LSB #491 "Up through Endless Ranks of Angels"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Mark 16:19, 1 John 2:1-2, John 14:16-18

Mark 16:19:  "So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God."

1 John 2:1-2:  "1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.  2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world."

John 14:16-18:  "16 'And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

"18 'I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."

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The verse from Mark 16 appears in the first verse, which - with some elaboration - describes Christ's Ascension.

The verses from 1 John 2 appear in the second half of the second verse: "Now for us before the Father / As our brother intercede; / Flesh that for our world was wounded, / Living, for the wounded plead!"

The verses from John 14 are in the third verse, specifically in the line "Send Your Spirit, promised guide."

"Up through Endless Ranks of Angels"

Around the time of Ascension Day a few months ago, I happened to be transcribing hymns about the Ascension.  I found a few musical/textual connections in "Up through Endless Ranks of Angels," sung to the tune "Ascended Triumph."

The beginning of the first and third musical phrases (which are the same) ascends:

In the first verse, the lines sung to these ascending phrases mention Christ's Ascension:  "Up through endless ranks of angels" and "To His heav'nly throne ascending."

The fifth musical phrase descends:

and in the first verse, the line there is "Christ looks down upon His faithful."  Instead of pairing of an ascending musical phrase with a line about Christ's Ascension, this is sort of the opposite: a line about Christ's looking down, sung to a descending phrase.