Episode 18 of "Behind the Hymn" features the Hymn of the Day for this Sunday (September 20, 2020).
"Salvation unto Us Has Come" (LSB 555) may have ten stanzas in the Lutheran Service Book, but as we pay attention to the lyrics, we come to read and sing about the good news of our justification by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone! In today's special episode, we look back to 1524 when this hymn was first published in the world's first Lutheran hymnal, and we learn about the man who wrote this hymn, Paul Speratus.
Episode 17 of "Behind the Hymn: Martin Schalling."
Today's episode featured the hymn: "Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart" (LSB 708). In his hymn, Schalling writes "let no false doctrine me beguile." What is false doctrine and why is it so bad? Stay tuned to today's episode on the dangers of false doctrine, otherwise known as heresy.
Episode 16 of "Behind the Hymn: Erdmann Neumeister." Episodes will premiere each Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT on the First Ev. Lutheran Facebook page.
Today's episode featured two hymns "I Know My Faith is Founded" (LSB 587) and "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It" (LSB 594).
Neumeister was known for teaching Biblical truths through hymnody. In each of the above hymns, he proclaims the saving truth of the Gospel.
In the first hymn in today's episode, "God's Own Child, I Gladly Say It," he proclaims how Christians receive God's saving grace. As we sing this hymn, we proclaim how through our Baptism into Christ, we are saved, and nothing can take away the gifts bestowed in Baptism. Well, that is, except for us. For as long as we believe and trust in Christ, our Baptism into Christ saves us.
In the second hymn, "I Know My Faith is Founded," he proclaims that faith rests only on Jesus, who is true God and true man. This saving faith is created by the work of the Holy Spirit, that began at our Baptism, and the Holy Spirit continues to strenthen our faith through the proclamation of the Word of God. Without the work of the Holy Spirit through the Word, our reason alone could never fathom the truth of God. This truth of God is that we are saved only by grace through faith in Christ alone!
Credit: Lutheran Service Book - Companion to the Hymns
Today's episode featured the hymn "Jesus, Priceless Treasure" (LSB 743).
"Jesus, Priceless Treasure" is a love song about Christ, the bridegroom, and His bride, the Church - all believers in Christ. This hymn proclaims that Christ's believers are citizens of heaven and have God's grace, but our earthly life is not easy. Nor is sin conquered in this life. But, even though "the storms may gather," such as persecution, doubt, and fear, those who love the Father nonetheless "still have peace within."
Credit: Lutheran Service Book - Companion to the Hymns
Today's episode featured the hymn "Glory Be to God the Father" (LSB 506).
"Glory Be to God the Father" proclaims the triune nature of the one, true God - the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The triune nature of God is fully revealed through Jesus Christ. Due to this, the majority of this hymn proclaims the person and work of Jesus Christ. Through Christ alone, we are washed clean from our sin. Through Christ alone, we are purchased, redeemed, made righteous. Through Christ alone, we inherit eternal life through His atoning death and bodily resurrection. Through Christ alone, the powers of sin, death and Satan are destroyed. And, so, we sing with the choir of angels: "Honor, riches, power, dominion! Thus its praise creation brings. Glory, glory, glory to the King of kings!"
Credit: Lutheran Service Book - Companion to the Hymns
Episode 13 of "Behind the Hymn: Samuel J. Stone." Today's episode featured the hymn "The Church's One Foundation" (LSB 644).
"The Church's One Foundation" reminds the singer that Jesus Christ alone is the foundation of His Church. Christ has created, bought, and redeemed His Church by water and the Word. He sought us and died for us, so that we would be saved from the power of sin, death, and Satan. In Christ alone, we are saved and receive forgivness of sins, eternal life and salvation!
Episode 12 of "Behind the Hymn: Hans Adolf Brorson." Episodes will premiere each Wednesday at 7 p.m. CT on the First Ev. Lutheran Facebook page.
Today's episode featured the hymn "Behold a Host, Arrayed in White" (LSB 676).
