LSB #412 "The People That in Darkness Sat"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 9:2, 6-7; Matthew 4:16

Isaiah 9:2:  "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined."

Isaiah 9:6-7:  "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.  7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore.  The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this."

Matthew 4:16:  "'the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.'"

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The text is public domain:

The people that in darkness sat
A glorious light have seen;
The light has shined on them who long
In shades of death have been,
In shades of death have been.

To hail Thee, Sun of Righteousness,
The gath'ring nations come;
They joy as when the reapers bear
Their harvest treasures home,
Their harvest treasures home.

To us a Child of hope is born,
To us a Son is giv'n,
And on His shoulder ever rests
All pow'r in earth and heav'n,
All pow'r in earth and heav'n.

His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
The Everlasting Lord,
The Wonderful, the Counselor,
The God by all adored,
The God by all adored.

His righteous government and pow'r
Shall over all extend;
On judgment and on justice based,
His reign shall have no end,
His reign shall have no end.

Lord Jesus, reign in us, we pray,
And make us Thine alone,
Who with the Father ever art
And Holy Spirit, one,
And Holy Spirit, one.

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The Biblical sources here are very straightforward.  Isaiah 9:2 (quoted in Matthew 4:16) is the text for the first verse, and Isaiah 9:6-7 is the text for verses three through five.

The phrase "Sun of Righteousness" in the second verse comes from Malachi 4:2: "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall."  I think the second verse also draws from Isaiah 60.  Like "darkness" and "deep darkness" in Isaiah 9:2, Isaiah 60 has "darkness" in parallel with "thick darkness" (60:2) and also uses imagery of light.  In the hymn, the line "The gath'ring nations come" seems to come specifically from Isaiah 60:3: "And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising."

"Guide Me" (TLH #54)

"Be Still, My Soul"

Last year, while watching the Worship for Shut-Ins program for the 10th Sunday after Pentecost, I noticed a small feature in "Be Still, My Soul."  The hymn is sung to the tune "Finlandia" (an adaptation of part of Jean Sibelius' Finlandia, Op. 26*), and the first two musical phrases (which are nearly identical) have cross inscriptions.  Here's the second musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain," with "the cross of grief" perfectly aligning to the cross inscription in the music.

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*I lookt up the score to see exactly where this is taken from.  It's measures 132 to 155, labelled sections I and K (apparently there is no section J).

LSB #411 "I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  2 Corinthians 4:4-6, Hebrews 12:1-2, 1 John 1:5, Revelation 21:23

2 Corinthians 4:4-6:  "4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.  6 For God, who said, 'Let light shine out of darkness,' has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

Hebrews 12:1-2:  "1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God."

1 John 1:5:  "This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all."

Revelation 21:23:  "And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb."

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The verses from 2 Corinthians seem to be the primary Biblical source for the hymn, although no specific phrases are taken from them, just the image of "the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ."

The title line ("I want to walk as a child of the light") is from Ephesians 5:8:  "For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Walk as children of light."  The third line of the first verse ("God set the stars to give light to the world") references Genesis 1:14-16, where God creates the stars.

The second verse contains the line "Clear Sun of Righteousness, shine on my path," which uses a title from Malachi 4:2:  "But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.  You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall."  The "shine on my path" part uses an image from Psalm 119:105:  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us" from Hebrews 12 appears in the third verse: "When we have run with patience the race...."

The refrain draws from a few verses.  It begins with "In Him there is no darkness at all," which is from 1 John 1:5.  The next line is "The night and the day are both alike," which seems to come from Psalm 139:12:  "Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you."  The next line ("The Lamb is the light of the city of God") is from Revelation 21:23.

"Christus, der ist mein" (TLH #53)

The next tune was supposed to be "Old Hundredth," but since I've done that before and it's not one of my favorites, I skipt it.

There are some low Eb notes in the bass part that I couldn't play in standard tuning, so I played them an octave higher.

