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

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

LSB #732 "All Depends on Our Possessing"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 6:19-34; Colossians 3:1-4; Romans 8:31-32, 38-39; Psalm 143:8

Matthew 6:19-34:  "19 'Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"22 'The eye is the lamp of the body.  So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

"24 'No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and money.

"25 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?  26 Look at the birds of the air:  they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?  28 And why are you anxious about clothing?  Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow:  they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more cloth you, O you of little faith?  31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall we drink?" or "What shall we wear?"  32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

"34 'Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.  Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.'"

Colossians 3:1-4:  "1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.  3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory."

Romans 8:31-32:  "31 What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

Romans 8:38-39:  "38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Psalm 143:8:  "Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust.  Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul."

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The text is public domain:
1 All depends on our possessing
God's abundant grace and blessing,
Though all earthly wealth depart.
They who trust with faith unshaken
By their God are not forsaken
And will keep a dauntless heart.

2 He who to this day has fed me
And to many joys has led me
Is and ever shall be mine.
He who ever gently schools me,
He who daily guides and rules me
Will remain my help divine.

3 Many spend their lives in fretting
Over trifles and in getting
Things that have no solid ground.
I shall strive to win a treasure
That will bring me lasting pleasure
And that now is seldom found.

4 When with sorrow I am stricken,
Hope anew my heart will quicken;
All my longing shall be stilled.
To His loving-kindness tender
Soul and body I surrender,
For on God alone I build.

5 Well He knows what best to grant me;
All the longing hopes that haunt me,
Joy and sorrow, have their day.
I shall doubt His wisdom never;
As God wills, so be it ever;
I commit to Him my way.

6 If my days on earth He lengthen,
God my weary soul will strengthen;
All my trust in Him I place.
Earthly wealth is not abiding,
Like a stream away is gliding;
Safe I anchor in His grace.
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The passage from Matthew 6 is the main source for the hymn, and parts of it appear throughout, with the possible exception of the fourth verse.

Colossians 3:2 ("Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.") overlaps a bit with Matthew 6:19-21 and appears in the first, third, and sixth verses.  Romans 8:38-39 could be cited for these verses, too; the constancy and surety of God's love contrasts with the transitory nature of worldly wealth.

"Graciously giv[ing] us all things" from Romans 8:32 is the same general idea expressed in Matthew 6:25-33 and appears primarily in the second verse but also in the line "Well He knows what best to grant me" at the beginning of the fifth.

The first part of Psalm 143:8 ("Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust.") seems to be the basis for the second half of the fourth verse ("To His loving-kindness tender / Soul and body I surrender, / For on God alone I build.") and also appears in the fifth ("All my trust in Him I place.").