LSB #453 "Upon the Cross Extended"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 53, Hebrews 9:28, 1 Peter 2:21-25

Isaiah 53:  "1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?  And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?  2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

"10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors."

Hebrews 9:28:  "so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him."

1 Peter 2:21-25:  "21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.  24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed.  25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."

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The text is public domain:

Upon the cross extended
See, world, your Lord suspended.
Your Savior yields His breath.
The Prince of Life from heaven
Himself has freely given
To shame and blows and bitter death.

Come, see these things and ponder,
Your soul will fill with wonder
As blood streams from each pore.
Through grief beyond all knowing
From His great heart came flowing
Sighs welling from its deepest core.

Who is it, Lord, that bruised You?
Who has so sore abused You
And caused You all Your woe?
We all must make confession
Of sin and dire transgression
While You no ways of evil know.

I caused Your grief and sighing
By evils multiplying
As countless as the sands.
I caused the woes unnumbered
With which Your soul is cumbered,
Your sorrows raised by wicked hands.

Your soul in griefs unbounded,
Your head with thorns surrounded,
You died to ransom me.
The cross for me enduring,
The crown for me securing,
You healed my wounds and set me free.

Your cords of love, my Savior,
Bind me to You forever,
I am no longer mine.
To You I gladly tender
All that my life can render
And all I have to You resign.

Your cross I place before me;
Its saving pow'r restore me,
Sustain me in the test.
It will, when life is ending,
Be guiding and attending
My way to Your eternal rest.

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Isaiah 53 and the text from 1 Peter 2 are fairly similar, so it's difficult to say whether some parts of the hymn are from one or the other.  The first five verses of the hymn seem to draw from both.

The second half of the sixth verse ("To You I gladly tender / All that my life can render / And all I have to You resign") seems to stem from "Christ['s]... leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps" from 1 Peter 2:21.

The seventh verse seems to come from Hebrews 9:28, but with the hymn using the cross as a symbol for Christ, so where Hebrews 9 has "those who are eagerly waiting for him," the hymn has "Your cross I place before me."

"Divinum mysterium" (TLH #98)

This is one of my favorite hymn tunes, although the TLH version is a bit different from what I'm familiar with in the LSB.  I didn't do the higher of the two bass parts because it goes down to a D, which is below standard guitar tuning.

"Sent Forth by God's Blessing"

In May last year, I transcribed "Sent Forth by God's Blessing" and found a number of features to write about.  All are within these two phrases (the first and second phrases, later repeated as the fourth and fifth phrases) from the tune "The Ash Grove":

The first two lines of the first verse are "The Supper is ended. / O now be extended."  "Extended" is sung with a melisma (A G F# D), and since it's spread out (spanning a fifth), there's a sense of the word's meaning.

In the first verse, there are three "ever"s sung with melismas in these phrases:  "With praise and thanksgiving / To God ever-living" (C B A G) and "Our faith ever sharing, / In love ever caring" (B D C and C B A G respectively).  For all of these, the extra syllables provide a musical sense of duration.

LSB #452 "O Perfect Life of Love"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 19:30, Isaiah 53:3-12, Psalm 22, Luke 18:31-33

John 19:30:  "When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, 'It is finished,' and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Isaiah 53:3-12:  "3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.

"10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.  11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.  12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Psalm 22:  "1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?  2 O my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest.  3 Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.  4 In you our fathers trusted; they trusted, and you delivered them.  5 To you they cried and were rescued; in you they trusted and were not put to shame.

"6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.  7 All who see me mock me; they make moths at me; they wag their heads; 8 'He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!'

"9 Yet you are he who took me from the womb; you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.  10 On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother's womb you have been my God.  11 Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help.

"12 Many bulls encompass me; strong bulls of Bashan surround me; 13 they open wide their mouths at me, like a ravening and roaring lion.

"14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death.

"16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet - 17 I can count all my bones - they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.

"19 But you, O LORD, do not be far off!  O you my help, come quickly to my aid!  20 Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog!  21 Save me from the mouth of the lion!  You have rescued me from the horns of the wild oxen!

"22 I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will praise you: 23 You who fear the LORD, praise him!  All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!  24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

"25 From you comes my praise in the great congregation; my vows I will perform before those who fear him.  26 The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD!  May your hearts live forever!

"27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. 28 For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.

"29 All the prosperous of the earth eat and worship; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, even the one who could not keep himself alive.  30 Posterity shall serve him; it shall be told of the Lord to the coming generation; 31 they shall come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn, that he had done it."

Luke 18:31-33:  "31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, 'See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.  32 For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.  33 And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.'"

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The text is public domain:

O perfect life of love!
All, all, is finished now,
All that He left His throne above
To do for us below.

No work is left undone
Of all the Father willed;
His toil, His sorrows, one by one,
The Scriptures have fulfilled.

No pain that we can share
But He has felt its smart;
All forms of human grief and care
Have pierced that tender heart.

And on His thorn-crowned head
And on His sinless soul
Our sins in all their guilt were laid
That He might make us whole.

In perfect love He dies;
For me He dies, for me.
O all-atoning Sacrifice,
I cling by faith to Thee.

In ev'ry time of need,
Before the judgment throne,
Thy work, O Lamb of God, I'll plead,
Thy merits, not mine own.

Yet work, O Lord, in me
As Thou for me hast wrought;
And let my love the answer be
To grace Thy love has brought.

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John 19:30 is present in the first verse, specifically the line "All, all, is finished now."

Psalm 22, the verses from Luke 18, and the verses from Isaiah 53 all describe Jesus' mocking and crucifixion.  In the hymn, these appear in verses two to five, but - for the most part - it's difficult to say if the hymn draws from any one in particular.

