And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.'  And it was so.  16 And God made the two great lights - the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night - and the stars.  17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness.  And God saw that it was good.  19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

"20 And God said, 'Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens.'  21 So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.  22 And God blessed them, saying, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.'  23 And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

"24 And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds - livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.'  and it was so.  25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good."

Isaiah 53:3-12:  "3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  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.  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

"7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.  8 By oppression and judgement he was taken away; and as for his generation, who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living, stricken for the transgression of my people?  9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

"10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:  "16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

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The text from Revelation 15 appears primarily in the refrain (the repeated "How great Thou art!"), but "Great and amazing are your deeds" from verse 3 seems to be combined with the Creation account in Genesis 1 in the hymn's first verse:  "O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder / Consider all the works Thy hand hath made...."  Specific examples of God's handiwork are given in the remainder of the first verse and throughout the second.

The text from Isaiah 53 is the basis for the third verse, and the passage from 1 Thessalonians 4 is paraphrased at the beginning of the fourth verse:  "When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation / And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!"

"Splendor and Honor"

I was looking at "Splendor and Honor" last month and noticed a couple small features.  The hymn is sung to the tune "Shades Mountain."  Here's the second musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Are Yours, O Lord God, fount of ev'ry blessing" (it continues the sense from the previous line:  "Splendor and honor, majesty and power").  The phrase "ev'ry blessing" is sung to notes of all different pitches (F E D C), giving a sense of this breadth.

The third verse is a doxology, ending with "Now and forever," sung to this phrase:

"Forever" is sung to notes that have a combined total of nine beats (a quarter note and two whole notes), and since this is the longest of any word in the entire hymn, there's a sense of this duration.

LSB #800 "Alabaré - II"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 5:8-13; 7:9-15

Revelation 5:8-13:  "8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  9 And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'  11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'  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 7:9-15:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  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.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence."

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The first verse, which is the same as that of "Alabaré - I," paraphrases Revelation 7:9-10.  Parts of the second and third verses ("Voices united in joy and in singing, / We offer praise and glory to God..." and "We bless You, we adore You without end") seem to be drawn from the same source and from Revelation 5:13.  The third verse contains a sort of doxology ("Mercy and justice, / Power and wisdom") that contains some of the same qualities as Revelation 5:12-13 and Revelation 7:12.

"All Glory Be to God Alone"

I was looking at "All Glory Be to God Alone" earlier this month, and I noticed a small feature in the last line of the third verse:  "To all the world Your grace extend," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "All' Ehr' und Lob":

The phrase "all the world" is sung to notes of all different pitches (B A G), giving a small sense of this entirety.

(A couple years ago, I noted some other features in this same line.)

LSB #799 "Alabaré - I"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 5:8-13; 7:9-15

Revelation 5:8-13:  "8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  9 And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'  11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'  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 7:9-15:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  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.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence."

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Only the second and third stanzas are public domain:

2 Worthy is Christ the Lamb who was slain,

Whose blood has set us free from ev'ry sin.

Power and riches,

And wisdom and strength

And honor and all blessing shall be His.

3 Sing with the people, the people of God,

And join creation in a joyful hymn.

Blessing and honor

And glory and might

To God and to the Lamb be without end.

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The first verse paraphrases Revelation 7:9-10; the second verse paraphrases Revelation 5:12-13, also incorporating "'by your blood you ransomed people for God...'" from Revelation 5:9; and the third paraphrases Revelation 7:12.

"Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus"

About a month ago, one of the hymns on Worship Anew was "Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus."  I noticed that the line "Full of faith and hope and love" in the first verse exhibits polysyndeton (the repeated "and") and that the repetition here provides a sense of this abundance (being "full").

I also found an uncited Biblical reference.  The lines "Though today we sow no laughter, / We shall reap celestial joy" in the second verse draw from Psalm 126:5:  "Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!"

(Here's a link to my post on the other Biblical sources.)

LSB #798 "The God of Abraham Praise"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Exodus 3:6, 14; Psalm 142:5-6; Psalm 9:7-11; Revelation 4:8

Exodus 3:6:  "And he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.'  And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God."

Exodus 3:14:  "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'  And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"

Psalm 142:5-6:  "5 I cry to you, O LORD; I say, 'You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.'  6 Attend to my cry, for I am brought very low!  Deliver me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me!"

Psalm 9:7-11:  "7 But the LORD sits enthroned forever; he has established his throne for justice, 8 and he judges the world with righteousness; he judges the peoples with uprightness.

"9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.

"11 Sing praises to the LORD, who sits enthroned in Zion! Tell among the peoples his deeds!"

