"There Is a Balm in Gilead"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in "There Is a Balm in Gilead."  The tune for the hymn is "Balm in Gilead."  Here's the second half of the verse:

In the second verse, the text here is "You can tell the love of Jesus / And say He died for all."  "All" is sung with a melisma (F to Bb), and this gives a sense of the entirety of "all."

LSB #583 "God Has Spoken by His Prophets"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Hebrews 1:1-3; John 1:1-14; 12:44-46, 49-50; 1 Corinthians 2:12-13

Hebrews 1:1-3:  "1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"

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."

John 12:44-46:  "44 And Jesus cried out and said, 'Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me.  45 And whoever sees me sees him who sent me.  46 I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.'"

John 12:49-50:  "49 'For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment - what to say and what to speak.  50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life.  What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.'"

1 Corinthians 2:12-13:  "12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.  13 And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual."

+++

Hebrews 1:1-3 appears at the beginning of the first verse ("God has spoken by His prophets") and the beginning of the second verse ("God has spoken by Christ Jesus").  Most of the second verse, however, comes from the passages from John, although there is some overlap between these citations.  John 12:49-50 could also be cited for "God has spoken by Christ Jesus," and Hebrews 1:1-3, John 1:1-14, and John 12:44-46 could all be cited for "Brightness of the Father's glory" and "Light of Light, to earth descending."

1 Corinthians 2:12-13 appears at the beginning of the third verse:  "God is speaking by His Spirit."

The first and third verses end with the line "God the first, and God the last," which is a description from Revelation (21:6; 22:13).

"Nun danket alle Gott" (TLH #38)

Had I continued on in sequence, I would have done "Aus meines Herzens Grunde" (#217).  I was disinclined to do this, however, since "Aus meines Herzens Grunde" was the tune I did a couple weeks ago (#214).  Instead, I went back to where I left off in recording the tunes I'd initially skipt.  (This situation of the same tune used for hymns in close proximity is also why I'd discontinued doing those earlier tunes in March; "Nun danket alle Gott" is the tune for #36 and #38.)

"Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying"

In the line "For her Lord comes down all-glorious" in "Wake, Awake, for Night Is Flying," "glorious" is sung with a melisma (A G A G).  Here's that phrase from the tune "Wachet auf":

This articulation gives a sense of degree, illustrating that "all."

LSB #582 "God's Word Is Our Great Heritage"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 119:105, 111; John 14:23; Luke 11:28

Psalm 119:105:  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Psalm 119:111:  "Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart."

John 14:23:  "Jesus answered him, 'If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.'"

Luke 11:28:  "But he said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'"

+++

The text is public domain:

God's Word is our great heritage

And shall be ours forever;

To spread its light from age to age

Shall be our chief endeavor.

Through life it guides our way,

In death it is our stay.

Lord, grant, while worlds endure,

We keep its teachings pure

Throughout all generations.

+++

Psalm 119:111 appears in the first two lines, and Psalm 119:105 appears throughout the next four, although most clearly in "Through life it guides our way."

The last few lines ("Lord, grant... We keep its teachings pure...") seem to come from both John 14:23 and Luke 11:28.

+++

"Lord, grant... We keep its teachings pure" also contains a grammatical ambiguity.  "Teachings pure" can be understood either as a double accusative (so the sense is "Lord, grant that we maintain the purity of Your Word's teachings") or simply as a noun modified by a post-positive adjective (which can be reshuffled as "Lord, grant... we keep its pure teachings").

"Nun freut euch" (TLH #216)

"Draw Us to Thee"

The tune I recorded for Sunday was "Ach Gott und Herr," used for "Draw Us to Thee." (I followed the arrangement from TLH #215, but the hymn is also LW #153 and LSB #701.)  I noticed a small connection between the text and the tune, specifically this phrase:

It's conjunct, going up and down the scale step-wise, so there's a musical sense of the walking mentioned in the first and third verses, which begin:  "Draw us to Thee, / For then shall we / Walk in Thy steps forever" and "Draw us to Thee; / Oh, grant that we / May walk the road to heaven!"

LSB #581 "These Are the Holy Ten Commands"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Exodus 20:1-17, Leviticus 19:2, James 2:10, Romans 3:21-24, 28

Exodus 20:1-17:  "1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

"2 'I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

"3 'You shall have no other gods before me.

"4 'You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.  5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

"7 'You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

"8 'Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.  On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.  11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.  Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

"12 'Honor our father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

"13 'You shall not murder.

"14 'You shall not commit adultery.

"15 'You shall not steal.

"16 'You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

"17 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's.'"

Leviticus 19:2:  "'Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy.'"

James 2:10:  "For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it."

Romans 3:21-24:  "21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it - 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.  For there is no distinction:  23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,"

Romans 3:28:  "For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law."