Part of Luke 18:31 ("'everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished'") appears at the end of verse two:  "His toil, His sorrows, one by one, / The Scriptures have fulfilled."

The lines "Our sins in all their guilt were laid / That He might make us whole" in the fourth verse are drawn from Isaiah's "the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all" and "with his stripes we are healed."

"Lasst uns alle" (TLH #97)

"O Living Bread from Heaven"

Last April, I transcribed "O Living Bread from Heaven" (sung to the tune "Ach Gott vom Himmelreiche"), and I noticed a small feature in the fourth verse.

The line "My course on earth is lengthened" is sung to this phrase:

"Lengthened" is sung to a number of pitches (F# E F# D), and because it's extended, there's a musical sense of the word's meaning.

LSB #451 "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Isaiah 53:3-6; Acts 4:11-12; Romans 4:25

Isaiah 53:3-6:  "3 He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.  4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.  6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Acts 4:11-12:  "11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.  12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Romans 4:25:  "[Jesus our Lord], who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification."

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The text is public domain:

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
See Him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ, by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, 'tis He, 'tis He!
'Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David's Son, yet David's Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
'Tis the true and faithful Word.

Tell me, ye who hear Him groaning,
Was there ever grief like His?
Friends through fear His cause disowning,
Foes insulting His distress;
Many hands were raised to wound Him,
None would intervene to save;
But the deepest stroke that pierced Him
Was the stroke that justice gave.

Ye who think of sin but lightly
Nor suppose the evil great
Here may view its nature rightly,
Here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
See who bears the awful load;
'Tis the Word, the Lord's anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.

Here we have a firm foundation,
Here the refuge of the lost:
Christ, the Rock of our salvation,
Is the name of which we boast;
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on Him their hope have built.

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The text from Isaiah 53 is the main source for the hymn (the first line is straight from verse 4), but the verse from Romans is similar enough that it's difficult to determine whether some parts of the hymn (like "the deepest stroke that pierced Him / Was the stroke that justice gave" and "Mark the sacrifice appointed, / See who bears the awful load") are from Romans or from Isaiah.

The verses from Acts 4 appear in the last verse, specifically in phrases like "a firm foundation," "Christ, the Rock of our salvation," and "on Him their hope have built."

"David's Son, yet David's Lord" in the first verse is from the Gospels.  I first found it in Mark 12:35-37:  "35 And as Jesus taught in the temple, he said, 'How can the scribes say that the Christ is the son of David?  36 David himself, in the Holy Spirit, declared, "The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at my right hand, until I put your enemies under your feet."  37 David himself calls him Lord.  So how is he his son?'  And the great throng heard him gladly."  There are parallel accounts in Matthew 22:41-46 and Luke 20:41-44.

"Freuet euch, ihr Christen" (TLH #96)

"Christ, the Word of God Incarnate"

Last year, I found some interesting features in "Christ, the Word of God Incarnate."  It's sung to the tune "Holy Manna," in which there are eight musical phrases but six of these are the same two repeated:

The third verse ends with the lines "Fruitful branches in Your vineyard / Till eternal life we gain."  "Eternal" is sung with a melisma (C D F F), musically giving a sense of that duration.

The first four lines of the sixth verse (sung to the above notation twice through) are:

Christ, the Alpha and Omega,
Christ, the firstborn from the dead,
Christ, the life and resurrection,
Christ, the Church's glorious head

"Alpha," "firstborn," and "head" are all sung to the tonic note (F), and this musical sense of primacy and importance matches the meanings of these words.

LSB #449, 450 "O Sacred Head, Now Wounded"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 22:6-8; Isaiah 53:4-5; John 10:14-15, 27-28; Hebrews 12:2

Psalm 22:6-8:  "6 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people.  7 All who see me mock me; they make moths at me; they wag their heads; 8 'He trusts in the LORD; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!'"

Isaiah 53:4-5:  "4 Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  5 But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed."

John 10:14-15:  "14 'I am the good shepherd.  I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.'"

John 10:27-28:  "27 'My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.'"

Hebrews 12:2:  "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."

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LSB #449 and #450 are set to slightly different tunes, but #450 also has more verses.  My verse numbers are taken from that setting.

The first two verses are drawn from Psalm 22, although parts of Isaiah 53 could also be cited.  Isaiah 53 and John 10:14-15 (specifically "I lay down my life for the sheep") are in the third verse ("What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered / Was all for sinners' gain").  Jesus' name of "good shepherd" from John 10:14 is at the beginning of the fourth verse: "My Shepherd, now receive me."  The next line "My Guardian, own me Thine" is taken from "I know my own and my own know me."

John 10:27-28 seems to appear in "O make me Thine forever!" and "Lord, let me never, never / Outlive my love for Thee" in the fifth verse and "Forsake me nevermore!" in the sixth.  These lines have some resemblance to "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand."

The verse from Hebrews appears in the second half of the seventh verse: "Mine eyes shall then behold Thee, / Upon Thy cross shall dwell."

"Mendelssohn" (TLH #94)

I skipt #93 because it has some odd rests that I thought would break up the phrases too much.  Coincidentally, the next tune was "Mendelssohn," and to-day is Mendelssohn's birthday (3 February 1809).

I'm going to skip #95 ("Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland") next week because the arrangement is exactly the same as what I recorded last month.

"Chief of Sinners Though I Be"

I didn't make a note of the circumstances, but last year, I noticed a small feature in "Chief of Sinners Though I Be," sung to the tune "Gethsemane."

The last two phrases of the hymn are sung to conjunct melodies:

There is a break in between the two phrases, but otherwise, there aren't any leaps in the tune.  In a word, it's step-wise, and this has a musical connection with the lines about walking at the end of the third verse: "Faith and hope to walk with God / In the way that Enoch trod."