"Behold a Host, Arrayed in White" is a jubilant and triumphant anthem for the saints, and as such it is often sung on All Saints Sunday and at Christian funerals. This hymn balances an awareness of the individual Christian's suffering in this life (Church Militant) with the recognition that Christ's atoning work translates the Christian to the hope and promise of heaven (Church Triumphant).
Credit: Lutheran Service Book - The Companion to the Hymns
Episode Ten of "Behind the Hymn: Stories of the Hymns that We Love to Sing: Francis Scott Key."
Today's episode featured the hymn: "Before You, Lord, We Bow" (LSB 966). _______________
"Before You, Lord, We Bow" was written in honor of Independence Day. His most known poem titled "The Star-Spangled Banner," which is now known as the National Anthem was written in response to the Battle of Baltimore at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.
Unlike many other patriotic hymns, "Before You, Lord, We Bow" is not written about a generic god - a god of one's choosing. Instead, this hymn is written in praise to the one true God - the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Key praises the Triune God for all the benefits He alone bestows upon the United States of America.
Lastly, Key, like all of mankind, is a fallen human being. But, God has worked through sinners, such as Adam, Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jacob, Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, and us, to establish His will. To God be all the glory!
(Credit: Lutheran Service Book - Companion to the Hymns)
Episode Nine of "Behind the Hymn: Ambrose of Milan."
Today's episode featured two hymns by Ambrose: "Savior of the Nations, Come" (LSB 332) and "O Splendor of God's Glory Bright" (LSB 874).
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"Savior of the Nation's Come" is known as the Advent hymn par excellence. This hymn is the traditional Lutheran Hymn of the Day for the First Sunday in Advent.
Stanza one is a call for the Virgin's Son to come and make His home among us and for all creation, heaven and earth, to marvel that the Lord of all "chose such a birth"; that is, He took on human flesh and became one of us except without sin. Stanza two proclaims that the Word of God, Christ the Lord, who was "in the beginning" (John 1:1), became flesh like us not through any human agency but "by the Spirit of our God." Stanza three continues the thought that while "here a maid was found with child," she remained a virgin and that the child in the mother's womb was the God who was "there upon His throne."
Stanzas four and five reflect creedal statements of God sending HIs Son from His "kingly hall" into the world, and that this child was both "Lord of all" and "God of God," yet fully man. Sent from the Father, He will return to the Father, back to His "throne and crown" after He "in flesh the victory won," the victory over sin, death, and the devil, which the glorified Christ proclaimed to those in hell.
Stanza seven uses the image of light, the light that now shines from the manger into the night, the light of Christ, which shatters the darkness, and the light in which "faith now abides." The concluding stanza is doxological praise to the Father, who, in the context of this hymn, sent His Son into the world; to the Son, who fulfilled the Father's will in taking on our human flesh to rescue the world from sin, death, and the devil; and to the Spirit, by whose action became "the Word of God made flesh, woman's offspring, pure and fresh."
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The first stanza of "O Splendor of God's Glory Bright" could be seen as something of a meditation on the familiar phrase from the Nicene Creed, "Light of Light." Christ is the "exact imprint" of God the Father, the face in which we see the splendor of the Father, the true light who, when coming into the world, gives light to everyone (John 1:9). The second stanza moves from description to petition as Ambrose appeals to this divine Sun to shed His light on all aspects of our lives.
Stanza three turns to the Father for divine aid over temptation.
Stanza five is an exhortation to turn for nourishment and support to Christ, who is described now in eucharistic terms, and to the Holy Spirit. Christ is the bread of life and "drink indeed," both of which sustain the believer's faith. The "plenteousness" of the Holy Spirit that Christians "taste with joyfulness" is an allusion to the pouring out of the Spirit on the first Christians at Pentecost.
(Credit: Lutheran Service Book - Companion to the Hymns)
Episode Seven of "Behind the Hymn: Stories of the Hymns that We Love to Sing: Charles Wesley."