"'How Shall They Hear,' Who Have Not Heard"

Months ago, one of the hymns in church was "'How Shall They Hear,' Who Have Not Heard," and I noticed a couple things about it.  The tune is "Angelus," which - with some slight changes - is also used for the "Agnus Dei" in Divine Service, Setting Four in The Lutheran Service Book.  Here's the first musical phrase:

In the second verse, the text here is "'To all the world,' to ev'ry place."  "World" is sung with a melisma, giving a musical sense of the breadth of "ev'ry place."  In the third verse, the text here is "'Whom shall I send?' Who hears the call."  "Send" is sung with that same melisma, which now gives a musical sense of the movement of "send[ing]."

Here's the second musical phrase:

In the fifth verse, the text here is "Spirit of truth, in pow'r come down!" and there's a musical descent to represent that "com[ing] down!"

LSB #410 "Within the Father's House"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Luke 2:41-52, 1 Timothy 3:16, 1 Corinthians 2:7-10, Ephesians 1:9

Luke 2:41-52:  "41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.  42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.  43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.  His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.  46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.  And his mother said to him, 'Son, why have you treated us so?  Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.'  49 And he said to them, 'Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?'  50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.  51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.  And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.

"52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man."

1 Timothy 3:16:  "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory."

1 Corinthians 2:7-10:  "7 But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory.  8 None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.  9 But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him' - 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.  For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."

Ephesians 1:9:  "...making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ..."

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The text is public domain:

Within the Father's house
The Son has found His home,
And to His temple suddenly
The Lord of life has come.

The doctors of the Law
Gaze on the wondrous child
And marvel at His gracious words
Of wisdom undefiled.

Yet not to them is giv'n
The mighty truth to know,
To lift the earthly veil that hides
Incarnate God below.

The secret of the Lord
Escapes each human eye,
And faithful pond'ring hearts await
The full epiphany.

Lord, visit Thou our souls
And teach us by Thy grace
Each dim revealing of Thyself
With loving awe to trace

Till we behold Thy face
And know as we are known
Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Coequal Three in One.

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The text from Luke 2 is the main source for the hymn, the first three verses in particular.  The third verse also seems to draw from the cited verses in 1 Timothy and 1 Corinthians.  "None of the rulers of this age understood this" from the 1 Corinthians texts seems to be re-worked into "Yet not to them is giv'n / The mighty truth to know."  The "the mystery of godliness" and specifically that "He was manifested in the flesh" from 1 Timothy seems to be what the second half of that verse describes: "the earthly veil that hides / Incarnate God below."

The text from 1 Corinthians (particularly verses 7 and 9) is also in the later verses.  The "secret and hidden wisdom of God" from 1 Corinthians 7 is at the beginning of verse four of the hymn ("The secret of the Lord").  1 Corinthians 9 explains that we have just a small idea of "what God has prepared for those who love him."  In the hymn, this is expressed in the entirety of the fourth verse and in a few lines in the fifth and sixth.  This "dim revealing of Thyself" also seems to be how "making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose" from the Ephesians verse is incorporated.

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Unrelated to the Biblical sources, there's an interesting poetic feature in the fourth verse: the imperfect rhyme between "eye" and "epiphany" illustrates that we see but "dim revealing"s and not "the full epiphany" that a perfect rhyme would symbolize.

"Buckland" (TLH #51)

"The Day of Resurrection"

A couple weeks ago, I was just flipping through my hymnal and noticed something about "The Day of Resurrection" (sung to the tune "Lancashire").  The fifth line of the first verse is "From death to life eternal," sung to this musical phrase:

"Eternal" is sung with a melisma (four syllables rather than just three), which musically gives a sense of that long period of time.  One of the notes (the dotted quarter note) has a longer value than the others in this phrase, which seems to add to this musical depiction.

LSB #409 "Hail, O Source of Every Blessing"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 60:3-6, Revelation 21:22-27, Matthew 2:11

Isaiah 60:3-6:  "3 And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

"4 Lift up your eyes all around, and see; they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip.  5 Then you shall see and be radiant; your heart shall thrill and exult, because the abundance of the sea shall be turned to you, the wealth of the nations shall come to you.  6 A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba shall come.  They shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall bring good news, the praises of the LORD."

