Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

LSB #395 "O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 22:16, Luke 1:68-79, Ephesians 1:3-7, Psalm 33:1-5

Revelation 22:16:  "'I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches.  I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.'"

Luke 1:68-79:  "68 'Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, 70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; 72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us 74 that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.  76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, 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.'

Ephesians 1:3-7:  "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."

Psalm 33:1-5:  "1 Shout for joy in the LORD, O you righteous!  Praise befits the upright.  2 Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!  3 Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.

"4 For the word of the LORD is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness.  5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the steadfast love of the LORD."

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The texts from Revelation 22 and Luke 1 are the basis of the first verse.  The Revelation 22 text might be a bit more prominent, since it's the source of the title line.

In the second verse, there are the lines "In Your one body let us be / As living branches of a tree," which is similar to (the uncited) John 15:5:  "'I am the vine; you are the branches....'"

The Ephesians text is in the fourth verse, specifically "Almighty Father, in Your Son / You loved us when not yet begun / Was this old earth's foundation!"

The selection from Psalm 33 (specifically the second and third verses) appears at the beginning of verse five:  "O let the harps break forth in sound! / Our joy be all with music crowned, / Our voices gladly blending!"  The next two lines in the hymn verse ("For Christ goes with us all the way - / Today, tomorrow, ev'ry day!") bear some resemblance to Hebrews 13:8:  "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever."

Verse six has a few phrases from Revelation that aren't cited.  "The Lord we love is first and last, / The end and the beginning!" is similar to Revelation 22:13: "'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.'"  "Beyond all tears and sinning" refers to Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" and perhaps also Isaiah 65:19: "I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress."  "Amen! Amen! / Come, Lord Jesus!" is from the end of Revelation 22:20:  "Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!"