"I Know My Faith Is Founded"

I wrote about a small feature in "I Know My Faith Is Founded" about a year ago, but when it was one of the hymns on Worship Anew last month (5 October, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost), I noticed something else.

The fourth line of the first verse is "Unmoved I stand on His sure Word," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Nun lob, mein' Seel'":

The words "Unmoved I stand" are all sung to the same pitch, and this musical constancy matches the meaning.

LSB #810 "O God of God, O Light of Light"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 5:12-13; Acts 2:22-24, 36; Revelation 19:4-6

Revelation 5:12-13:  "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!'"

Acts 2:22-24:  "22 'Men of Israel, hear these words:  Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.'"

Acts 2:36:  "'Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.'"

Revelation 19:4-6:  "4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, 'Amen.  Hallelujah!'  5 And from the throne came a voice saying, 'Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.'  6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, 'Hallelujah!  For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns."

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The text is public domain:

1 O God of God, O Light of Light,

O Prince of Peace and King of kings:

To You in heaven's glory bright

The song of praise forever rings.

To Him who sits upon the throne,

The Lamb once slain but raised again,

Be all the glory He has won,

All thanks and praise!  Amen, amen.

2 For deep in prophets' sacred page,

And grand in poets' winged word,

Slowly in type, from age to age

The nations saw their coming Lord;

Till through the deep Judean night

Rang out the song, "Goodwill to men!"

Sung once by firstborn sons of light,

It echoes now, "Goodwill!"  Amen.

3 That life of truth, those deeds of love,

That death so steeped in hate and scorn -

These all are past, and now above

He reigns, our King once crowned with thorn.

Lift up your heads, O mighty gates!

So sang that host beyond our ken.

Lift up your heads, your King awaits.

We lift them up.  Amen, amen.

4 Then raise to Christ a mighty song,

And shout His name, His mercies tell!

Sing, heav'nly host, your praise prolong,

And all on earth, your anthem swell!

All hail, O Lamb for sinners slain!

Forever let the song ascend!

Worthy the Lamb, enthroned to reign,

All glory, pow'r!  Amen, amen.

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The two passages from Revelation appear in the first and fourth verses.  Revelation 5 with its "Worthy is the Lamb" and doxology is a bit more prominent than Revelation 19.

The two passages from Acts 2 seem to be the basis for the first half of the third verse, and "God raised him up" from verse 24 appears in the last half of the line "The Lamb once slain but raised again" in the first verse.

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In the first verse, the titles "God of God" and "Light of Light" come from the Nicene Creed.  The title "Prince of Peace" comes from Isaiah 9:6, and the title "King of kings" appears in 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:16.

The goodwill in the second verse comes from some translations of Luke 2:13-14:  "13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:  14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'' [NKJV].

The line "Lift up your heads, O mighty gates!" in the third verse refers to Psalm 24:7-10:  "7 Lift up your heads, O gates!  And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  8 Who is the King of glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!  9 Lift up your heads, O gates!  And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  10 Who is this King of glory?  The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!"

"What Is the World to Me"

Near the end of September, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from the 23rd.  The hymn was "What Is the World to Me," and I noticed a small feature at the beginning of the first verse.

The hymn starts with the lines "What is the world to me / With all its vaunted pleasure," sung to these phrases from the tune "Was frag' ich nach der Welt":

"Pleasure" is sung with a melisma (E D C), lending a sense of the entirety or breadth of "all."  That the word is sung to all different pitches may contribute to this, too.

LSB #809 "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Lamentations 3:22-24, James 1:17, Genesis 8:20-22, Psalm 89:1-2

Lamentations 3:22-24:  "22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'"

James 1:17:  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Genesis 8:20-22:  "20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.  Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.  22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.'"

Psalm 89:1-2:  "1 I will sing of the steadfast love the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.  2 For I said, 'Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.'"

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Lamentations 3:22-24 appears in the first line ("Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father") and in the refrain ("Great is Thy faithfulness! / Great is Thy faithfulness! / Morning by morning new mercies I see...").  The phrase "Thy great faithfulness" also occurs in the second verse.  To a lesser degree, Psalm 89:1-2 is included in these lines, too.

James 1:17 is paraphrased in the first verse:  "There is no shadow of turning with Thee. / Thou changest not...."

The passage from Genesis 8, particularly verse 22, appears in the second verse:  "Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, / Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above / Join with all nature in manifold witness / To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."

"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:

LSB #808 "O Sing to the Lord"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 98, Psalm 150, 1 Corinthians 12:3

Psalm 98:  "1 Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things!  His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.  2 The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.  3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel.  All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

"4 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises!  5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!  6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!

"7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; the world and those who dwell in it!  8 Let the rivers clap their hands; let the hills sing for joy together 9 before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world with righteousness, and the peoples with equity."

Psalm 150:  "1 Praise the LORD!  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!  2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

"3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!  4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!  5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!  6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!"

