"To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord"

Last week, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from the 13th, in which the hymn was "To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord."  I've written about this hymn before, but I noticed an-other small feature in it.

Near the end of the sixth verse, there's the line "And they are lost forever," referring to "those who cast aside / This grace so freely given" from earlier in the verse.  It's sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Christ, unser Herr":

"Forever" is sung with a melisma (Eb F Eb D C), lending a sense of this extended duration.

LSB #820 "My Soul, Now Praise Your Maker"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 103; Isaiah 40:6-8; 57:15-16; Psalm 119:89-90

Psalm 103:  "1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!  2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, 3 who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, 5 who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

"6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed.  7 He made known his ways to Moses, his acts to the people of Israel.  8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  9 He will not always chide, nor will he keep his anger forever.  10 He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.  11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.  13 As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.  14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.  15 As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.  17 But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, 18 to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.  19 The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

"20 Bless the LORD, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!  21 Bless the LORD, all his hosts, his ministers, who do his will!  22 Bless the LORD, all his works, in all places of his dominion.  Bless the LORD, O my soul!"

Isaiah 40:6-8:  "6 A voice says, 'Cry!'  And I said, 'What shall I cry?'  All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field.  7 The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass.  8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

Isaiah 57:15-16:  "15 For this says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:  'I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.  16 For I will not contend forever, nor will I always be angry; for the spirit would grow faint before me, and the breath of life that I made.'"

Psalm 119:89-90:  "89 Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.  90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast."

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The text is public domain:

1 My soul, now praise your Maker!

Let all within me bless his name

Who makes you full partaker

Of mercies more than you dare claim.

Forget Him not whose meekness

Still bears with all your sin,

Who heals your ev'ry weakness,

Renews your life within;

Whose grace and care are endless

And saved you through the past;

Who leaves no suff'rer friendless

But rights the wronged at last.

2 He offers all His treasure

Of justice, truth, and righteousness,

His love beyond all measure,

His yearning pity o'er distress;

Nor treats us as we merit

But sets His anger by.

The poor and contrite spirit

Finds His compassion nigh;

And high as heav'n above us,

As dawn from close of day,

So far, since He has loved us,

He puts our sins away.

3 For as a tender father

Has pity on His children here,

God in His arms will gather

All who are His in childlike fear.

He knows how frail our powers,

Who but from dust are made.

We flourish like the flowers,

And even so we fade;

The wind but through them passes,

And all their bloom is o'er.

We wither like the grasses;

Our place knows us no more.

4 His grace remains forever,

And children's children yet shall prove

That God forsakes them never

Who in true fear shall seek His love.

In heav'n is fixed His dwelling,

His rule is over all;

O hosts with might excelling,

With praise before Him fall.

Praise Him forever reigning,

All you who hear His Word -

Our life and all sustaining.

My soul, O praise the Lord!

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For the most part, the hymn text is a paraphrase of Psalm 103.  Roughly, the hymn's first verse is from verses 1-6; the second verse from verses 6-12; the third verse from verses 13-16; and the fourth verse from verses 17-22.

The passage from Isaiah 40 is combined with Psalm 103:15-16 in the third verse:  "We flourish like the flowers, / And even so we fade...."

The passage from Isaiah 57 appears in the lines "The poor and contrite spirit / Finds His compassion nigh" in the second verse.

The passage from Psalm 119 is combined with Psalm 103:19 in the fourth verse:  "In heav'n is fixed His dwelling."

"If God Himself Be for Me"

Last week, I discovered an-other Biblical source for "If God Himself Be for Me."  The first two lines of the hymn are "If God Himself be for me, / I may a host defy," which seem to paraphrase the first half of Psalm 18:29:  "For by you I can run against a troop."

[Here are links to my original post on the Biblical sources and a later addendum.]

LSB #819 "Sing Praise to God, the Highest Good"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Deuteronomy 32:3, Psalm 96:1-8, Ephesians 1:3-8, John 11:27-28

Deuteronomy 32:3:  "For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!"

Psalm 96:1-8:  "1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!  2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.  3 Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!  4 For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.  5 For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.  6 Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

"7 Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!  8 Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!"

Ephesians 1:3-8:  "3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him.  In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.  7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,  8 which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight"

John 11:27-28:  "27 She said to him, 'Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.'

"28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, 'The Teacher is here and is calling for you.'"

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The text is public domain:

1 Sing praise to God, the highest good,

The author of creation,

The God of love who understood

Our need for His salvation.

With healing balm our souls He fills

And ev'ry faithless murmur stills:

To God all praise and glory!

2 What God's almighty pow'r has made,

In mercy He is keeping.

By morning glow or evening shade

His eye is never sleeping.

