LSB #335 "O Bride of Christ, Rejoice"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 21:1-16, Zechariah 9:9

Matthew 21:1-16:  "Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord needs them," and he will send them at once.'  This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 'Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."' The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.  Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!'  And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, 'Who is this?'  And the crowds said, 'This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee.'
     "And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.  He said to them, 'It is written, "My house shall be called a house of prayer," but you make it a den of robbers.'
     "And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple, and he healed them.  But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying out in the temple, 'Hosanna to the Son of David!' they were indignant, and they said to him, 'Do you hear what these are saying?'  And Jesus said to them, 'Yes; have you never read, "'Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise'?"'"

Zechariah 9:9:  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

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The text is public domain:

O bride of Christ, rejoice;
Exultant raise thy voice
To hail the day of glory
Foretold in sacred story.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

Let shouts of gladness rise
Triumphant to the skies.
Now comes the King most glorious
To reign o'er all victorious.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

A humble beast He rides,
Yet as a King presides;
Though not arrayed in splendor,
He makes the grave surrender.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

The weak and timid find
How meek He is and kind;
To them He gives a treasure
Of bliss beyond all measure.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

Then go thy Lord to meet;
Strew palm leaves at His feet;
They garments spread before Him
And honor and adore Him.
Hosanna, praise, and glory!
Our King, we bow before Thee.

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Throughout the verses, there are phrases that describes Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem.  While there are parallel accounts of this event (Mark 11:1-11 and Luke 19:28-40), the Matthew account is the only one that quotes the Zechariah 9:9 text, and that feature - mentioning that the prophecy is fulfilled - is also present in the hymn ("Foretold in sacred story" in the first verse).

The lines "To them ["the weak and timid"] He gives a treasure / Of bliss beyond all measure" in the fourth verse might describe Jesus' healing the blind and lame in the Matthew text, but the grandiose language would seem to indicate something better yet, like forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation, so I'm not sure if those lines refer to the Matthew text or not.

"Il est né"

Seven or eight years ago (shortly after I started taking French classes in high school), my dad got me Liturgies et cantiques luthériens, which is essentially the French version of The Lutheran Service Book.  I haven't lookt into it as much as I would like, but I have noticed that the two hymnals don't have all of the same hymns.  For instance, the hymn for which this is the tune ("Il est né, le divin Enfant") isn't in LSB.  I first became familiar with it via the version on the VeggieTales' A Very Veggie Christmas (where it's sung in English as "He Is Born, the Holy Child"), although I vaguely remember talking about it in French class around Christmastime.

In any case, I thought I would do it for my LHC tune this week (although I actually recorded it and wrote this description yester-day).  Usually I do only two verses, but because this has verses and a refrain, I got a bit lost and went through the verse three times.

LSB #334 "O Lord, How Shall I Meet You"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Matthew 21:1-9

Matthew 21:1-9:  "Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, 'Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her.  Untie them and bring them to me.  If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, "The Lord needs them," and he will send them at once.'  This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, 'Say to the daughter of Zion, "Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden."' The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them.  They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them.  Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.  And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, 'Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Hosanna in the highest!'"

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The text is public domain:

O Lord, how shall I meet You,
How welcome You aright?
Your people long to greet You,
My hope, my heart's delight!
O kindle, Lord most holy,
Your lamp within my breast
To do in spirit lowly
All that may please You best.

Your Zion strews before You
Green boughs and fairest palms;
And I too will adore You
With joyous songs and psalms.
My heart shall bloom forever
For You with praises new
And from Your name shall never
Withhold the honor due.

I lay in fetters, groaning;
You came to set me free.
I stood, my shame bemoaning;
You came to honor me.
A glorious crown You give me,
A treasure safe on high
That will not fail or leave me
As earthly riches fly.

Love caused Your incarnation;
Love brought You down to me.
Your thirst for my salvation
Procured my liberty.
Oh, love beyond all telling,
That led You to embrace
In love, all love excelling,
Our lost and fallen race.

