LSB #782 "Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Lamentations 3:22-23, 1 Peter 4:10-11, 1 John 3:16-18, Matthew 5:16

Lamentations 3:22-23:  "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."

1 Peter 4:10-11:  "10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace:  11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen."

1 John 3:16-18:  "16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.  17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him?  18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

Matthew 5:16:  "'In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.'"

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The passage from Lamentations 3 appears in the first verse:  "Gracious God, You send great blessings / New each morning all our days. / For Your mercies never-ending, / For Your love we offer praise."

1 Peter 4:10 appears in the lines "As we tend that endless treasure / May our care encircle all" in the second verse and in the line "Who Your gifts unnumbered claim" in the refrain.  1 Peter 4:11 is combined with Matthew 5:16 in the rest of the refrain:  "Lord, we pray that we... Through the sharing of Your blessings / May bring glory to Your name."

The text from 1 John 3 is the basis for the third verse, especially the second half:  "May our deeds of dedication / Offer love that never ends."

"Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings"

Two years ago, I wrote a post about "Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings."  About a month ago, I found a few more features to note.

In the second verse, creation is described as "Filled with creatures large and small."  "Large and small" is a merism.

At the end of that verse, there's the line "May our care encircle all," sung to this phrase from the tune "Holy Manna":

The three syllables of "encircle" are each sung to a different pitch (F A G), so while the intervals aren't very large, there's something of a sense of breadth and of the word's meaning.

The hymn's refrain is:

Lord, we pray that we, Your people

Who Your gifts unnumbered claim,

Through the sharing of Your blessings

May bring glory to Your name.

The third line is sung to this phrase:

"Blessings" is sung with a melisma (A G F D), and because it's spread out to more notes, there's a sense of its being "shar[ed]."

"Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings"

Many months ago, one of the hymns I sang in church was "Gracious God, You Send Great Blessings," sung to the tune "Holy Manna."  I noticed some connections between this tune and the text.

The third phrase of the text is sung to this musical phrase:

In the first verse, the text here is "For Your mercies never ending" (which I think should be "never-ending"), and in the second verse, the text is "As we tend that endless treasure."  Both "never-ending" and "endless treasure" are sung with melismas (the string of eighth notes in the second measure), and because these words are stretched over these extra syllables, there's a musical sense of that extended period of time.

Similarly, there's a melisma for "unnumbered" in the refrain ("Lord, we pray that we, Your people / Who Your gifts unnumbered claim...").  Here's the music for just the second line:

Because "unnumbered" is sung with an extra syllable, there's a musical sense of the abundance of God's gifts.