"Neander" (TLH #209)

Because this is a shorter tune, I went through it three times.

"See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph"

A number of years ago, I wrote a post about some of the ascending musical phrases in "See, the Lord Ascends in Triumph."  While looking over the hymn more recently (but still a couple years ago), I found a slightly more significant feature to note:  there's a cross inscription in the last phrase of "Rex gloriae," the tune to which the hymn is sung.

In the second verse, the text here is "He by death has crushed His foes."  The cross inscription in the tune illustrates by what sort of death Christ has "crushed His foes."

LSB #573 "Lord, 'Tis Not That I Did Choose Thee"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 15:16; Ephesians 2:8-9; 1 Peter 2:9-10; 1 John 4:10, 19

John 15:16:  "'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.'"

Ephesians 2:8-9:  "8 For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast."

1 Peter 2:9-10:  "9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.  10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."

1 John 4:10:  "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

1 John 4:19:  "We love because he first loved us."

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The text is public domain:

Lord, 'tis not that I did choose Thee;

That, I know, could never be;

For this heart would still refuse Thee

Had Thy grace not chosen me.

Thou hast from the sin that stained me

Washed and cleansed and set me free

And unto this end ordained me,

That I ever live to Thee.

It was grace in Christ that called me,

Taught my darkened heart and mind;

Else the world had yet enthralled me,

To Thy heav'nly glories blind.

Now I worship none above Thee;

For Thy grace alone I thirst,

Knowing well that, if I love Thee,

Thou, O Lord, didst love me first.

Praise the God of all creation;

Praise the Father's boundless love.

Praise the Lamb, our expiation,

Priest and King enthroned above.

Praise the Spirit of salvation,

Him by whom our spirits live.

Undivided adoration

To the great Jehovah give.

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John 15:16 appears in the first half of the first verse, but there's also some overlap with 1 Peter 2:9-10, specifically "you are a chosen race."  The "royal priesthood" from 1 Peter 2:9 seems to be what the phrase "ordained me" refers to.  Being "called... out of darkness" appears at the beginning of the second verse:  "It was grace in Christ that called me, / Taught my darkened heart and mind."  The hymn also combines being chosen and called with the grace mentioned in Ephesians 2:8-9.

The two verses from 1 John 4 both seem to appear in the lines "Knowing well that, if I love Thee, / Thou, O Lord, didst love me first" in the second verse.

"Gelobt sei Gott" (TLH #208)

"Look, Ye Saints, the Sight Is Glorious"

Apparently, the videos from One LSB Hymn a Week are no longer available on Concordia Publishing House's YouTube channel, but when I watched the one for "Look, Ye Saints, the Sight Is Glorious" a few years ago, I noticed a handful of features to note.

The hymn is sung to the tune "Bryn Calfaria."  Here's the third phrase:

In the fourth verse, the text here is "Jesus takes the highest station."  "Highest" (and the first syllable of "station") is sung to the highest pitches in this phrase (Bbs), so there's a musical representation of the word's meaning.

Here's the next musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Ev'ry knee to Him shall bow" (from Philippians 2:10).  The melody generally descends, illustrating this "bow[ing]."

The sixth musical phrase:

In the third verse, the text here is "Spread abroad the victor's fame."  The words "spread abroad" are sung with melismas (Eb D | C D C), giving a sense of that breadth.

LSB #572 "In the Shattered Bliss of Eden"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Genesis 3:1-24, Leviticus 16:6-19, Romans 5:15-19, Revelation 7:9-17

Genesis 3:1-24:  "1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.

"He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, "You shall not eat of any tree in the garden"?'  2 And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, "You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die."'  4 But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die.  5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'  6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.  7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.  And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

"8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.  9 But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, 'Where are you?'  10 And he said, 'I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.'  11 He said, 'Who told you that you were naked?  Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?'  12 The man said, 'The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.'  13 Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?'  The woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'

"14 The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beats of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.’

"16 To the woman he said, 'I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.'

"17 And to Adam he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, "You shall not eat of it," cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.  19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.'

"20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living.  21 And the LORD God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

"22 Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil.  Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever -'  23 therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken.  24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life."

Leviticus 16:6-19:  "'6 Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.  7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the LORD at the entrance of the tent of meeting.  8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the LORD and the other lot for Azazel.  9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the LORD and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for Azazel shall be presented alive before the LORD to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to Azazel.

"'11 Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house.  He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.  12 And he shall take a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the LORD, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 and put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die.  14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

"'15 Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.  16 Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins.  And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses.  17 No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel.  18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around.  19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.'"

Romans 5:15-19:  "15 But the free gift is not like the trespass.  For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.  16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.  For the judgement following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.  17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

"18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.  19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous."

Revelation 7:9-17:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

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These citations are easy to find in the hymn, although the hymn doesn't draw as much from them as their lengths would suggest.  The text from Genesis (particularly verses 7 and 21) is referred to in the first verse (and, to a lesser extent, in the sixth), and the text from Leviticus in the second.  The passage from Romans appears in the third verse, and the passage from Revelation in the fifth.  The white robes from Revelation 7:14 are mentioned in the fifth verse, and in the sixth, they're contrasted with the "leafy garments" from the hymn's first verse and Genesis 3:7.

The fourth verse calls Jesus the "Lamb of God," which comes from John 1:29, and talks about the Lord's Supper and quotes the Words of Institution, which could be cited from Matthew 26:26-28, Mark 14:22-24, Luke 22:19-20, or 1 Corinthians 11:23-25.

