LSB #579 "The Law of God Is Good and Wise"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 19:7-8, Galatians 3:10-11, Galatians 2:15-16, Romans 5:6-11

Psalm 19:7-8:  "7 The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;"

Galatians 3:10-11:  "10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed by everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.'  11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for 'The righteous shall live by faith.'"

Galatians 2:15-16:  "15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.

Romans 5:6-11:  "6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person - though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die - 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."

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The text is public domain:

The Law of God is good and wise

And sets His will before our eyes,

Shows us the way of righteousness,

And dooms to death when we transgress.

Its light of holiness imparts

The knowledge of our sinful hearts

That we may see our lost estate

And turn from sin before too late.

To those who help in Christ have found

And would in works of love abound

It shows what deeds are His delight

And should be done as good and right.

But those who scornfully disdain

God's Law shall then in sin remain;

Its terror in their ear resounds

And keeps their wickedness in bounds.

The Law is good; but since the fall

Its holiness condemns us all;

It dooms us for our sin to die

And has no pow'r to justify.

To Jesus we for refuge flee,

Who from the curse has set us free,

And humbly worship at His throne,

Saved by His grace through faith alone.

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The first half of the first verse is drawn from Psalm 19:7-8.  The rest of the hymn seems to come from the other passages that are cited, although it's difficult to pick out specific similarities.  The clearest traces are in the last verse.  "Who from the curse has set us free" refers to Romans 5:6-11 (although the word "curse" is from Galatians 3:10-11).  Galatians 2:15-16 could be cited for "Saved by His grace through faith alone," although this line actually bears more resemblance to Ephesians 2:8:  "For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God."

"Orientis partibus" (TLH #213)

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

"Today Your Mercy Calls Us"

Last week, KFUO posted a picture with the first verse of "Today Your Mercy Calls Us":

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Between reading the text in the picture and then looking up the hymn in my hymnal, I noticed a couple features.  In the lines "However great our trespass, / Whatever we have been, / However long from mercy / Our hearts have turned away" the syllables of both "however"s and of "whatever" are each sung to different pitches (D G F#, G E C, and B A F#, respectively).  Here's the notation for those lines (the tune is "Anthes"):

These articulations give a sense of the breadth of possibility in those words' meanings.

LSB #578 "Thy Strong Word"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Genesis 1:3, John 1:1-14, 2 Corinthians 4:6, 1 Peter 2:9

Genesis 1:3:  "And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."

John 1:1-14:  "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.  4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.  5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

"6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.  7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.  8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

"9 The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  11 He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.  12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

"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."

2 Corinthians 4:6:  "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."

1 Peter 2:9:  "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."

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Broadly speaking, the first verse comes from Genesis 1:3, and the rest of the hymn, continuing the theme of light, draws from the other passages that are cited.

There are, however, a couple uncited passages that the hymn text draws from more heavily.  The lines "Thy strong word did cleave the darkness; / At Thy speaking it was done" certainly describe what occurs in Genesis 1:3, but structurally, they more closely resemble Psalm 33:9:  "For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm."

Most of the second verse ("Lo, on those who dwelt in darkness, / Dark as night and deep as death, / Broke the light of Thy salvation") is taken from 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."

"Lasst uns erfreuen" (TLH #212)

I transposed this from Eb major to D major.  It's in 3/2 in the hymnal, but I set my click track to 6/4.  I thought that would make it easier for me, but I must have gotten a bit confused at the end because the Amen cadence is only half the length it should be.

"Holy, Holy, Holy"

A couple weeks ago, KFUO tweeted a verse of "Holy, Holy, Holy."

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Lutheran Service Book 507:4 #HolyTrinity

— KFUO Radio (@KFUOradio) June 6, 2021

This is a small point, but I thought I would note it anyway:  there's polysyndeton (the repeated "and" in "in earth and sky and sea"), and this helps to give a sense both of the physical breadth of these locations and of the entirety of "All Thy works" contained within them.

LSB #577 "Almighty God, Your Word Is Cast"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 13:3-9, 18-24; Mark 4:3-9, 13-20; Romans 1:16

Matthew 13:3-9:  "3 And he told them many things in parables, saying:  'A sower went out to sow.  4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them.  5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched.  And since they had no root, they withered away.  7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.  8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  9 He who has ears, let him hear.'"

Matthew 13:18-24:  "18 'Hear then the parable of the sower:  19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart.  This is what was sown along the path.  20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.  22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  23 As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it.  He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.'

"24 He put another parable before them, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,'"

Mark 4:3-9:  "3 'Listen!  A sower went out to sow.  4 And as he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured it.  5 Other seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil, and immediately it sprang up, since it had no depth of soil.  6 And when the sun rose, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away.  7 Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no grain.  8 And other seeds fell into good soil and produced grain, growing up and increasing and yielding thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.'  9 And he said, 'He who has ears to hear, let him hear.'"

Mark 4:13-20:  "13 And he said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  14 The sower sows the word.  15 And these are the ones along the path, where the word is sown:  when they hear, Satan immediately comes and takes away the word that is sown in them. 16 And these are the ones sown on rocky ground:  the ones who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy.  17 And they have no root in themselves, but endure for a while; then, when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately they fall away.  18 And others are the ones sown among thorns.  They are those who hear the word, 19 but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it proves unfruitful.  20 But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.'"

Romans 1:16:  "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."

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The text is public domain:

Almighty God, Your Word is cast

Like seed into the ground;

Now let the dew of heav'n descend

And righteous fruits abound.

Let not the sly satanic foe

This holy seed remove,

But give it root in ev'ry heart

To bring forth fruits of love.

