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

Friday, March 2, 2018

"Jesus, I Will Ponder Now"

"Jesus, I Will Ponder Now" was one of the hymns in the Ash Wednesday service a few weeks ago.  I noticed two little things about it.

The tune to which the hymn is sung is "Jesu Kreuz, Leiden und Pein."  The sixth phrase of which is:


There's a cross inscription that corresponds to the text in the second and fifth verses: "Spear and nails did wound You" and "By Your holy passion" respectively.  For "Spear and nails did wound You," there's even an accidental for "wound," with the foreign tonality representing an impression of these injuries.

The other thing I noticed concerns the third musical phrase:


In the sixth verse, the text here is "Learning humbleness from You."  The descent in the melody almost represents a bow of humility.