"Wie schön leuchtet" (TLH #189)

In The Lutheran Hymnal, this is in Eb major.  The last two times I recorded it, I transposed it up a half step to E major.  To do something different this time, I played it in F major.

"God of Grace and God of Glory"

Last month, I wrote a post on "God of Grace and God of Glory."  One of the features I noted was that "long" in the lines "From the fears that long have bound us / Free our hearts to faith and praise" is sung with a melisma for a sense of duration.  A few days after that post was published, I lookt at the version of "God of Grace and God of Glory" in Lutheran Worship and discovered a slight difference.

In The Lutheran Service Book, "long" is sung with a two-note melisma (F E):

In Lutheran Worship, "long" is sung with a three-note melisma (G F# G):

This isn't a particularly significant difference, but because of that extra note, there is a bit more emphasis in the Lutheran Worship version.

LSB #547 "The Lamb"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 5:12-13, Genesis 22:7-8, 1 Peter 2:24-25

Revelation 5:12-13:  "12 saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'  13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'"

Genesis 22:7-8:  "7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, 'My father!'  And he said, 'Here am I, my son.'  He said, 'Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?'  8 Abraham said, 'God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.'  So they went both of them together."

1 Peter 2:24-25:  "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."

+++

The text from Genesis 22 appears in the first verse:  "O Father, where's the sacrifice?... God will provide the Lamb of price!"

The text from 1 Peter seems to be the source for verses two through four, and it shows up most clearly in the fourth verse ("He takes my sin and wretchedness... He gives me His own righteousness") and part of the refrain ("the Lamb whose death makes me His own").

Most of the refrain is drawn from the text from Revelation.  "Worthy is the Lamb" comes directly from verse 12 and "The Lamb is reigning on His throne" from verse 13.  "Let earth join heav'n His praise to sing" in the hymn's second verse also comes from the Revelation text.

"Fred til Bod" (TLH #188)

"Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings"

Two years ago, I wrote a post about "Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings."  About a month ago, I found a few more features to note.

In the second verse, creation is described as "Filled with creatures large and small."  "Large and small" is a merism.

At the end of that verse, there's the line "May our care encircle all," sung to this phrase from the tune "Holy Manna":

The three syllables of "encircle" are each sung to a different pitch (F A G), so while the intervals aren't very large, there's something of a sense of breadth and of the word's meaning.

The hymn's refrain is:

Lord, we pray that we, Your people

Who Your gifts unnumbered claim,

Through the sharing of Your blessings

May bring glory to Your name.

The third line is sung to this phrase:

"Blessings" is sung with a melisma (A G F D), and because it's spread out to more notes, there's a sense of its being "shar[ed]."

LSB #546 "O Jesus So Sweet, O Jesus So Mild"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Galatians 4:4-5, Romans 5:8-11

Galatians 4:4-5:  "4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons."

Romans 5:8-11:  "8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.  10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.  11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."

+++

The text is public domain:

O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
For sinners You became a child.
You came from heaven down to earth
In human flesh through human birth.
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!

O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
With God we now are reconciled.
You have for all the ransom paid,
Your Father's righteous anger stayed.
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!

O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!
Joy fills the world which sin defiled.
Whate'er we have belongs to You;
O keep us faithful, strong, and true.
O Jesus so sweet, O Jesus so mild!

+++

The Biblical sources for this hymn are very clear to see in the text:  Galatians 4:4-5 appears in the first verse, and Romans 5:8-11 appears in the second and third verses.

"Christ ist erstanden" (TLH #187)

I extended the value of a few notes because otherwise the following phrase seemed rushed.

"Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart"

About a month ago, I was thinking about a song that I think I learned in Sunday school.  I don't know if I ever learned the title, but a few years ago, Roger McGuinn recorded a version of it for his Folk Den and called it "Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart."  I remember only one verse, but one that McGuinn has contains the phrase "a peace that passes understanding," which comes from Philippians 4:7:  "And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

From what I remember, the melody is something like:

The words are:

I've got a joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart

Down in my heart, down in my heart

I've got a joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart

Down in my heart today.

(Apparently, some versions have "the joy" instead of "a joy.")