Let not the world's deceitful cares

The rising plant destroy,

But let it yield a hundredfold

The fruits of peace and joy.

So when the precious seed is sown,

Life-giving grace bestow

That all whose souls the truth receive

Its saving pow'r may know.

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The passages from Matthew 13 and Mark 4 (The Parable of the Sower) are the basis for most of the hymn.  "Everyone who believes" from Romans 1:16 seems to appear as "all whose souls the truth receive" in the last verse.

The hymn's first verse, particularly "let the dew of heav'n descend," may also take something from Isaiah 55:10-11:  "10 'For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.'"

"Judah's Lion" (TLH #211)

I doubled the "hallelujah"s on soprano recorder, and since this is a shorter tune, I went through it three times.

"Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's Head"

A few years ago, I noticed a couple things in "Lord Jesus Christ, the Church's Head," sung to the tune "Reuter."

The third verse begins with the lines "Help us to serve You evermore / With hearts both pure and lowly," sung to these phrases:

The first syllable of "lowly" is sung to the lowest note (D) in the phrase (the lowest note in the hymn, in fact), giving a sense of its meaning.

These musical phrases are repeated as the third and fourth phrases, and in the first verse, the text here is "In You she [the Church] trusts, before You bows, / And waits for Your salvation."  Reflecting this "bow[ing]," the melody descends (diatonically from B to F#).

LSB #575, 576 "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less"

"My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less" appears with two different tunes in The Lutheran Service Book:  "Magdalen" (#575) and "The Solid Rock" (#576).  Aside from a repeated "All other ground is sinking sand" in the refrain of #576, the texts are the same.

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Acts 4:11-12; Matthew 16:18; Matthew 7:24, 16:24

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.'"

Matthew 16:18:  "'And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.'"

Matthew 7:24:  "'Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.'"

Matthew 16:24:  "Then Jesus told his disciples, 'If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

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The text is public domain:

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness;

No merit of my own I claim

But wholly lean on Jesus' name.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace;

In ev'ry high and stormy gale

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

His oath, His covenant and blood

Support me in the raging flood;

When ev'ry earthly prop gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

Oh, may I then in Him be found,

Clothed in His righteousness alone,

Redeemed to stand before His throne!

On Christ, the solid rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

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The first three citations (Acts 4:11-12, Matthew 16:18, and Matthew 7:24) all mention a rock or stone, so any of these could be cited for the refrain.  Matthew 7:24 may be a bit more applicable, however, because the house built on that rock is later contrasted with a house built on sand (verses 26-27), just as in the hymn's refrain.

These three passages also appear in the first half of the first verse, where building is mentioned.  The second half of the first verse ("No merit of my own I claim / But wholly lean on Jesus' name") seems to come from Matthew 16:24, specifically "'let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.'"

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"He shall come with trumpet sound" in the last verse refers to 1 Thessalonians 4:16:  "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first."

"Clothed in His righteousness alone, / Redeemed to stand before His throne" in the same verse is taken from Revelation 7:9-17.

"Palestrina" (TLH #210)

I transposed this from Eb major to F major, and I doubled the "alleluia"s with alto recorder, including one section that serves as something of an introduction.

"Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way"

Earlier this year, I was looking at "Lord, Help Us Walk Your Servant Way," and I noticed a small feature in it.  The first two lines are "Lord, help us walk your servant way / Wherever love may lead," sung to these musical phrases (from the tune "St. Flavian"):

The three syllables of "Wherever" are each sung to a different pitch (F Bb A), and this gives a sense of that breadth.  Additionally, two of these notes form an interval of a fourth (F to Bb), and this is the largest interval in the entire tune.

LSB #574 "Before the Throne of God Above"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Hebrews 4:14-5:10, 7:24-8:2; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 7:9-14 

Hebrews 4:14-5:10:  "14 Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

"1 For every high priest chosen from among men is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins.  2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is beset with weakness.  3 Because of this he is obligated to offer sacrifice for his own sins just as he does for those of the people.  4 And no one takes this honor for himself, but only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

"5 So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you'; 6 as he says also in another place, 'You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek.'

"7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with louds cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.  8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.  9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him, 10 being designated by God a high priest after the order of Melchizedek."

Hebrews 7:24-8:2:  "24 but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever.  25 Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

"26 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.  27 He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself.  28 For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

"1 Now the point in what we are saying is this:  we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man."

1 Peter 1:18-19:  "18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

Revelation 7:9-14:  "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."

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The text is public domain:

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong, a perfect plea:

A great High Priest, whose name is Love,

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,

My name is written on His heart;

I know that while in heav'n He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair,

And tells me of the guilt within,

Upward I look, and see Him there

Who made an end of all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died,

My sinful soul is counted free;

For God, the just, is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me.

Behold Him there! The risen Lamb!

My perfect, spotless righteousness,

The great unchangeable I AM,

The King of glory and of grace!

At one with Him, I cannot die,

My soul is purchased by His blood;

My life is hid with Christ on high,

With Christ, my Savior and my God.

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Most of the hymn comes from the two passages from Hebrews.  Basically, the first and second verses come from Hebrews 4:14-5:10, and the third and fourth verses from 7:24-8:2.  "My name is graven on His hands" in the second verse, however, comes from Isaiah 49:16:  "Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me."

The fifth verse comes mostly from Revelation 7:9-14, although "The risen Lamb! / My perfect, spotless righteousness" also seems to reference 1 Peter 1:18-19, and "The great unchangeable I AM" is from Exodus 3:14:  "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'  And he said, 'Say this to the people of Israel, "I AM has sent me to you."'"

1 Peter 1:18-19 also appears in the line "My soul is purchased by His blood" in the last verse.