"Greet the Rising Sun"

A couple years ago, I noticed a small feature in "Greet the Rising Sun," sung to the tune "Le P'ing."  The last two lines of the second verse are "May Your bounteous grace / By my life be told," sung to these musical phrases:

"Grace" is sung with a melisma (A G F), musically giving a sense of the abundance of "bounteous."

LSB #677 "For All the Saints"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Hebrews 12:1-3; Revelation 2:10; 14:13; 17:14

Hebrews 12:1-3:  "1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

"3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

Revelation 2:10:  "'Do not fear what you are about to suffer.  Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation.  Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.'"

Revelation 14:13:  "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this:  Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'  'Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!'"

Revelation 17:14:  "'They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.'"

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The text is public domain:

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,

Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,

Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might;

Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight;

Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light.

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold,

Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old

And win with them the victor's crown of gold!

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,

Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,

And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;

Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;

Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day:

The saints triumphant rise in bright array;

The King of Glory passes on His way.

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,

Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,

Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost:

Alleluia!

Alleluia!

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The "great a cloud of witnesses" from Hebrews 12:1 and "'that they may rest from their labors'" from Revelation 14:13 seem to be combined in the hymn's first line:  "For all the saints who from their labors rest."  The rest is also referred to in the sixth verse ("Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest").  Hebrews 12:2 (the focus on Jesus) seems to be the basis for the second verse.  The anaphora (the repeated "Thou") illustrates this focus, as does the description "in the darkness drear, their one true light," which seems to refer to John 1:9 ("The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.") and John 8:12 (where Jesus says, "I am the light of the world").  Hebrews 12:3 (particularly "that you may not grow weary or fainthearted") seems to be referred to at the end of the fifth verse:  "And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong."

The crown in Revelation 2:10 is mentioned at the end of the third verse:  "And win with them the victor's crown of gold!"

The military imagery in Revelation 17:14 appears primarily in the second and third verses and to a lesser extent in the fifth and sixth verses.

The eighth and ninth verses also contain elements from Revelation.  The line "The saints triumphant rise in bright array" in the eighth verse refers to the white robes in Revelation 7, and the description "gates of pearl" in the ninth verse is drawn from Revelation 21:21.

Perhaps coincidentally, the line "Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold" at the beginning of the third verse has some language in common with Revelation 19:11:  "Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse!  The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war."

"Now Thank We All Our God"

Registration:

Upper:  42 8875 543

Lower:  00 5645 322

Pedal:  44

Played with the "mellow" drawbar organ sound on my Hammond SKX, with the Hammond XPK-130G pedals

"Herr Jesu Christ, dich" (TLH #297)

"I Am Content! My Jesus Ever Lives"

Last week, I watched the Concordia University Wisconsin chapel service from 24 April.  The hymn was "I Am Content! My Jesus Ever Lives," and I noticed a small feature in it.  Near the beginning of the fourth verse, there's the line "Arising glorious evermore to be" (the sense is completed with the following line:  "With You, my living head").  It's sung to this phrase from the tune "Es ist genug":

"Arising" is sung to a group of ascending notes (F G A), so there's a musical sense of the word's meaning.

LSB #676 "Behold a Host, Arrayed in White"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 7:9-17, Hebrews 9:14, 1 John 1:7, Revelation 6:11-13

Revelation 7:9-17:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

Hebrews 9:14:  "how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

1 John 1:7:  "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin."

Revelation 6:11-13:  "11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

"12 When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, 13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale."

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The text is public domain:

Behold a host, arrayed in white,

Like thousand snowclad mountains bright!

With palms they stand;

Who is this band

Before the throne of light?

These are the saints of glorious fame,

Who from the great affliction came

And in the flood

Of Jesus' blood

Are cleansed from guilt and shame.

They now serve God both day and night;

They sing their songs in endless light.

Their anthems ring

As they all sing

With angels shining bright.

Despised and scorned, they sojourned here;

But now, how glorious they appear!

Those martyrs stand,

A priestly band,

God's throne forever near.

On earth they wept through bitter years;

Now God has wiped away their tears,

Transformed their strife

To heav'nly life,

And freed them from their fears.

They now enjoy the Sabbath rest,

The heav'nly banquet of the blest;

The Lamb, their Lord,

At festive board

Himself is host and guest.

O blessed saints in bright array

Now safely home in endless day,

Extol the Lord,

Who with His Word

Sustained you on the way.

