LSB #845 "Where Charity and Love Prevail"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 13:1-17, 1 John 4:7-21, Ephesians 4:29-32

John 13:1-17:  "1 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.  2 During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, 3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, 4 rose from supper.  He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist.  5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him.  6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, do you wash my feet?'  7 Jesus answered him, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.'  8 Peter said to him, 'You shall never wash my feet.'  Jesus answered him, 'If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.'  9 Simon Peter said to him, 'Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!'  10 Jesus said to him, 'The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean.  And you are clean, but not every one of you.'  11 For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, 'Not all of you are clean.'

"12 When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, 'Do you understand what I have done to you?  13 You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am.  14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet.  15 For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.  16 Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.  17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.'"

1 John 4:7-21:  "7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.  9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

"13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.  14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.  16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.  17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgement, because as he is so also are we in this world.  18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.  For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.  19 We love because he first loved us.  20 If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.  21 And this commandment we have from him:  whoever loves God must also love his brother."

Ephesians 4:29-32:  "29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

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The passage from John 13 seems to be what's alluded to in the lines "With grateful joy and holy fear / His charity we learn."

Part of 1 John 4:12 is paraphrased in the hymn's first two lines:  "Where charity and love prevail / There God is ever found."  1 John 4:11 and 21 are the basis for the line "And let us love each other well" in the third verse.  This is the same general idea as "'you also ought to wash one another's feet'" from John 13:14 and "forgiving one another" from Ephesians 4:32.  1 John 4:21 is also the basis for the sixth verse:  "For love excludes no race or clan / That names the Savior's name; / His family embraces all / Whose Father is the same."

Ephesians 4:29 and 31 are echoed in the lines "Let strife among us be unknown; / Let all contention cease" at the beginning of the fourth verse.  "Forgiving one another" from verse 32 appears in the lines "Forgive we now each other's faults / As we our faults confess" at the beginning of the third verse, although the structure in the hymn text is closer to Luke 11:4:  "'and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation.'"

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The lines "As members of His body joined / We are in Him made one" at the end of the fifth verse use the same imagery as Romans 12:5 ("so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another") and Ephesians 4:15-16 ("15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.").

LSB #844 "Lord of All Nations, Grant Me Grace"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Philippians 1:9, Leviticus 19:34, 1 John 4:12

Philippians 1:9:  "And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment"

Leviticus 19:34:  "'You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt:  I am the LORD your God.'"

1 John 4:12:  "No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us."

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All of the cited passages seem to be combined in the lines "Lord of all nations, grant me grace / To love all people, ev'ry race" in the first verse and the line "Let Christian love bind warm and true" at the end of the second.  The rest of the hymn text expands upon these.

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There's a significant line break in the lines "Break down the wall that would divide / Thy children, Lord, on ev'ry side" in the second verse.  It interrupts the meaning (separating the verb from its direct object), and this draws attention to that division.

There's a slant rhyme between "erred" and "word" in the lines "Forgive me, Lord, where I have erred / By loveless act and thoughtless word" in the third verse, and to some degree, this emphasizes both the meaning of "erred" and the "thoughtless" nature of that "word."

"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

I've been slowly reading Proverbs in German.  A couple weeks ago, I noticed a familiar phrase in Proverbs 18:10:  "Der Name des HERRN ist eine feste Burg; der Gerechte läuft dorthin und wird beschirmt."  In the ESV, this is:  "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe."

"Eine feste Burg" ("a strong tower") also appears in the German title line of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" - "Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott."  The translation of Proverbs I'm reading is by Luther, so there seems to be some connection here, although I don't know which text is older.

LSB #843 "'Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive'"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 11:4, Matthew 18:21-35, Ephesians 4:31-32, Matthew 5:23-24

Luke 11:4:  "'and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.  And lead us not into temptation.'"

Matthew 18:21-35:  "21 Then Peter came up and said to him, 'Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him?  As many as seven times?'  22 Jesus said to him, 'I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.

"23 'Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants.  24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.  26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything."  27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt.  28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, "Pay what you owe."  29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, "Have patience with me, and I will pay you."  30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt.  31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place.  32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, "You wicked servant!  I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.  33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?"  34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt.  35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.'"

Ephesians 4:31-32:  "31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you."

Matthew 5:23-24:  "23 'So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.'"