Within the kingdom of His might

All things are just and good and right:

To God all praise and glory!

3 We sought the Lord in our distress;

O God, in mercy hear us.

Our Savior saw our helplessness

And came with peace to cheer us.

For this we thank and praise the Lord,

Who is by one and all adored:

To God all praise and glory!

4 He never shall forsake His flock,

His chosen generation;

He is their refuge and their rock,

Their peace and their salvation.

As with a mother's tender hand,

He leads His own, His chosen band:

To God all praise and glory!

5 All who confess Christ's holy name,

Give God the praise and glory.

Let all who know His pow'r proclaim

Aloud the wondrous story.

Cast ev'ry idol from its throne,

For God is God, and He alone:

To God all praise and glory!

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Deuteronomy 32:3 seems to appear in the recurring line "To God all praise and glory!" and the similar line "Give God the praise and glory" in the fifth verse.

Sections from the passage from Psalm 96 appear throughout the hymn:  verses 1-2 in the line "Sing praise to God, the highest good" in the hymn's first verse, verses 4-5 in the lines "Cast ev'ry idol from its throne, / For God is God, and He alone" in the hymn's fifth verse, and part of verse 7 ("ascribe to the LORD glory and strength") overlaps with Deuteronomy 32:3 in the line "To God all praise and glory!"

In a general way, Ephesians 1:3-8 and John 11:27-28 seem to be the basis for the lines "The God of love who understood / Our need for His salvation. / With healing balm our souls He fills / And ev'ry faithless murmur stills" in the first verse, "Our Savior saw our helplessness / And came with peace to cheer us" in the third verse, and most of the fourth verse.

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The lines "By morning glow or evening shade / His eye is never sleeping" seem to be drawn from Psalm 121:4:  "Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep."

"Hail, O Source of Every Blessing"

Years ago, I noticed a small feature in "Hail, O Source of Every Blessing."  I neglected to write about it at the time, but I ran across it again recently.

About halfway through the first verse, there's the line "Grateful now, we fall before You," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "O Durchbrecher":

The melody descends, musically illustrating this "fall[ing]."

LSB #818 "In Thee Is Gladness"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 16:20-22, 1 Peter 1:6-9, Psalm 30:11-12, Romans 8:38-39

John 16:20-22:  "20 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.  You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.  21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.  22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.'"

1 Peter 1:6-9:  "6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  8 Though you have not seen him, you love him.  Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

Psalm 30:11-12:  "11 You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, 12 that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent.  O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you forever!"

Romans 8:38-39:  "38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

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The text is public domain:

1 In Thee is gladness

Amid all sadness,

Jesus, sunshine of my heart.

By Thee are given

The gifts of heaven,

Thou the true Redeemer art.

Our souls Thou wakest,

Our bonds Thou breakest;

Who trusts Thee surely

Has built securely;

He stands forever:

Alleluia!

Our hearts are pining

To see Thy shining,

Dying or living

To Thee are cleaving;

Naught can us sever:

Alleluia!

2 Since He is ours,

We fear no powers,

Not of earth nor sin nor death.

He sees and blesses

In worst distresses;

He can change them with a breath.

Wherefore the story

Tell of His glory

With hearts and voices;

All heav'n rejoices

In Him forever:

Alleluia!

We shout for gladness,

Triumph o'er sadness,

Love Him and praise Him

And still shall raise Him

Glad hymns forever:

Alleluia!

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The first three citations (John 16:20-22, 1 Peter 1:6-9, and Psalm 30:11-12) have a similar theme (rejoicing or gladness) that appears throughout the hymn but especially in the first line ("In Thee is gladness") and the end of the second verse ("All heav'n rejoices... We shout for gladness... And still shall raise Him / Glad hymns forever").  Additionally, Psalm 30:11 seems to be the basis for the line "He can change them with a breath" in the second verse.

The passage from Romans 8 bridges the end of the first verse and the beginning of the second:  "Dying or living / To Thee are cleaving / Naught can us sever: / Alleluia! // Since He is ours, / We fear no powers, / Not of earth nor sin nor death."

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The lines "Who trusts Thee surely / Has built securely" in the first verse seem to refer to Matthew 7:24, where Jesus says that "'Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.'"

"God Loves Me Dearly"

"God Loves Me Dearly" was one of the hymns in the Christmas Eve service I attended, and I noticed a couple small features about it.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Gott ist die Liebe," and this title is taken from 1 John 4:8, 16:  "God is love."

The refrain is:

Therefore I'll say again:

God loves me dearly,

God loves me dearly,

Loves even me.

The recurring nature of the refrain relates to the "again" in the text.  Both involve repetition.