Messiah: No. 53 Worthy is the Lamb, Amen

I listened to Handel's Messiah recently, and I was reminded of something I'd noticed but forgot to include in my original notes, even before I re-posted them here a couple years ago.

As I pointed out, the text for No. 53 Worthy is the Lamb, Amen is from Revelation 5:12-14.  The "amen" is sung as a fugue by the four voices, and I think this is meant to represent part of verse 14:  "And the four living creatures said, 'Amen!'"  It's as if each voice (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) is one of the four living creatures.

"Werde munter" (TLH #207)

"Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation"

Over the last couple years, I found a number of things to note in "Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation," sung to the tune "Westminster Abbey."

Here's the second phrase:

In the third verse, the text here is "All the gifts they ask to gain."  "Gifts" is sung with a melisma (B A), giving a sense of the entirety of that "all."

Here's the fourth phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "Binding all the Church in one."  Similar to what's described above, both "all" (A B) and "Church" (G F#) are sung with melismas for a sense of the entirety of "all."  In the fourth verse, the text here, describing the Trinity, is "Ever three and ever one."  The second "ever" is sung with a melisma (G F# F#), giving something of a sense of duration.

In the arrangement in The Lutheran Service Book, the melody and harmony parts converge at the end of this line so that the E is sung by both.  Musically, this illustrates the word's meaning, although the effect is more applicable to the voices converging at the end of the line "Binding all the Church in one."

LSB #571 "God Loved the World So That He Gave"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 3:16, Titus 3:4-7, 2 Timothy 1:9, Matthew 9:2

John 3:16:  "'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.'"

Titus 3:4-7:  "4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

2 Timothy 1:9:  "who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began"

Matthew 9:2:  "And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, 'Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.'"

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The text is public domain:

God loved the world so that He gave

His only Son the lost to save,

That all who would in Him believe

Should everlasting life receive.

Christ Jesus is the ground of faith,

Who was made flesh and suffered death;

All then who trust in Him alone

Are built on this chief cornerstone.

God would not have the sinner die;

His Son with saving grace is nigh;

His Spirit in the Word declares

How we in Christ are heaven's heirs.

Be of good cheer, for God's own Son

Forgives all sins which you have done;

And, justified by Jesus' blood,

Your Baptism grants the highest good.

If you are sick, if death is near,

This truth your troubled heart can cheer;

Christ Jesus saves your soul from death;

That is the firmest ground of faith.

Glory to God the Father, Son,

And Holy Spirit, Three in One!

To You, O blessèd Trinity,

Be praise now and eternally!

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The first verse of the hymn paraphrases John 3:16.  Part of the passage from Titus bears some similarity to this too, although it appears more clearly in the third verse ("His Spirit in the Word declares / How we in Christ are heaven's heirs.").

"Take heart" from Matthew 9:2 is referred to in both the fourth and fifth verses, specifically in the lines "Be of good cheer, for God's own Son / Forgives all sins which you have done" and "This truth your troubled heart can cheer."

2 Timothy 1:9 seems to appear at the beginning of the third verse:  "God would not have the sinner die; / His Son with saving grace is nigh."  For "God would not have the sinner die," I would also cite Ezekiel 18:23, 32; 33:11.

The image of Christ as the cornerstone in the second verse comes from Ephesians 2:19-21:  "19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord."

Messiah: No. 5 Thus saith the Lord of hosts

I've been reading Haggai lately, and last week I happened upon a text that's used in Handel's Messiah.  When I posted my old notes here a couple years ago, I noted Malachi 3:1 near the end of No. 5 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, but the first part of the text is from Haggai 2:6-7:  "6 For thus says the LORD of hosts:  Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land.  7 And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts."

"Jesus, meine Zuversicht" (TLH #206)

"Seek Ye First"

Last summer, I was looking at "Seek Ye First," and I noticed a small feature in it.  The title of the tune is the same as the title of the hymn; here's the second musical phrase:

The third verse is basically an adaptation of Matthew 4:4:  "Man does not live by bread alone, / But by ev'ry word / That proceeds from the mouth of the Lord."  That second line is what's sung to the music above.  "Ev'ry" is sung with a melisma (F# G F#), and this articulation gives something of a sense of entirety.

LSB #570 "Just as I Am, without One Plea"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  John 1:29, 6:37; Revelation 3:17

John 1:29:  "The next day he [John the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, 'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"

John 6:37:  "'All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.'"

Revelation 3:17:  "'For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked.'"

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The text is public domain:

Just as I am, without one plea

But that Thy blood was shed for me

And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am and waiting not

To rid my soul of one dark blot,

To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about

With many a conflict, many a doubt,

Fightings and fears within, without.

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;

Sight, riches, healing of the mind,

Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,

Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;

Because Thy promise I believe,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am; Thy love unknown

Has broken ev'ry barrier down;

Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,

O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

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The recurring line "O Lamb of God, I come, I come" comes partially from John 1:29 (the name "Lamb of God") and partially from John 6:37 ("I come, I come").  John 6:37 is also in the fifth verse, but the hymn looks at it from the opposite direction:  "Just as I am, Thou wilt receive" rather than "whoever comes to me I will never cast out."  Revelation 3:17 appears in the line "Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind" in the fourth verse.

"Lancashire" (TLH #205)