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To some degree, all of the cited passages appear in the hymn's first lines ("'Forgive our sins as we forgive,' / You taught us, Lord, to pray"), but Luke 11:4 is clearly the most prominent.

The parable in Matthew 18 is referred to in the second half of the third verse:  "What trivial debts are owed to us, / How great our debt to You!"

The passage from Ephesians 4 is the basis for the fourth verse, particularly the first two lines:  "Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls / And bid resentment cease."  To a lesser degree, it also appears in the second verse, along with the passage from Matthew 5, but in an inverted sort of way:  "How can Your pardon reach and bless / The unforgiving heart / That broods on wrongs and will not let / Old bitterness depart?"  The servant from the Matthew 18 parable could be cited again here, as one with an "unforgiving heart."

"I Walk in Danger All the Way"

A couple weeks ago, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 20 May.  The hymn was "I Walk in Danger All the Way," and I noticed a way in which the tune ("Der lieben Sonne Licht und Pracht") represents the text.

Here's the last musical phrase:

The melody here is conjunct (not skipping any notes in the scale), and it gives an impression of the steps involved in the "walk[ing]" mentioned in most of the lines sung to this phrase:  "I walk in danger all the way" in the first verse, "I walk with angels all the way" in the fourth, "I walk with Jesus all the way" in the fifth, and "My walk is heav'nward all the way" in the sixth.

[Years ago, I noted a similar feature elsewhere in the hymn.]

LSB #842 "Son of God, Eternal Savior"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 Peter 1:20-23; Hebrews 7:25; John 13:34-35; 17:20-21

1 Peter 1:20-23:  "20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

"22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, 23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God"

Hebrews 7:25:  "Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them."

John 13:34-35:  "34 'A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:  just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.'"

John 17:20-21:  "20 'I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.'"

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The text is public domain:

1 Son of God, eternal Savior,

Source of life and truth and grace,

Word made flesh, whose birth among us

Hallows all our human race,

You our Head, who, throned in glory,

For Your own will ever plead:

Fill us with Your love and pity,

Heal our wrongs, and help our need.

2 As You, Lord, have lived for others,

So may we for others live.

Freely have Your gifts been granted;

Freely may Your servants give.

Yours the gold and Yours the silver,

Yours the wealth of land and sea;

We but stewards of Your bounty

Held in solemn trust will be.

3 Come, O Christ, and reign among us,

King of love and Prince of Peace;

Hush the storm of strife and passion,

Bid its cruel discords cease.

By Your patient years of toiling,

By Your silent hours of pain,

Quench our fevered thirst of pleasure,

Stem our selfish greed of gain.

4 Son of God, eternal Savior,

Source of life and truth and grace,

Word made flesh, whose birth among us

Hallows all our human race:

By Your praying, by Your willing

That Your people should be one,

Grant, O grant our hope's fruition:

Here on earth Your will be done.

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1 Peter 1:20-21 seems to appear in the first half of the first verse (repeated as the first half of the fourth verse), although the hymn text bears a stronger resemblance to other Biblical passages, such as John 1:14 ("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.") and John 14:6 ("Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.'").  1 Peter 1:22 is combined with John 13:34-35 at the beginning of the second verse:  "As You, Lord, have lived for others, / So may we for others live."

The intercession in Hebrews 7:25 is referred to in the first verse:  "Your our Head, who, throned in glory, / For Your own will ever plead."

John 17:20-21 is alluded to in the fourth verse:  "By Your praying, by Your willing / That Your people should be one."

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Perhaps just coincidentally, the line "Yours the gold and Yours the silver" in the second verse bears some resemblance to Haggai 2:8:  "The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts."

The title Prince of Peace in the third verse comes from Isaiah 9:6:  "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

The line "Here on earth Your will be done" at the end of the fourth verse echoes Matthew 6:10:  "'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'"

"I Know That My Redeemer Lives"

I recently watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 6 May.  The hymn was "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," and in it, I noticed yet an-other instance where a phrase starting with "all" is sung to notes of all different pitches, resulting in a sense of extent or entirety.

The fifth verse starts with the line "He lives to silence all my fears," sung to this phrase from "Duke Street":

The phrase "all my fears" is sung to the notes D C# B A.

LSB #841 "O Son of God, in Galilee"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Mark 7:32-37

Mark 7:32-37:  "32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.  33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue.  34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, 'Ephphatha,' that is, 'Be opened.'  35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly.  36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one.  But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it.  37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, 'He has done all things well.  He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.'"

