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

Wednesday, February 20, 2019

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."