Sin's debt, that fearful burden,
Cannot His love erase;
Your guilt the Lord will pardon
And cover by His grace.
He comes, for you procuring
The peace of sin forgiv'n,
His children thus securing
Eternal life in heav'n.

He comes to judge the nations,
A terror to His foes,
A light of consolations
And blessèd hope to those
Who love the Lord's appearing.
O glorious Sun, now come,
Send forth Your beams so cheering,
And guide us safely home.

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As I mentioned in an earlier post, there are parallel accounts of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem.  Matthew's account is cited here, but it's also in Mark 11:1-11 and Luke 19:28-40.  Also as I mentioned before, this Matthew text quotes Zechariah 9:9:  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."  This entrance is described in the hymn at the beginning of verse 2:  "Your Zion strews before You / Green boughs and fairest palms."

I could point to other Bible verses that share the same ideas as some of the phrases in the hymn, but as far as specific word choice, there isn't a close enough resemblance to make me think that those exact verses were being referenced.

"Sieh, hier bin ich"

This tune is in different keys in Lutheran Worship and the Lutheran Service Book, so this is just twice through the LSB arrangement.

LSB #333 "Once He Came in Blessing"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Luke 4:17-19, Galatians 4:4, Revelation 22:20

Luke 4:17-19: "And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him [Jesus].  He unrolled the scroll and found that place where it was written, 'The Spirit of Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.'"

Galatians 4:4: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law."

Revelation 22:20: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.'  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!"

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The Luke 4 text quotes Isaiah 61:1-2:  "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn."

That Isaiah 61/Luke 4 text is alluded to in the first and fourth verses.  "He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives... [and] to set at liberty those who are oppressed" (from Luke 4) is rendered as "Hope and freedom gave us" in verse 1 and "From our sins release us" in verse 4.

To some degree, that Luke 4 text shows up in the second verse too.  While "He gently leads us" and "He feeds us / Precious food from heaven" aren't mentioned specifically in that Luke text, they could be considered as aspects of "the Lord's favor."

The lines "Came in likeness lowly, / Son of God most holy" in the first verse seem to come from the Galatians 4 text.  Certainly, there's a similarity between "Son of God" and "God sent forth his Son," and "Came in likeness lowly" seems to be just a more poetic way of saying "born under the law."

All of verse three (which starts with "Soon will come that hour") and specifically the first line of verse four ("Come, then, O Lord Jesus") springs from the Revelation 22 text.

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In the lines "With Himself He feeds us / Precious food from heaven, / Pledge of peace here given, / Manna that will nourish / Souls that they may flourish," there's a connection between the Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, and 1 Corinthians 11:23-25) and Old Testament manna (Exodus 16).  While these lines aren't quotes or paraphrases of those Biblical passages, there is some specificity in those references.

"Chesterfield"

This is the usual method of one verse of each arrangement: Lutheran Worship #29 and the Lutheran Service Book #349.

LSB #332 "Savior of the Nations, Come"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 1:1, 14; Luke 2:30-32

John 1:1:  "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

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."

Luke 2:30-32:  "For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.'"

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The first part of John 1:14 appears nearly verbatim (in these English translations, anyway) in verse two:  "By the Spirit of our God, / Was the Word of God made flesh."

John 1:1 seems to be present in the phrase "God of God" in verse four and "God the Father was His source" in verse five.

The beginning of the seventh verse ("From the manger newborn light / Shines in glory through the night") seems to come from the Luke 2 passage, although the contexts are different.  "For my eyes have seen your salvation... a light for revelation..." is what Simeon says when Jesus is presented in the temple, but in the hymn, that light shines in the manger.

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Most of verse 3 comes from Luke 1:31-35, which isn't listed at the bottom of the page.