1 Corinthians 12:3:  "Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit."

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Psalm 98 is the primary source for the hymn.  The first verse is paraphrased in the hymn's first two verses ("O sing to the Lord, / O sing God a new song" and "For God is the Lord! / And God has done wonders") and in the line "O sing to our God," which appears at the end of each verse, albeit as "And sing to our God" at the end of the third.  Psalm 150:3-4 and Psalm 98:6 are combined in the hymn's third verse ("So dance for our God / And blow all the trumpets").

1 Corinthians 12:3 is alluded to in the fourth verse ("Who gave us the Spirit"), and it appears in the fifth verse ("For Jesus is Lord!").

"All for Christ I Have Forsaken"

I wrote a post about some small features in "All for Christ I Have Forsaken" a few years ago, but when it was the hymn in a Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service last month (on 11 September), I noticed two more.

Both occur in the third musical phrase (the tune is "Restoration"):

In the first verse, the text here is "Worldly joy, its fame and fortune" (the sense continues into the next line:  "Now I count as worthless dross").  "Joy" is sung with a melisma (B A), lending a sense of this ebullience.

In the fifth verse, the text is "Though my cross-shaped path grows steeper" (again, the sense continues into the next line:  "With the Lord, I am secure").  Here, "steeper" is sung with a melisma (G E D), emphasizing the comparative nature of this adjective (more notes for a greater degree).

LSB #807 "When Morning Gilds the Skies"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 19:37-38; Philippians 2:9-11; John 1:1-4, 14; Revelation 6:11-14

Luke 19:37-38:  "37 As he was drawing near - already on the way down the Mount of Olives - the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'"

Philippians 2:9-11:  "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."

John 1:1-4:  "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men."

John 1:14:  "14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Revelation 6:11-14:  "11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

"12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale.  14 The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place."

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The text is public domain:

1 When morning gilds the skies,

My heart, awaking, cries,

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

When evening shadows fall,

This rings my curfew call:

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

2 When mirth for music longs,

This is my song of songs:

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

God's holy house of prayer

Hath none that can compare

With "Jesus Christ be praised!"

3 No lovelier antiphon

In all high heav'n is known

Than "Jesus Christ be praised!"

There to the eternal Word

The eternal psalm is heard:

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

4 Ye nations of mankind,

In this your concord find:

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

Let all the earth around

Ring joyous with the sound:

"May Jesus Christ be praised!"

5 Sing, suns and stars of space,

Sing, ye that see His face,

Sing, "Jesus Christ be praised!"

God's whole creation o'er,

Both now and evermore

Shall Jesus Christ be praised!

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These citations seem to be only tenuously connected to the hymn text.  Luke 19:37-38 and Philippians 2:9-11 refer to praising God, so they could be cited for the repeated "Jesus Christ be praised!" throughout the hymn.  The two passages from John 1 are the source for the title "the eternal Word" in the third verse.  The only similarity between the passage from Revelation 6 and the hymn text seems to be the mention of the sun and stars (in the hymn's fifth verse), but those lines bear a much stronger resemblance to Psalm 148:3:  "Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars!"

The first verse seems to be drawn from Psalm 113:3:  "From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!"  Both texts involve praising God and are framed by a temporal merism.

"In God, My Faithful God"

Last month, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 5 September.  The hymn was "In God, My Faithful God," and I noticed yet an-other instance of a feature I've been finding a lot lately.  In the lines "'So be it,' then, I say / With all my heart each day" at the beginning of the fifth verse, the phrase "all my heart" is sung to notes of all different pitches (A G F), lending a slight sense of this entirety.  The lines are sung to these musical phrases from the tune "Auf meinen lieben Gott":

LSB #806 "Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  2 Corinthians 9:15; 12:9-10; 2 Corinthians 8:9

2 Corinthians 9:15:  "Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift!"

2 Corinthians 12:9-10:  "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.  10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.  For when I am weak, then I am strong."

2 Corinthians 8:9:  "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."

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2 Corinthians 9:15 appears in the repeated "Give thanks" throughout the hymn.  2 Corinthians 12:9-10 and 8:9 are the basis for the section "And now let the weak say 'I am strong,' / Let the poor say 'I am rich,' / Because of what the Lord has done for us."

"By All Your Saints in Warfare"

A little more than a month ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 29 August.  The hymn was "By All Your Saints in Warfare" (with the stanza for The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist inserted).  I noticed a small feature in the first two lines:  "By all Your saints in warfare, / For all Your saints at rest."  They're sung to these musical phrases from the tune "King's Lynn":

Both times, the phrase "all Your saints" is sung to notes of all different pitches (G A D and G F D, respectively), giving some sense of the entirety of these "all"s.

LSB #805 "Praise God, from Whom All Blessings Flow"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 150, Isaiah 6:1-4, Revelation 4:8

Psalm 150:  "1 Praise the LORD!  Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens!  2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his excellent greatness!

"3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!  4 Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!  5 Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!  6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!"

Isaiah 6:1-4:  "1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.  2 Above him stood the seraphim.  Each had six wings:  with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.  3 And one called to another and said:  'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!'  4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke."

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:

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host:

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

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Psalm 150 is the main source for the hymn; both texts repeated exhort one to praise the Lord.  The other two citations are summarized in the line "Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host."