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While it's obvious that the hymn is based on this passage from Mark 7, there are only a couple elements from the passage that are actually in the hymn text.  Part of verse 37 is the basis for the first three lines of the hymn ("O Son of God, in Galilee / You made the deaf to hear, / The mute to speak, the blind to see") and for the first half of the third verse ("The speechless tongue, the lifeless ear / You can restore, O Lord"), and the word ephphatha from verse 34 appears in the second half of the third verse ("Your 'Ephphatha,' O Savior dear, / Can instant help afford").

The line "O bid them cast on You their care" in the second verse bears some resemblance to the first part of Psalm 55:22 ("Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you") and 1 Peter 5:7 ("casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you").

"Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest"

A couple years ago, I noticed two small features in "Come, Holy Ghost, Creator Blest" (paired with the tune "Komm, Gott Schöpfer").

The fourth verse starts with the line "Your light to ev'ry thought impart," sung to this musical phrase:

The words "ev'ry thought" are sung to notes of all different pitches (spanning a fifth:  Eb F Bb), giving a sense of this extent.

The third verse ends with the lines "While You with tongues of fire proclaim / To all the world His holy name."  The second of these is sung to this musical phrase:

Similar to the above, the phrase "all the world" is sung to notes of all different pitches (again spanning a fifth:  Bb G Eb), lending some sense of the entirety of "all."

LSB #840 "Christ High-Ascended, Now in Glory Seated"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 28-18-20, Acts 1:8, Philippians 2:9-11, John 16:19-24

Matthew 28:18-20:  "18 And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me, 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.'"

Acts 1:8:  "'But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.'"

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 16:19-24:  "19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, 'Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, "A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me"?  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.  23 In that day you will ask nothing of me.  Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.  24 Until now you have asked nothing in my name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.'"

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Matthew 28:18-20 is paraphrased in the second verse, in the line "To win disciples out of ev'ry nation" in the third verse, and in the fourth verse.

Acts 1:8 appears in the line "We are His witnesses" at the end of each verse and in the line "Filled with His Spirit, love and pow'r receiving" near the end of the fifth verse.

The passage from Philippians 2 is referred to at the beginning of the first verse:  "Christ high-ascended, now in glory seated, / Throned and exalted, victory completed."

The passage from John 16 is the basis for the line "As at His parting, joy shall banish grieving" at the beginning of the fifth verse.

"Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord"

Last year, I noticed two instances in "Come, Holy Ghost, God and Lord" (sung to the tune "Komm, heiliger Geist, Herre Gott") where phrases starting with "all" are sung to notes of all different pitches, lending a sense of extent or entirety, especially since both span the interval of a fifth.

In the first verse, the phrase "all Your graces" in the line "With all Your graces now outpoured" is sung to the notes D C G Bb in this musical phrase:

In the second verse, the phrase "all our might" in the line "In Him, our Lord, with all our might confide" is sung to the notes A G D in this musical phrase:

LSB #839 "O Christ, Our True and Only Light"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 60:1-3, Luke 1:78-79, John 8:12, Ephesians 5:8-14

Isaiah 60:1-3:  "1 Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.  2 For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.  3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."

Luke 1:78-79:  "78 'because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high 79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.'"

John 8:12:  "12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, 'I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'"

Ephesians 5:8-14:  "8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.  11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.  12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.  13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light.  Therefore it says, 'Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.'"

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The text is public domain:

1 O Christ, our true and only light,

Enlighten those who sit in night;

Let those afar now hear Your voice

And in Your fold with us rejoice.

2 Fill with the radiance of Your grace

The souls now lost in error's maze;

Enlighten those whose inmost minds

Some dark delusion haunts and blinds.

3 O gently call those gone astray

That they may find the saving way!

Let ev'ry conscience sore oppressed

In You find peace and heav'nly rest.

4 Shine on the darkened and the cold;

Recall the wand'rers to Your fold.

Unite all those who walk apart;

Confirm the weak and doubting heart,

5 That they with us may evermore

Such grace with wond'ring thanks adore

And endless praise to You be giv'n

By all Your Church in earth and heav'n.

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All of the cited passages mention light, which is the main image of the hymn, so it's difficult to say whether any given part of the hymn text comes from one passage rather than an-other.  John 8:12 is clearly the basis for the first line, however:  "O Christ, our true and only light."