Line 1: "Here a maid was found with child" - Gabriel says to Mary, "And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus" (Luke 1:31)

Line 2: "Yet remained a virgin mild" - "And Mary said to the angel, 'How will this be, since I am a virgin?'" (Luke 1:34)

Line 4: "God was there upon His throne" - Gabriel says to Mary, "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David" (Luke 1:32)

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Where The Lutheran Service Book has "Marvel now, O heav'n and earth," Lutheran Worship has "Marvel, heaven, wonder, earth," which I prefer (although I would amend the punctuation so that it's rendered: "Marvel, heaven; wonder, earth").

First, there's the same structural parallelism that's present in Old Testament books like Psalms and Isaiah.  For instance, compare the structure of "Marvel, heaven, wonder, earth" with Psalm 51:10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."  The same sort of request is made in sequential clauses, but it's said in different words.

Secondly, when "Savior of the Nations, Come" is sung to "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland" (which is the tune it's paired with in both LW and LSB) the second syllable of "wonder" falls on two eighth notes, making it three syllables instead of two.  With the LSB text, that pair of eighth notes corresponds to "and," which - as a conjunction - doesn't seem important as the imperative verb "wonder" and doesn't seem worthy of a melisma.

"Jefferson"

This is just the Lutheran Worship arrangement twice though; the Lutheran Service Book provides only the melody, no accompaniment.

LSB #331 "The Advent of Our King"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 19:28-40, Philippians 2:5-11, Ephesians 4:22-24, Daniel 7:13-14

Luke 19:28-40:  "And when he had said these things, he went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem.  When he drew near to Bethphage and Bethany, at the mount that is called Olivet, he sent two of the disciples, saying, 'Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat.  Untie it and bring it here.  If anyone asks you, "Why are you untying it?" you shall say this:  "The Lord has need of it."'  So those who were sent went away and found it just as he had told them.  And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, 'Why are you untying the colt?'  And they said, 'The Lord has need of it.'  And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.  And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.  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, saying, 'Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!'  And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, 'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.'  He answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.'"

Philippians 2:5-11:  "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Ephesians 4:22-24:  "to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness."

Daniel 7:13-14:  "'I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came on like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.  And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.'"

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Since the text is public domain, I'll post it in full:

The advent of our King
Our prayers must now employ,
And we must hymns of welcome sing
In strains of holy joy. 

The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be,
Himself a servant's form puts on
To set His servants free. 

O Zion's daughter, rise
To meet your lowly King,
Nor let your faithless heart despise
The peace He comes to bring. 

As judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again
And His true members all unite
With Him in heav'n to reign. 

Before the dawning day
Let sin's dark deeds be gone,
The sinful self be put away,
The new self now put on. 

All glory to the Son,
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever one
Through all eternity.

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Most of the first verse, particularly "And we must hymns of welcome sing / In strains of holy joy," seems to come from the Luke text.  If we didn't sing the hymns, "the very stones would cry out" instead.  There are parallel accounts of Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem in Matthew 21:1-11 and Mark 11:1-11.  The Matthew text quotes Zechariah 9:9:  "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey."  There are the imperatives "Rejoice greatly" and "Shout aloud," which seem to be related to "we must hymns of welcome sing."

The second verse comes from the Philippians text:

The everlasting Son
Incarnate deigns to be,
Himself a servant's form puts on
To set His servants free.

The first two lines also connect with the beginning of the Daniel text ("like a son of man" and "Incarnate").

The last two lines of the fifth verse ("The sinful self be put away, / The new self now put on.") clearly come from the Ephesians text.

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The third verse begins with "O Zion's daughter, rise."  This isn't cited in the hymnal, but I think it's from Isaiah 52:2:  "Shake yourself from the dust and arise; be seated, O Jerusalem; loose the bonds from your neck, O captive daughter of Zion."  That section of Isaiah is about the servant king, who's also mentioned in "The Advent of Our King."

While not a Biblical text, the first two lines of the fourth verse ("As judge, on clouds of light, / He soon will come again") seem to come from the Apostles' Creed:  "He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead."

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In Lutheran Worship it's titled "The Advent of Our God."  As in LSB, it's the first hymn in the hymnal, although there it's #12.  The text is considerably different in some places (indicated in italics):

The advent of our God
Shall be our theme for prayer;
Come, let us meet him on the road
And place for him prepare. 

