LSB #476 "Who Are You Who Walk in Sorrow"

Biblical citation in the hymnal:  Luke 24:13-35

Luke 24:13-35:  "13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.  16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  17 And he said to them, 'What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?'  And they stood still, looking sad.  18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, 'Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?'  19 And he said to them, 'What things?'  And they said to him, 'Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him.  21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.  Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.  22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.  They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive.  24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.'  25 And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?'  27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

"28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going.  He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, 'Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.'  So he went in to stay with them.  30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.  31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.  And he vanished from their sight.  32 They said to each other, 'Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?'  33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.  And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, 'The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!'  35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread."

+++

While the entire hymn is based on this text from Luke, it appears primarily in the first three verses.  The first verse introduces the two men, mourning what has happened (verses 13-14).  In the second verse, they are joined by an "Unknown Stranger" who "open[s] wide the Scriptures" to them (verses 15-27).  In the third verse, the two men recognize Jesus when He breaks the bread (verses 30-31).

This might be coincidental, but the line "Women, men, the young, the aging" in the fourth verse (the description of "Who are we who travel with You / On our way through life to death") bears some resemblance to those called upon to praise the Lord in Psalm 148:12:  "Young men and maidens together, old men and children!"

Messiah: No. 6 But who may abide the day of His coming

The text is from Malachi 3:2:  "But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears?  For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap."

"Sieh, hier bin ich" (TLH #116)

"Come, Thou Almighty King"

Last year, I noticed a small feature in "Come, Thou Almighty King."  The last two lines of the second verse are "And let Thy righteousness / On us descend," sung to these phrases from the tune "Italian Hymn":

"On us descend" is sung to a descending phrase, musically giving a picture of the text.

LSB #475 "Good Christian Friends, Rejoice and Sing"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Psalm 118:24, Matthew 28:8, Isaiah 25:7-9, Romans 6:9

Psalm 118:24:  "This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

Matthew 28:8:  "So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples."

Isaiah 25:7-9:  "7 And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations.  8 He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.  9 It will be said on that day, 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us.  This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.'"

Romans 6:9:  "We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him."

+++

The rejoicing mentioned in Psalm 118:24 and Isaiah 25:9 and the "great joy" from Matthew 28:8 are present in almost every verse of the hymn:  "Good Christian friends, rejoice and sing!" in the first verse, "Let all the world rejoice..." in the second, and "sing with hearts uplifted high" in the third.

Romans 6:9 mentions Christ's resurrection, so it could be the source for "The Lord of life is ris'n this day" in the hymn's second verse, but since the resurrection happens in the verses immediately preceding Matthew 28:8, those would probably be a better source.  "We know that Christ... will never die again" from Romans 6:9 appears in the line "That love, that life which cannot die" in the third verse.

"He will swallow up death forever" from Isaiah and "death no longer has dominion over him" from Romans seem to be merely hinted at in the hymn, specifically in the line "Now is the triumph of our King!" in the first verse and the reference to "songs of victory" in the third.

+++

This might just be coincidence, but the line "To all the world glad news we bring" at the end of the first verse bears some resemblance to Luke 2:10:  "And the angel said to them, 'Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.'"

Messiah: No. 5 Thus saith the Lord of hosts

The text is from  Malachi 3:1:  "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me.  And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts."

Similar to the settings of "crooked," "straight," et al in No. 3, here, there's a programmatic aspect with "shake."  It's separated into many notes to give the impression of shaking.

At one point, "the heavens" has an rising melody, and "the earth" a falling one, as if to reflect the relative positions of each (the heavens are above the earth).

I didn't notice this until I started listening to Messiah while looking at the notation, but there's also a part where the instruments start playing after a rest, corresponding to "come" in "he shall come."  It's like they're meant to emphasis the coming.

"Angelus" (TLH #115)

I transposed this down a half step to D major because I dislike Eb major.

"Go to Dark Gethsemane"

This isn't seasonally appropriate, but I'm writing about it now lest I forget.

I've been reading Lamentations recently, and last week I found a verse that seems to be the source for a line in "Go to Dark Gethsemane."  (I wrote about the Biblical sources for "Go to Dark Gethsemane" back in November.)

In the second verse, there's the line "Oh, the wormwood and the gall!" and these two things are also mentioned (in this order) in Lamentations 3:19:  "Remember my afflictions and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!"

LSB #474 "Alleluia! Jesus Is Risen"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Matthew 28:5-7, 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18, Revelation 5:6-14, John 15:1-8

Matthew 28:5-7:  "5 But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  6 He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where he lay.  7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.  See, I have told you.'"

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18:  "16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.  18 Therefore encourage one another with these words."

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.

John 15:1-8:  "1 'I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.  2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.  3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.  4 Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  5 I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.  7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.'"

+++

Although this is an Easter hymn, the Easter text from Matthew is only briefly mentioned.  It's in the first two lines ("Alleluia! / Jesus is risen!") and in the refrain ("Jesus is risen and we shall arise").

The first line of the refrain ("Jesus is risen and we shall arise") and the trumpets mentioned in the first verse ("Trumpets resounding in glorious light!") both seem to be drawn from the 1 Thessalonians text.

John 15 appears in the third verse ("Jesus the vine, / We are the branches; / Life in the Spirit the fruit of the tree"), and Revelation 5 appears in the fifth verse ("Saints and archangels, / Sing with creation to God the I AM!") and the second line of the refrain ("Give God the glory!  Alleluia!").

+++

The second verse describes Jesus' appearance to the two men going to Emmaus in Luke 24:13-35:  "Walking the way, / Christ in the center / Telling the story to open our eyes; / Breaking our bread."

The fifth verse calls God "the I AM," which is a name from Exodus 3:14:  "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'"

Messiah: No. 4 And the glory of the Lord

The text is from Isaiah 40:5:  "'And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.'"

"Gott sei Dank" (TLH #114)

This is a bit of a shorter tune, so I went through it three times.  The higher of the two bass parts goes below standard guitar tuning, so I didn't play that part.

"Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus"

Last summer, I noticed an interesting feature that connects "Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus" and "Lasset uns mit Jesu ziehen," the tune to which it's sung.

The first two lines are "Let us ever walk with Jesus, / Follow His example pure," sung to these musical phrases:

Excepting the first note, these two phrases are entirely conjunct (they don't skip over any notes in the scale), and this gives a musical impression of that "walk[ing]" and "follow[ing]."  The first verse ends with the line "I shall follow where You guide," sung to the same phrase that's in the last two measures above, and this too has that musical impression of "follow[ing]" step by step.