The steep and narrow path you trod;

You toiled and sowed the Word abroad;

Rejoice and bring

Your fruits and sing

Before the throne of God.

The myriad angels raise their song;

O saints, sing with the happy throng!

Lift up one voice;

Let heav'n rejoice

In our Redeemer's song!

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Most of the hymn text is drawn from the passage from Revelation 7; some parts are even paraphrases.  Hebrews 9:14 and 1 John 1:7 overlap with Revelation 7:14 in the lines "And in the flood / Of Jesus' blood / Are cleansed from guilt and shame" in the first verse.

1 John 1:7 (specifically the light mentioned in it) seems to appear also in the line "They sing their songs in endless light" in the first verse, although the line could also refer to Revelation 21:23:  "And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb."

Some of Revelation 6:11-13 ("they were each given a white robe") overlaps with the passage from Revelation 7 in the title line, but part of verse 11 ("who were to be killed as they themselves had been") seems to be referred to in the lines "Those martyrs stand, / A priestly band, / God's throne forever near" in the second verse.

"Come, Thou Almighty King"

Registration:

Upper:  74 8745 325

Lower:  00 6543 322

Pedal:  55

Played with the "mellow" drawbar organ sound on my Hammond SKX, with the Hammond XPK-130G pedals

"Werde munter" (TLH #296)

"Awake, My Heart, with Gladness"

One of the hymns in the Easter service I attended was "Awake, My Heart, with Gladness," and I noticed a few interesting features in it.  The hymn is sung to the tune "Auf, auf, mein Herz."  Here's the second musical phrase:

The fourth verse begins with the lines "Now hell, its prince, the devil, / Of all their pow'r are shorn."  The second of those lines is sung to the above phrase, and "all" and "pow'r" are both sung with melismas (B C# and C# B, respectively), musically giving a sense of that entirety.

The third and fourth lines of the fifth verse are "Though bitter war it [the world] wages, / Its work is all in vain."  The second line is sung to the same phrase as above (the first and second musical phrases are repeated as the third and fourth), and here too, "all" is sung with a melisma (C# B), giving a sense of entirety.

The penultimate line of the sixth verse is "He [Christ] shatters hell's grim thrall," sung to this musical phrase:

"Shatters" is sung with a melisma (F# G# A), and this articulation provides a sense of the word's meaning.

LSB #675 "Oh, What Their Joy"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Revelation 7:10-17; 21:2-7

Revelation 7:10-17:  "10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'  11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, 'Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.'

"13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, 'Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?'  14 I said to him, 'Sir, you know.'  And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

Revelation 21:2-7:  "2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.  3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.  He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.'

"5 And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'  Also he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.'  6 And he said to me, 'It is done!  I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.  To the thirsty I will give from the spring of water of life without payment.  7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son."

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The text is public domain:

Oh, what their joy and their glory must be,

Those endless Sabbaths the blessed ones see!

Crowns for the valiant, to weary ones rest;

God shall be all, and in all ever blest.

In new Jerusalem joy shall be found,

Blessings of peace shall forever abound;

Wish and fulfillment are not severed there,

Nor the things prayed for come short of the prayer.

We, where no trouble distraction can bring,

Safely the anthems of Zion shall sing;

While for Your grace, Lord, their voices of praise

Your blessed people shall evermore raise.

Now let us worship our Lord and our King,

Joyfully raising our voices to sing:

Praise to the Father, and praise to the Son,

Praise to the Spirit, to God, Three in One.

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The first two verses come from the passage from Revelation 21, and the last two verses come from the passage from Revelation 7, although while the hymn emphasizes singing, the text from Revelation 7 has "crying out with a loud voice" and "saying."

The line "Crowns for the valiant, to weary ones rest" in the first verse seems to have specific Biblical sources too:  "Crowns for the valiant" from either James 1:12 ("when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him") or Revelation 2:10 ("'Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.'") and "to weary ones rest" from Matthew 11:28 ("'Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.'").

"We Gather Together"

The grammar nerd in me feels that I have to comment that "gather together" is redundant.

Registration:

Upper:  00 7856 321

Lower:  00 5432 222

Pedal:  44

Played with the "mellow" drawbar organ sound on my Hammond SKX, with the Hammond XPK-130G pedals

"Erhalt uns, Herr" (TLH #295)

Transposed from E minor to A minor