Revelation 4:8:  "And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!'"

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The text is public domain:

1 The God of Abr'ham praise,

Who reigns enthroned above;

Ancient of everlasting days

And God of love.

Jehovah, great I AM!

By earth and heav'n confessed;

I bow and bless the sacred name

Forever blest.

2 The God of Abr'ham praise,

At whose supreme command

From earth I rise and seek the joys

At His right hand.

I all on earth forsake,

Its wisdom, fame, and pow'r,

And Him my only portion make,

My shield and tow'r.

3 The God of Abr'ham praise,

Whose all-sufficient grace

Shall guide me all my pilgrim days

In all my ways.

He deigns to call me friend;

He calls Himself my God.

And He shall save me to the end

Through Jesus' blood.

4 He by Himself has sworn;

I on His oath depend.

I shall, on eagle wings upborne,

To heav'n ascend.

I shall behold His face;

I shall His pow'r adore

And sing the wonders of His grace

Forevermore.

5 Though nature's strength decay,

And earth and hell withstand,

To Canaan's bounds I urge my way

At His command.

The wat'ry deep I pass,

With Jesus in my view,

And through the howling wilderness

My way pursue.

6 The goodly land I see,

With peace and plenty blest:

A land of sacred liberty

And endless rest.

There milk and honey flow,

And oil and wine abound,

And trees of life forever grow

With mercy crowned.

7 There dwells the Lord our king,

The Lord our righteousness,

Triumphant o'er the world and sin,

The Prince of Peace.

On Zion's sacred height

His kingdom He maintains

And glorious with His saints in light

Forever reigns.

8 The God who reigns on high

The great archangels sing,

And "Holy, holy, holy!" cry,

"Almighty King!

Who was and is the same

And evermore shall be:

Jehovah, Father, great I AM!

We worship Thee!"

9 The whole triumphant host

Give thanks to God on high.

"Hail, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!"

They ever cry.

Hail, Abr'ham's God and mine!

I join the heav'nly lays:

All might and majesty are Thine

And endless praise!

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Exodus 3:6 appears in the repeated line "The God of Abr'ham praise" in the first three verses (which also incorporates "Sing praises to the LORD" from Psalm 9:11) and in the line "Hail, Abr'ham's God and mine!" in the ninth, and Exodus 3:14 appears in the lines "Jehovah, great I AM!" in the first verse and "Jehovah, Father, great I AM!" in the eighth.

Psalm 142:5-6, specifically "You are... my portion in the land of the living," appears in the line "And Him my only portion make" in the second verse.

The passage from Psalm 9, particularly "the LORD sits enthroned forever," shows up most clearly in the seventh and eighth verses:  "His kingdom He maintains / And glorious with His saints in light / Forever reigns. // The God who reigns on high."

Revelation 4:8 is the basis for most of the eighth verse, although there's also a resemblance to the seraphim in Isaiah 6:3:  "And one called to another and said: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'"  

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The title "Ancient of everlasting days" in the first verse comes from Daniel 7:13:  "'I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.'"

The line "My shield and tow'r" at the end of the second verse could come from the "refuge" or "stronghold" in the Psalms cited above, but this specific imagery is also prevalent in other Psalms.  God as a shield appears in Psalm 3:3, 28:7, 33:20, 84:11, and God as a tower appears in Psalm 61:3 and Proverbs 18:10.

The line "Whose all-sufficient grace" in the third verse seems to be drawn from 2 Corinthians 12:9:  "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.'"

The line "He deigns to call me friend" in the third verse may refer to John 15:14-16:  "14 'You are my friends if you do what I command you.  15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.  16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.'"

The lines "I shall, on eagle wings upborne, / To heavn' ascend. / I shall behold His face" in the fourth verse seem to combine parts of Isaiah 40:31 ("but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles") and 1 Corinthians 13:12 ("For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.").

The description "There milk and honey flow" in the sixth verse occurs a number of times in the Pentateuch, first in Exodus 3:8:  "and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites."

In the seventh verse, the title "The Lord our righteousness" appears a couple times in Jeremiah (23:6 and 33:16), and the title "The Prince of Peace" is taken from Isaiah 9:6.

Most of the ninth verse seems to be drawn from Revelation 7, particularly verses 9-10:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

"My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less"

One of the hymns in a church service I attended last month was "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" (paired with the tune "Magdalen").  I noticed a small feature in the last line of the third verse:  "He then is all my hope and stay," sung to this musical phrase:

"All" is sung to a dotted quarter note.  This is the longest note in the phrase, and to some degree, this greater duration lends a sense of the entirety of that "all."

