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

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

LSB #698 "May We Thy Precepts, Lord, Fulfill"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 6:10, Exodus 20:3-17

Matthew 6:10:  "'Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'"

Exodus 20:3-17:  "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.'"

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The text is public domain:
1 May we Thy precepts, Lord, fulfill
And do on earth our Father's will
As angels do above;
Still walk in Christ, the living way,
With all Thy children and obey
The law of Christian love.

2 So may we join Thy name to bless,
Thy grace adore, Thy pow'r confess,
From sin and strife to flee.
One is our calling, one our name,
The end of all our hopes the same,
A crown of life with Thee.

3 Spirit of life, of love and peace,
Unite our hearts, our joy increase,
Thy gracious help supply.
To each of us the blessing give
In Christian fellowship to live,
In joyful hope to die.
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The passage from Exodus (the Ten Commandments) is cited apparently just to define "Thy precepts" in the first line.

Matthew 6:10 is referred to in the second line:  "And do on earth our Father's will."

The line "A crown of life with Thee" at the end of the second verse could come from either James 1:12 or Revelation 2:10.

The end of the second verse and the beginning of the third verse seem to come from part of Ephesians 4.  The line "One is our calling, one our name" in the hymn's second verse is similar to verses 4-6 ("4 There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."), and the lines "Spirit of life, of love and peace, / Unite our hearts" at the beginning of the hymn's third verse bear some resemblance to verse 3 ("eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.").