The melody is composed almost entirely of descending phrases, and this gives something of a sense of the "down" in the repeated phrase "down in my heart."

LSB #545 "Word of God, Come Down on Earth"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 1:1-3, 10, 14

John 1:1-3:  "1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  2 He was in the beginning with God.  3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

John 1:10:  "He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him."

John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

+++

John 1:14 appears in the first verse, specifically in the last line:  "Word made flesh, we long to hear You."

The other two verses from John 1 appear in the hymn's second verse, specifically in the line "Word that brought to life creation."

These verses from John are also referenced more generally in the hymn; throughout, there are multiple addresses to the "Word."

The last two lines of the hymn are "Word of truth, to all truth lead us; / Word of life, with one bread feed us."  These seem to refer to John 14:6:  "Jesus said to him [Thomas], 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.'"

"Septem Verba" (TLH #180)

 

TLH numbers each verse of this as a separate hymn (180-186), so while I'm not skipping any tunes, there will be a jump in the numbering next week.

"Müde bin ich, geh' zur Ruh'"

Beneath LSB #887 "Now the Light Has Gone Away," there's a note:  "The text of the German hymn 'Müde bin ich, geh zur Ruh,' [sic] also sung to this tune, is provided for those who remember it as their bedtime prayer during childhood."  (LSB sometimes lacks apostrophes in the German titles; this should be "Müde bin ich, geh' zur Ruh'.")  I don't plan on writing about hymns in other languages, but I'm making an exception here because this one is included in LSB.

Last year, I noticed a small feature in the third verse:

Alle, die mir sind verwandt,

Gott, laß ruh'n in deiner Hand;

Alle Menschen groß und klein

Sollen dir befohlen sein.

In a more prosaic translation, this is:  "God, let all who are related to me rest in Your hand; all people big and small should be under Your command."

The description "groß und klein" ("big and small") is a merism.

LSB #544 "O Love, How Deep"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Ephesians 3:17b-21; Philippians 2:6-9; Hebrews 2:9-10, 14-18; John 1:14

Ephesians 3:17b-21:  "that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

"20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen."

Philippians 2:6-9:  "6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name"

Hebrews 2:9-10:  "9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

"10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering."

Hebrews 2:14-18:  "14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.  16 For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.  17 Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.  18 For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted."

John 1:14:  "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth."

+++

The text is public domain:

O love, how deep, how broad, how high,
Beyond all thought and fantasy,
That God, the Son of God, should take
Our mortal form for mortals' sake!

He sent no angel to our race,
Of higher or of lower place,
But wore the robe of human frame,
And to this world Himself He came.

For us baptized, for us He bore
His holy fast and hungered sore;
For us temptation sharp he knew;
For us the tempter overthrew.

For us He prayed; for us He taught;
For us His daily works He wrought,
By words and signs and actions thus
Still seeking not Himself but us.

For us by wickedness betrayed,
For us, in crown of thorns arrayed,
He bore the shameful cross and death;
For us He gave His dying breath.

For us He rose from death again;
For us He went on high to reign;
For us He sent His Spirit here
To guide, to strengthen, and to cheer.

All glory to our Lord and God
For love so deep, so high, so broad;
The Trinity whom we adore
Forever and forevermore.

+++

The text from Ephesians 3 appears in the first and last verses ("O love, how deep, how broad, how high, / Beyond all thought and fantasy" and "For love so deep, so high, so broad").

The second half of the first verse and all of the second verse seem to combine Philippians 2:6-9 (in the lines "That God, the Son of God, should take / Our mortal form for mortals' sake!"), Hebrews 2:9-10 (in "He sent no angel to our race, / Of higher or of lower place"), and John 1:14 (in "But wore the robe of human frame, / And to this world Himself He came").

Similarly, verses three through six seem to draw from Philippians 2:6-9 ("he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross"), Hebrews 2:9-10 ("For it was fitting that he... should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering"), and Hebrews 2:14-18 ("he himself likewise partook of the same things," "he had to be made like his brothers in every respect," and "because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted").

+++

The repeated "for us" is an example of anaphora, a rhetorical device.  Its function here is to illustrate the extent of what God has done for us.

"Der am Kreuz" (TLH #179)