+++

Only some of the stanzas are public domain:

6 "You shall not murder, hurt, nor hate;

Your anger dare not dominate.

Be kind and patient; help, defend,

And treat your foe as your friend."

Have mercy, Lord!

8 "You shall not steal or take away

What others worked for night and day,

But open wide a gen'rous hand

And help the poor in the land."

Have mercy, Lord!

9 "Bear no false witness nor defame

Your neighbor nor destroy his name,

But view him in the kindest way;

Speak truth in all that you say."

Have mercy, Lord!

10 "You shall not crave your neighbor's house

Nor covet money, goods, or spouse.

Pray God He would your neighbor bless

As you yourself wish success."

Have mercy, Lord!

12 Our works cannot salvation gain;

They merit only endless pain.

Forgive us, Lord! To Christ we flee,

Who pleads for us endlessly.

Have mercy, Lord!

+++

Exodus 20:1-17 is the basis for the first ten verses.  James 2:10 appears in the beginning of the eleventh verse ("You have this Law to see therein / That you have not been free from sin"), and Leviticus 19:2 seems to appear in the second half of the eleventh verse ("But also that you clearly see / How pure toward God life should be").  The two passages from Romans are in the twelfth verse.

"To Christ we flee, / Who pleads for us endlessly" in the twelfth verse may come from Hebrews 7:25:  "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."

Additionally, "night and day" in the eighth verse is a merism.

"Ach Gott und Herr" (TLH #215)

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

"On Galilee's High Mountain"

About a year and a half ago, I noticed a small feature in "On Galilee's High Mountain," sung to the tune "Missionary Hymn."

Here's the first musical phrase:

The hymn starts with the lines "On Galilee's high mountain / Christ gave the great command."  Illustrating the word's meaning, "high" is sung to the highest pitch in this phrase (C).

LSB #580 "The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Romans 1:16-17, John 3:16, 1 John 4:9-10, Hebrews 9:28

Romans 1:16-17:  "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.  17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'"

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.'"

1 John 4:9-10:  "9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  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."

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."

+++

The text is public domain:

The Gospel shows the Father's grace,

Who sent His Son to save our race,

Proclaims how Jesus lived and died

That we might thus be justified.

It sets the Lamb before our eyes,

Who made the atoning sacrifice,

And calls the souls with guilt oppressed

To come and find eternal rest.

It brings the Savior's righteousness

To robe our souls in royal dress;

From all our guilt it brings release

And gives the troubled conscience peace.

It is the pow'r of God to save

From sin and Satan and the grave;

It works the faith which firmly clings

To all the treasures which it brings.

It bears to all the tidings glad

And bids their hearts no more be sad;

The weary, burdened souls it cheers

And banished their guilty fears.

May we in faith its message learn

Nor thanklessly its blessings spurn;

May we in faith its truth confess

And praise the Lord, our righteousness.

+++

The verses from Romans 1 seem to be referred to at the beginning of the hymn ("The Gospel shows the Father's grace..."), but they appear more clearly in the fourth verse:  "It is the pow'r of God to save...."  The repeated "May we in faith" in the last verse seems to come from "The righteous shall live by faith" in verse 17.

John 3:16 and 1 John 4:9-10 seem to be combined in the rest of the first verse:  "Who sent His Son to save our race, / Proclaims how Jesus lived and died / That we might thus be justified."

Hebrews 9:28 is the basis for most of the second verse.  "The Lamb" in the first line, however, refers to John the Baptist's title for Jesus in John 1:29 and 36.  The "eternal rest" in that verse and the line "The weary, burdened souls it cheers" in the fifth verse may be references to Matthew 11:28:  "'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'"

The lines "It brings the Savior's righteousness / To robe our souls in royal dress" in the third verse may be a reference to the white robes in Revelation 7.

"Aus meines Herzens Grunde" (TLH #214)

"Jerusalem, O City Fair and High"

When I transcribed the text for "Jerusalem, O City Fair and High" a couple years ago, I also found some musical things to note.

It doesn't seem worth it to post an excerpt of the notation for this, but at the end of the second verse, "home" is sung to the tonic note (D in D major).  Musically, then, there's a sense of coming "home."

Most of what I want to note is in these phrases:

The tune is "Jerusalem, du hochgebaute Stadt."

In the second verse, the text here is "To greet me gladly come / Your blessed angel legions."  "Legions" is sung with a melisma (E F# G A), musically giving a sense of that multitude.

In the fourth verse, the text here, describing heaven, is "And all its blessed throng / Unite their myriad voices."  "Voices" is sung with a melisma (E F# G A) to give a sense of being a "myriad."  Additionally, this specific melisma illustrates the meaning of the line.  While "voices" is sung to multiple syllables, these syllables form one word.  In the same way, these many voices are "unite[d]" in one song.