The everlasting Son
Incarnate stoops to be,
Himself the servant's form puts on
To set his people free. 

Come, Zion's daughter, rise
To meet your lowly king,
Nor let your faithless heart despise
The peace he comes to bring. 

As judge, on clouds of light,
He soon will come again
And all his scattered saints unite
With him on high to reign. 

Before the dawning day
Let sin be put to flight;
No longer let the law hold sway,
But walk in freedom's light. 

All glory to the Son,
Who comes to set us free,
With Father, Spirit, ever one
Through all eternity.

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The first verse here, with its mentioning "the road" (on which people spread their cloaks), is slightly more specific in its reference to the Luke text (and the parallel accounts) than the first verse of "The Advent of Our King."

"Stoop" has a sense of height and depth that "deigns" lacks.  The difference in height implied in the phrase "The everlasting Son / Incarnate stoops to be" also provides something of a similarity with a line in the Nicene Creed:  "who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven" (my italics).  Of course, the "stoop[ing]" is necessary for our redemption, so - to some degree - the fall into sin is represented as a literal fall here.

There's also a difference in specificity in regard to the "servant's form."  "The Advent of Our King" has the indefinite "a servant's form" where "The Advent of Our God" has the definite "the servant's form."  The Philippians text has an indefinite ("taking the form of a servant"), but I feel that the definite might be more applicable because Jesus - as true God - is the only one capable of "set[ting] his people free."  The definite also seems to point toward the descriptions of the servant king in Isaiah (particularly chapters 52 and 53).  It's not just any servant; it's that one.

"Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland"

The arrangements in LW and LSB are in different keys (F major and Bb major, respectively), so I couldn't combine them.  This is just twice through the LSB arrangement.

Introduction

I don't remember when I first noticed the Bible verses listed underneath each hymn in the Lutheran Service Book, but I've been thinking about them for at least the last six months.  I haven't been able to find any information about whether they directly inspire the words and phrases in the text of the hymn or whether they're merely thematically related.  Over the last couple months, I had the notion that I should go through every hymn and look up each Biblical text listed in order to see the extent to which the Biblical texts relate to the hymns.

Since I started paying more attention to those cited texts, I found a few that are missing.  In a couple hymns, I found phrases that come from the Bible, but the chapter and verse for those phrases aren't listed at the bottom of the page.  I've been making notes about those for a few months, but I haven't been very organized about it.  Since the church year starts over with Advent next week (and because the hymnal starts with the Advent hymns), I thought it would be the perfect time to finally start the project I've been considering for such a long time.

My endeavor, as I mentioned above, is to go through the hymns, look up the Bible verses cited at the bottom of the page, and see how those Biblical texts relate to the text of the hymn.  I'll also make note of any Biblical texts used in the hymn that aren't cited in the hymnal.

I plan to do a hymn a week (posted on Wednesdays), and while I'll be starting with the Advent hymns in Advent, I'll quickly get off-season, just because of the sheer number of hymns.  There are 635, and at the rate of a hymn a week, this project will take me over twelve years.  This isn't the only project I have with that sort of time-frame though, and I fully intend to complete this project.

Aside from examining the texts, I'll also occasionally write about other aspects of the hymns.  I've already been writing musicological analyses (for lack of a better and simpler term) of hymns and other classical sacred music (primarily Bach's cantatas) for almost a year, and I've found some really interesting features.

Additionally, I plan on recording a hymn tune every week (posted on Sundays).  I did this every week from November 2012 to January 2015 with the aim of improving my notation reading.  I restarted the project at the beginning of this year, and since July, I've been combining the arrangements from Lutheran Worship (which is the hymnal I grew up with and which I'll probably pull into a few posts for the sake of lyrical comparison) and the Lutheran Service Book.  If the tunes are in the same key, I play one verse of the Lutheran Worship arrangement and one verse of the Lutheran Service Book arrangement.