"I Walk in Danger All the Way"

Last month, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from the 10th.  The hymn was "I Walk in Danger All the Way," and I noticed a feature that recurs throughout.

It's sung to the tune "Der lieben Sonne Licht und Pracht."  Here's the first musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "I walk in danger all the way."  The phrase "all the way" is sung to notes of all different pitches (A F E), providing a sense of entirety.  This feature is present in every verse; each initial line ends with the phrase "all the way."

LSB #776 "Come, Lord Jesus, Be Our Guest"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 145:15-16, Luke 24:29-30, James 1:17a

Psalm 145:15-16:  "15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.  16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing."

Luke 24:29-30:  "29 but they urged him strongly, saying, 'Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.'  So he went in to stay with them.  30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them."

James 1:17a:  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above"

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The text is public domain:

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blest.

Amen, amen, amen.

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The hymn text is fairly general, but the passage from Luke 24 seems to be the main source (especially for "be our guest"), and the other cited texts are combined with it in "let these gifts to us be blest."

"Lord, Support Us All Day Long"

Recently, I was looking at "Lord, Support Us All Day Long" and noticed a very small feature in it, similar to what I found in "Lord, Take My Hand and Lead Me" a number of years ago.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Gwalchmai," which alternates between long and short phrases.  Here's the fourth phrase, which is only one measure:

In the first verse, the text here is "Shadows length."  The note values expand from quarter notes to half notes, giving a musical impression of this "length[ening]."

LSB #775 "Be Present at Our Table, Lord"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 145:15-16, Revelation 19:9, Isaiah 25:6

Psalm 145:15-16:  "15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.  16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.  17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works."

Revelation 19:9:  "And the angel said to me, 'Write this:  Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'  And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.'"

Isaiah 25:6:  "On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined."

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The text is public domain:

Be present at our table, Lord;

Be here and ev'rywhere adored;

Thy creatures bless, and grant that we

May feast in paradise with Thee.

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The passage from Psalm 145 seems to appear in "Thy creatures bless," although there's also some overlap with Revelation 19:9.

"The marriage supper of the Lamb" from Revelation 19:9 and the "feast" in Isaiah 25:6 are combined in "grant that we / May feast in paradise with Thee."

"Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense"

A few weeks ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 25 February, in which the hymn was "Jesus Christ, My Sure Defense."  I noticed a small feature in it but also discovered a note I'd previously made but neglected to write about here.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Jesus, meine Zuversicht."  Here's the fourth musical phrase:

In the eighth verse, the text here is "While you here His footsteps follow."  The melody is mostly conjunct (from A to C), so there's a musical sense of these "footsteps."

Here are the last two musical phrases:

In the fifth verse, the text here is "In this flesh I then shall see / Jesus Christ eternally."  "Eternally" is sung to notes that have a combined total of seven beats (a quarter note, a dotted quarter note, an eighth note, and a whole note), the longest of any single word in the entire hymn.  This musical duration matches the meaning of the word.

LSB #774 "Feed Thy Children, God Most Holy"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 145:15-17, John 6:35-38, Revelation 19:7-9

Psalm 145:15-17:  "15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.  16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing.  17 The LORD is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works."

John 6:35-38:  "35 Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.  36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.  37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.  38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.'"

Revelation 19:7-9:  "7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure' - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

"9 And the angel said to me, 'Write this:  Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'  And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.'"

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The passage from Psalm 145 is referred to in the first line:  "Feed Thy children, God most holy."  The text from John 6 is the source for the title "Bread of Life" ("O Thou Bread of Life from heaven, / Bless the food Thou here hast given!"), and the passage from Revelation 19 appears at the end of the hymn:  "Till with saints in heav'nly splendor / At Thy feast due thanks we render."

"O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in the Transfiguration hymn "O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair."  It's sung to the tune "Deo gracias."  Here's the third musical phrase:

In the fourth verse, the text here is "For which in joyful strains we raise" (the sense is continued into the next line:  "The voice of prayer, the hymn of praise").  "Joyful" is sung with a melisma (C Bb Ab), providing a sense of either ebullience or abundance (for the "-ful" suffix).

LSB #773 "Hear Us, Father, When We Pray"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 6:9-13, Romans 8:26-27, Hebrews 4:14-16, Psalm 141:1-2

Matthew 6:9-13:  "9 'Pray then like this:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.  13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.'"