LSB #797 "Praise the Almighty"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Psalm 146

Psalm 146:  "1 Praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD, O my soul!  2 I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

"3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.  4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.

"5 Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God, 6 who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever; 7 who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry.

"The LORD sets the prisoners free; 8 the LORD opens the eyes of the blind.  The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.  9 The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.  10 The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.  Praise the LORD!"

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The text is public domain:

1 Praise the Almighty, my soul, adore Him!

Yes, I will laud Him until death;

With songs and anthems I come before Him

As long as He allows me breath.

From Him my life and all things came;

Bless, O my soul, His holy name.

Alleluia, alleluia!

2 Trust not in rulers; they are but mortal;

Earthborn they are and soon decay.

Vain are their counsels at life's last portal,

When the dark grave engulfs its prey.

Since mortals can no help afford,

Place all your trust in Christ, our Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia!

3 Blessed, oh, blessed are they forever

Whose help is from the Lord Most High,

Whom from salvation can nothing sever,

And who in hope to Christ draw night.

To all who trust in Him, our Lord

Will aid and counsel now afford.

Alleluia, alleluia!

4 Penitent sinners, for mercy crying,

Pardon and peace from Him obtain;

Ever the wants of the poor supplying,

Their faithful God He will remain.

He helps His children in distress,

The widows and the fatherless.

Alleluia, alleluia!

5 Praise, all you people, the name so holy

Of Him who does such wondrous things!

All that has being, to praise Him solely,

With happy heart its amen sings.

Children of God, with angel host

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Alleluia, alleluia!

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The hymn paraphrases Psalm 146.  The hymn's first verse comes from verses 1-2; the second verse from verses 3-4; the third verse from verse 5; the fourth verse from verses 7-9; and the fifth verse from verse 10.

"Spread the Reign of God the Lord"

Recently, I happened to see the title "Spread the Reign of God the Lord" and realized a way in which it connects to the melody to which it's sung, the first phrase of the tune "Gott sei Dank":

The phrase spans an octave, musically reflecting this idea of "spread[ing]."

LSB #796 "When in Our Music God Is Glorified"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 Chronicles 16:4-36, 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, Colossians 3:16-17, Mark 14:26

1 Chronicles 16:4-36:  "4 Then he [David] appointed some of the Levites as ministers before the ark of the LORD, to invoke, to thank, and to praise the LORD, the God of Israel.  5 Asaph was the chief, and second to him were Zechariah, Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom, and Jeiel, who were to play harps and lyres; Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.  7 Then on that day David first appointed that thanksgiving be sung to the LORD by Asaph and his brothers.

"8 Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!  9 Sing to him; sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  10 Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!  11 Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!  12 Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles and the judgements he uttered, 13 O offspring of Israel his servant, sons of Jacob, his chosen ones!

"14 He is the LORD our God; his judgements are in all the earth.  15 Remember his covenant forever, the word that he commanded, for a thousand generations, 16 the covenant that he made with Abraham, his sworn promise to Isaac, 17 which he confirmed as a statute to Jacob, as an everlasting covenant to Israel, 18 saying, 'To you I will give the land of Canaan, as your portion for an inheritance.'

"19 When you were few in number, and of little account, and sojourners in it, 20 wandering from nation to nation, from one kingdom to another people, 21 he allowed no one to oppress them; he rebuked kings on their account, 22 saying, 'Touch not my anointed ones, do my prophets no harm!'

"23 Sing to the LORD, all the earth!  Tell of his salvation from day to day.  24 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!  25 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and he is to be held in awe above all gods.  26 For all the gods of the peoples are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.  27 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and joy are in his place.  28 Ascribe to the LORD, O clans of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!  29 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering and come before him!  Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; 30 tremble before him, all the earth; yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.  31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns!'  32 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!  33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.  34 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

"35 Say also:  'Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.  36 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!'  Then all the people said, 'Amen!' and praised the LORD."

2 Chronicles 5:13-14:  "13 and it was the duty of the trumpeters and singers to make themselves heard in unison in praise and thanksgiving to the LORD), and when the song was raised, with trumpets and cymbals and other musical instruments, in praise to the LORD, 'For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever,' the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud, 14 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God."

Colossians 3:16-17:  "16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.  17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

Mark 14:26:  "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."

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The first three citations (1 Chronicles 16:4-36, 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, and Colossians 3:16-17) seem to be the basis for the fifth verse:  "Let ev'ry instrument be tuned for praise! / Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise! / And may God give us faith to sing always: / Alleluia!"

Mark 14:26 is referred to in the fourth verse:  "And did not Jesus sing a psalm that night / When utmost evil strove against the light?"