Revelation 21:22-27:  "22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb.  23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.  24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day - and there will be no night there.  26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.  27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life."

Matthew 2:11:  "And going into the house they [the wise men] saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him."

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The text is public domain:

Hail, O Source of ev'ry blessing,
Father of our human race!
Gentiles now, Your grace possessing,
In Your courts obtain a place.
Grateful now, we fall before You,
In Your Church rejoice to live,
See Your glory and adore You,
Thankful for the grace You give.

Once far off but now invited,
We approach Your sacred throne,
In Your covenant united,
Reconciled, redeemed, made one.
Now revealed to eastern sages,
See the Star of Mercy shine,
Myst'ry hid in former ages,
Myst'ry great of love divine.

Hail, O all-inviting Savior!
Gentiles now their off'rings bring,
In Your temples seek Your favor,
Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.
May we, body, soul, and spirit,
Live devoted to Your praise,
Glorious realms of bliss inherit,
Grateful anthems ever raise.

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The verses from Isaiah are present in the hymn's first verse and the first half of the second.  Both describe a large gathering.  In Isaiah, there's even structural parallelism to emphasize this:  "they all gather together, they come to you; your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be carried on the hip."  In the hymn, it appears in phrases like "Gentiles now, Your grace possessing, / In Your courts obtain a place" and "Once far off but now invited, / We approach Your sacred throne, / In Your covenant united."

Matthew 2:11 is in the second half of the second verse ("Now revealed to eastern sages").  This leaves the text from Revelation, but the only connection I can see between it and the third verse is the line "Glorious realms of bliss inherit."  This seems to refer to the light and the glory mentioned in the Revelation text.

"New Ulm" (TLH #50b)

I didn't realize this last week when I recorded "Regent Square," but there are two tunes for TLH #50 "Lord, Dismiss Us with Thy Blessing."  That's why this one is "#50b."

"He's Risen, He's Risen"

A few weeks ago, I noticed a couple things in "He's Risen, He's Risen," sung to the tune "Walther."

The second line is sung to this musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "He opened death's prison, the incarnate, true Word" (with "the incarnate" elided together).  The "opened" is sung with a melisma (the first syllable is sung to two notes; the word as a whole sung to three), and the first two notes form a fairly large interval of a fourth (A to D).  Musically, this represents that opening.

In the fourth verse, the text here is "Christ rose, and now open is fair Eden's door."  "Rose" is sung (with a melisma) to those same two notes, and the ascent musically represents that rising.

LSB #408 "Come, Join in Cana's Feast"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 2:1-11, Revelation 19:7-9, 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

John 2:1-11:  "1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples.  3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, 'They have no wine.'  4 And Jesus said to her, 'Woman, what does this have to do with me?  My hour has not yet come.'  5 His mother said to the servants, 'Do whatever he tells you.'

"6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  7 Jesus said to the servants, 'Fill the jars with water.'  And they filled them up to the brim.  8 And he said to them, 'Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast.'  So they took it.  9 When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, 'Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine.  But you have kept the good wine until now.'  11 This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory.  And his disciples believed in him."

Revelation 19:7-9:  "7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure' - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

"9 And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'  And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.'"

1 Corinthians 11:23-26:  "23 For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, 'This is my body which is for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.'  25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in my blood.  Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.'  26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes."

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The John 2 text is the main referent for the hymn, which almost combines Jesus' turning water to wine at the wedding at Cana with the Lord's Supper and the idea of the marriage feast of the Lamb.  John 2 is found mostly in the first three verses, in phrases like "Come, join in Cana's feast," "The old wine now is gone / From jars that stand apart," and "But Christ, the Word made flesh, / Bids water turn to wine" (although "the Word made flesh" comes from John 1:14).

The other two texts seem to be combined into the fourth verse:

Come, friends, and share the feast;
Here drink the wine supplied
By Him who is both guest and host -
For us, the crucified.