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

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

LSB #764 "When Aimless Violence Takes Those We Love"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  2 Corinthians 1:3-5; 1 Peter 2:21-24; 4:12-14, 19; Psalm 9:9-10

2 Corinthians 1:3-5:  "3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  5 For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too."

1 Peter 2:21-24: "21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.  23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.  24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.  By his wounds you have been healed."

1 Peter 4:12-14:  "12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.  13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.  14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you."

1 Peter 4:19:  "Therefore let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good."

Psalm 9:9-10:  "9 The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.  10 And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you."

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The suffering mentioned in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 and 1 Peter 4:12-14, 19 appears throughout the hymn, but especially in the first verse, and the comfort in 2 Corinthians 1:3-5 is referred to at the ends of the fourth and fifth verses ("Your loving presence [is] near, always the same" and "To rest our souls in Your supporting love, / And find our hope within Your mercy sure.").  The passage from 1 Peter 2 is the basis for the fourth verse ("Because Your Son knew agony and loss..."), and the last part of Psalm 9:10 appears throughout:  "We know, O God, You leave us not alone" at the end of the first verse, "Dear Lord, You do not stand from us apart" at the end of the second, "Yet You, O God, are with us in our pain" in the third, and "We know You will be with us, come what may" in the fourth.  1 Peter 4:19 and Psalm 9:9-10 (specifically "entrust[ing] their souls" and "put their trust in you") both appear in the fifth verse:  "help us, dear Lord, / To trust Your grace for courage to endure."