Romans 8:26-27:  "26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.  27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

Hebrews 4:14-16:  "14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Psalm 141:1-2:  "1 O LORD, I call upon you; hasten to me!  Give ear to my voice when I call to you!  2 Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!"

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Each verse of the hymn corresponds to one of the cited passages.  Matthew 6:9-13 is alluded to in the first verse ("Hear us, Father, when we pray..."); Romans 8:26-27 is paraphrased in the second verse ("When we know not what to say... May Your Spirit... Groan within us interceding; / By His sighs, too deep for words"); Hebrews 4:14-16 is the basis for the third verse ("Jesus, advocate on high... Through Your priestly blood we cry; / Hear our prayers... Place them on Your Father's throne"); and Psalm 141:1-2 appears in the fourth verse ("By Your Spirit now attend / To our prayers and supplications, / As like incense they ascend").

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"Night and day" in the second verse ("May Your Spirit, night and day, / Groan within us interceding") is a temporal merism.

"Jesus on the Mountain Peak"

Last year, I found a small feature in "Jesus on the Mountain Peak."  It's a Transfiguration hymn, though, so I had to wait a while until it was seasonally appropriate to write about.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Seward."  Here's the fourth musical phrase:

In the fourth verse, the text here is "All creation shall adore Him!"  "Creation" is sung with a melisma (A G F# D), giving a sense of the entirety of "all."

In looking at the hymn again in order to write this post, I also noticed that the phrase "All creation" is sung to notes of all different pitches (spanning a sixth:  B | A G F# D), and this also provides a sense of breadth.

LSB #772 "In Holy Conversation"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 50:15, Philippians 4:6, Isaiah 65:24, 1 John 5:14

Psalm 50:15:  "'and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.'"

Philippians 4:6:  "do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

Isaiah 65:24:  "Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear."

1 John 5:14:  "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us."

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Psalm 50:15 and Philippians 4:6 seem to appear in the lines "In holy conversation / We speak to God in prayer" at the beginning of the first verse, although they also inform the hymn generally.  Isaiah 65:24 and 1 John 5:14 are alluded to in the lines "With care our Father listens / To ev'ry thought expressed, / Then answers our petitions / In ways He knows are best" at the end of the second verse and (particularly 1 John 5:14) in the lines "So let us pray securely, / Expressing hopes and fears / With confidence that surely / Our Father ever hears" at the end of the third.

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The lines "And to support our prayer, / His Spirit intercedes" at the end of the first verse seem to be drawn from Romans 8:26:  "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."

As with the previous hymn, the lines "Then [our Father] answers our petitions / In ways He knows are best" may refer to Romans 8:28 ("And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.") or even Genesis 50:20, where Joseph tells his brothers, "'As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.'"

"Have No Fear, Little Flock"

In the fourth verse of "Have No Fear, Little Flock," there's the repeated line "Thankful hearts raise to God."  A couple months ago, I discovered that this is at least related to, if not directly drawn from, part of Colossians 3:16:  "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."

Here's a link to my post on the hymn's Biblical sources.

LSB #771 "Be Still, My Soul, before the Lord"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 7:7-8, Isaiah 65:24, 1 John 5:14, Psalm 27:13-14

Matthew 7:7-8:  "7 'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.'"

Isaiah 65:24:  "Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear."

1 John 5:14:  "And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us."

Psalm 27:13-14:  "13 I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!  14 Wait for the LORD; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD!"

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Isaiah 65:24 appears in the lines "Before your mind is moved to pray, God listens and will hear" at the end of the first verse, although this may overlap a bit with 1 John 5:14 and even Matthew 7:7.  1 John 5:14 and Psalm 27:14 seem to be combined in the line "Wait, then, in quiet confidence" at the beginning of the third verse, and Psalm 27:14 by itself appears again in the line "On God in patience wait" in the fourth verse.

The passage from Matthew 7 may also be alluded to in the line "God's help will not be late" at the end of the fourth verse.

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This line "Be still, my soul, before the Lord," which occurs at the beginning of the first and fourth verses may come from the first part of Psalm 46:10:  "'Be still, and know that I am God.'"

The line "You need not multiply your words" at the beginning of the second verse seems to refer to Matthew 6:7:  "'And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words.'"  

The line "God knows your needs before you ask" in the third verse paraphrases part of Matthew 6:8 ("'Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.'"), and the following line "And works for what is best" may refer to Romans 8:28 ("And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.") or even Genesis 50:20, where Joseph tells his brothers, "'As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.'"