LSB #817 "Earth and All Stars"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 96:1; 149:1-3; Isaiah 42:10-12; Exodus 15:1-2

Psalm 96:1:  "Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth!"

Psalm 149:1-3:  "1 Praise the LORD!  Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!  2 Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King!  3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!"

Isaiah 42:10-12:  "10 Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, you who go down to the sea, and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants.  11 Let the desert and its cities lift up their voice, the villages that Kedar inhabits; let the habitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the top of the mountains.  12 Let them give glory to the LORD, and declare his praise in the coastlands."

Exodus 15:1-2:  "1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, 'I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.  2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.'"

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All of the cited passages mention singing to the Lord, and this is present throughout the hymn in the recurring line "Sing to the Lord a new song!" (taken verbatim from any of the first three citations).  The passage from Exodus 15 may also be alluded to in the first line of the refrain:  "He has done marvelous things."

Psalm 148 seems to be an important source, too.  Similar to the hymn, it's a rhetorical catalogue of various entities who are encouraged to "Praise the LORD!"  The strongest resemblance is between the hymn's title line ("Earth and all stars!") and Psalm 148:3:  "Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!"

"Of the Father's Love Begotten"

Last year, I noticed a feature in nearly every musical phrase "Of the Father's Love Begotten."  The hymn is sung to the tune "Divinum Mysterium."  Here's the first phrase:

In the second verse, the text here is "Oh, that birth forever blessed."  "Blessed" is sung with a melisma (G F Eb), giving a sense of the duration of the modifying "forever."

The second musical phrase:

The second verse continues with the line "When the virgin, full of grace."  Here, "full" is sung with a melisma (Bb G), lending a sense of abundance.

The fourth musical phrase:

In the fifth verse, part of the doxology here is "And unending praises be."  Similar to "blessed" above, "praises" is sung with a melisma (Eb C D), giving a sense of this extended duration.

The fifth musical phrase:

In the third verse, the text here is "Now He shines, the long-expected."  "Long-expected" is sung with a melisma (G F Bb C Bb G Ab Bb), once again providing a sense of duration.

The sixth musical phrase:

In the fourth verse, the text here is "Ev'ry voice in concert ring."  The phrase "ev'ry voice" is sung to notes of all different pitches (Eb D C), indicating this breadth.

The seventh musical phrase:

Every verse ends with the line "Evermore and evermore," and once again, a melisma provides a sense of duration:  the second "evermore" is sung to the notes G Eb F Eb.

[Years ago, I wrote about a small feature in the third phrase.]

LSB #816 "From All That Dwell Below the Skies"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 117, Isaiah 45:22-23, Philippians 2:5-11

Psalm 117:  "1 Praise the LORD, all nations!  Extol him, all peoples!  2 For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.  Praise the LORD!"

Isaiah 45:22-23:  "22 'Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth!  For I am God, and there is no other.  23 By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return:  "To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance."'"

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."

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The text is public domain:

1 From all that dwell below the skies

Let the Creator's praise arise;

Alleluia, alleluia!

Let the Redeemer's name be sung

Through ev'ry land by ev'ry tongue.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

2 Eternal are Thy mercies, Lord;

Eternal truth attends Thy Word.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore

Till suns shall rise and set no more.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

3 All praise to God the Father be,

All praise, eternal Son, to Thee.

Alleluia, alleluia!

Whom with the Spirit we adore

Forever and forevermore:

Alleluia, alleluia!

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

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Psalm 117 seems to appear throughout the hymn in the calls to praise God, but there are other verses in the Psalms to which the hymn text bears a stronger resemblance.  The lines "From all that dwell below the skies / Let the Creator's praise arise" in the first verse are similar to Psalm 150:6 ("Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!"), and the lines "Thy praise shall sound from shore to shore / Till suns shall rise and set no more" in the second verse use the same sort of imagery that's in Psalm 113:3 ("From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!").

"Every tongue shall swear allegiance" from Isaiah 45:23 and "every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord" from Philippians 2:11 are combined in the lines "Let the Redeemer's name be sung / Through ev'ry land by ev'ry tongue" in the first verse.

"The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came"

Last year, I noticed two instances in "The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came" where groups of words are sung to notes of all different pitches, giving a sense of entirety or breadth.

The second line of the second verse is "All generations laud and honor thee," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Gabriel's Message":

The phrase "All generations" is sung to the notes D G Bb A C.  That these pitches span nearly an octave also lends a sense of this breadth.

The third line of the fourth verse is "And Christian folk throughout the world will ever say," sung to this musical phrase:

"Throughout the world" is sung to the notes A Bb C D.  Additionally, the note values lengthen at the end of the phrase (with "say" sung to the longest, five beats), illustrating the duration of "ever."

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.