LSB #812 "Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 5:6-14, Psalm 95:1-2

Revelation 5:6-14:  "6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.  7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.  8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.  9 And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, 10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.'  11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'  13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'  14 And the four living creatures said, 'Amen!' and the elders fell down and worshiped."

Psalm 95:1-2:  "1 Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!  2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!"

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The text is public domain:

1 Come, let us join our cheerful songs

With angels round the throne;

Ten thousand thousand are their tongues,

But all their joys are one.

2 "Worthy the Lamb that died," they cry,

"To be exalted thus!"

"Worthy the Lamb," our lips reply,

"For He was slain for us!"

3 Jesus is worthy to receive

Honor and pow'r divine;

And blessings more than we can give

Be, Lord, forever Thine.

4 Let all creation join in one

To bless the sacred name

Of Him who sits upon the throne

And to adore the Lamb.

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The hymn summarizes the text from Revelation 5, particularly verses 11-13.  The passage from Psalm 95, especially the "joyful noise," appears in the first line:  "Come, let us join our cheerful songs."

"A Mighty Fortress Is Our God"

A few weeks ago, the Daily Dose of Latin went over John 16:11 in the Vulgate.  In the ESV, it's "'concerning judgement, because the ruler of this world is judged.'"  This seems to be the basis for roughly the second half of the third verse of "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God" (specifically LSB #656):

This world's prince may still

Scowl fierce as he will,

He can harm us none.

He's judged; the deed is done;

One little word can fell him.

(Here's a link to my post on the other Biblical sources.)

LSB #811 "Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 Chronicles 16:31-36, Psalm 126:3, Joel 2:26, Psalm 95:6

1 Chronicles 16:31-36:  "31 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice, and let them say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns!'  32 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!  33 Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before the LORD, for he comes to judge the earth.  34 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

"35 Say also:  'Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name, and glory in your praise.  36 Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!'  Then all the people said, 'Amen!' and praised the LORD."

Psalm 126:3:  "The LORD has done great things for us; we are glad."

Joel 2:26:  "'You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you.  And my people shall never again be put to shame.'"

Psalm 95:6:  "Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our maker!"

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The passage from 1 Chronicles 16 is the main source for the hymn.  It appears most clearly in the hymn's third verse, which is drawn from verses 32-33 and likewise exhorts forest leaves, meadow grasses, and flowers to praise the Lord.

Psalm 126:3 appears at the end of the first verse:  "My heart... Would then proclaim... what great things God has done for me."

Like parts of the passage from 1 Chronicles 16, the worship and praise in Joel 2:26 and Psalm 95:6 seem to appear rather generally throughout the hymn, of which the first two lines provide a good summary:  "Oh, that I had a thousand voices / To praise my God with thousand tongues!"

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Part of the fourth verse ("All creatures that have breath and motion... Help me to sing God's praises high") is drawn from Psalm 150:6:  "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD!"

"I Know My Faith Is Founded"

I wrote about a small feature in "I Know My Faith Is Founded" about a year ago, but when it was one of the hymns on Worship Anew last month (5 October, Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost), I noticed something else.

The fourth line of the first verse is "Unmoved I stand on His sure Word," sung to this musical phrase from the tune "Nun lob, mein' Seel'":

The words "Unmoved I stand" are all sung to the same pitch, and this musical constancy matches the meaning.

LSB #810 "O God of God, O Light of Light"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 5:12-13; Acts 2:22-24, 36; Revelation 19:4-6

Revelation 5:12-13:  "12 saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!'  13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, 'To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'"

Acts 2:22-24:  "22 'Men of Israel, hear these words:  Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know - 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.  24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.'"

Acts 2:36:  "'Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.'"

Revelation 19:4-6:  "4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, 'Amen.  Hallelujah!'  5 And from the throne came a voice saying, 'Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.'  6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, 'Hallelujah!  For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns."

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The text is public domain:

1 O God of God, O Light of Light,

O Prince of Peace and King of kings:

To You in heaven's glory bright

The song of praise forever rings.

To Him who sits upon the throne,

The Lamb once slain but raised again,

Be all the glory He has won,

All thanks and praise!  Amen, amen.

2 For deep in prophets' sacred page,

And grand in poets' winged word,

Slowly in type, from age to age

The nations saw their coming Lord;

Till through the deep Judean night

Rang out the song, "Goodwill to men!"

Sung once by firstborn sons of light,

It echoes now, "Goodwill!"  Amen.

3 That life of truth, those deeds of love,

That death so steeped in hate and scorn -

These all are past, and now above

He reigns, our King once crowned with thorn.

Lift up your heads, O mighty gates!

So sang that host beyond our ken.

Lift up your heads, your King awaits.

We lift them up.  Amen, amen.

4 Then raise to Christ a mighty song,

And shout His name, His mercies tell!

Sing, heav'nly host, your praise prolong,

And all on earth, your anthem swell!

All hail, O Lamb for sinners slain!

Forever let the song ascend!

Worthy the Lamb, enthroned to reign,

All glory, pow'r!  Amen, amen.

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The two passages from Revelation appear in the first and fourth verses.  Revelation 5 with its "Worthy is the Lamb" and doxology is a bit more prominent than Revelation 19.

The two passages from Acts 2 seem to be the basis for the first half of the third verse, and "God raised him up" from verse 24 appears in the last half of the line "The Lamb once slain but raised again" in the first verse.

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In the first verse, the titles "God of God" and "Light of Light" come from the Nicene Creed.  The title "Prince of Peace" comes from Isaiah 9:6, and the title "King of kings" appears in 1 Timothy 6:15, Revelation 17:14, and Revelation 19:16.

The goodwill in the second verse comes from some translations of Luke 2:13-14:  "13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:  14 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!'' [NKJV].

The line "Lift up your heads, O mighty gates!" in the third verse refers to Psalm 24:7-10:  "7 Lift up your heads, O gates!  And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  8 Who is the King of glory?  The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle!  9 Lift up your heads, O gates!  And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.  10 Who is this King of glory?  The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!"

"What Is the World to Me"

Near the end of September, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from the 23rd.  The hymn was "What Is the World to Me," and I noticed a small feature at the beginning of the first verse.

The hymn starts with the lines "What is the world to me / With all its vaunted pleasure," sung to these phrases from the tune "Was frag' ich nach der Welt":

"Pleasure" is sung with a melisma (E D C), lending a sense of the entirety or breadth of "all."  That the word is sung to all different pitches may contribute to this, too.

LSB #809 "Great Is Thy Faithfulness"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Lamentations 3:22-24, James 1:17, Genesis 8:20-22, Psalm 89:1-2

Lamentations 3:22-24:  "22 The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  24 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'therefore I will hope in him.'"

James 1:17:  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

Genesis 8:20-22:  "20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.  21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, 'I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth.  Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done.  22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.'"

Psalm 89:1-2:  "1 I will sing of the steadfast love the LORD, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations.  2 For I said, 'Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.'"

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Lamentations 3:22-24 appears in the first line ("Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father") and in the refrain ("Great is Thy faithfulness! / Great is Thy faithfulness! / Morning by morning new mercies I see...").  The phrase "Thy great faithfulness" also occurs in the second verse.  To a lesser degree, Psalm 89:1-2 is included in these lines, too.

James 1:17 is paraphrased in the first verse:  "There is no shadow of turning with Thee. / Thou changest not...."

The passage from Genesis 8, particularly verse 22, appears in the second verse:  "Summer and winter and springtime and harvest, / Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above / Join with all nature in manifold witness / To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love."