Today's episode featured two hymns by Isaac Watts: "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" (LSB 380) and "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending" (LSB 336). ____________________ It can be said that the only thing that unifies the Church of England (Anglican Church, or Episcopal Church in USA) is the Book of Common Prayer. As a denomination, the Church of England agrees to disagree on matters of Christian doctrine and church practice. This was the case during the life of Charles (1707-1788) and John Wesley and this remains the case to today.
"Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" first appeared in John and Charles Wesley's "Hymns and Sacred Poems" (London, 1739) under the heading "Hymn for Christmas Day." In the original text, Charles Wesley's hymn had 10 stanzas. George Whitfield (1714-1770) changed the hymn to its current form and deleted the stanzas that dealt with the doctrine of the Fall. Whitefield was a leader of the Calvinistic (Presbyterian) branch of British Methodism. So, Wesley's original unabridged text would be quite appropriate in a Lutheran hymnal.
This beloved Christmas hymn sparkles not only with the news of Christ's birth, but also with the Gospel message: Christ was born to die, and in that death, He reconciled God and sinners. Jesus came as the Second Adam to restore all of humankind. Our Christ-centered, cross-focused theology is proclaimed clearly in this hymn. In this hymn, as seen in many of Wesley's hymns, each stanza is tied to the next.
1 Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King; Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!” Joyful, all ye nations, rise, Join the triumph of the skies; With the_angelic host proclaim, “Christ is born in Bethlehem!” Refrain
ref Hark! The herald angels sing, “Glory to the newborn King!”
2 Christ, by highest heav’n adored, Christ, the everlasting Lord, Late in time behold Him come, Offspring of a virgin’s womb. Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the_incarnate Deity! Pleased as Man with man to dwell, Jesus, our Immanuel! Refrain
3 Hail, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail, the Sun of Righteousness! Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings. Mild He lays His glory by, Born that man no more may die, Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth. Refrain Text: Public domain ____________________ "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending" is one of the most popular hymns in the English language and has been used broadly in English-speaking countries across Christian traditions. It has also been translated into numerous other languages.
The theme of this hymn is the final return of Christ according to the post-resurrection promise Jesus made to His disciples, a promise reiterated by the angels at His ascension. As such, this hymn is fitting for the First Sunday in Advent in the three-year lectionary, and for the Second Sunday in Advent in the one-year lectionary.
The hymn concerns the final return of Christ, bringing both judgment and redemption.
1 Lo! He comes with clouds descending, Once for ev’ry sinner slain; Thousand thousand saints attending Swell the triumph of His train: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Christ the Lord returns to reign.
2 Ev’ry eye shall now behold Him Robed in glorious majesty; Those who set at naught and sold Him, Pierced and nailed Him to the tree, Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing, Shall their true Messiah see.
3 Those dear tokens of His passion Still His dazzling body bears, Cause of endless exultation To His ransomed worshipers. With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture Gaze we on those glorious scars!
4 Yea, amen, let all adore Thee, High on Thine eternal throne; Savior, take the pow’r and glory, Claim the kingdom as Thine own. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia! Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone! Text: Public domain ____________________ The following hymns in the Lutheran Service Book were written by Charles Wesley: 336 - Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending 338 - Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus 380 - Hark! The Herald Angels Sing 457 - Jesus Christ is Risen Today 469 - "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" Saints on Earth 528 - Oh, For a Thousand Tongues to Sing 700 - Love Divine, All Loves Excelling 854 - Forth in Thy Name, O Lord, I Go 873 - Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies
Episode Six of "Behind the Hymn: Stories of the Hymns that We Love to Sing: Isaac Watts."
Today's episode featured two hymns by Isaac Watts: "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" (LSB 425/426) and "Joy to the World" (LSB 387). ____________________ When Isaac Watts (1674-1748) published his hymns, he divided them into three sections: hymns that paraphrased texts of Scripture, hymns of human composition on divine subjects, and hymns "for the celebration of the Lord's Supper." We may think that Watts would place "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" in the second section, but in fact Watts included this hymn among his Lord's Supper hymns.
In the preface to his 1717 hymnal, Watts explained why he placed certain hymns in the Lord's Supper catecgory: "There are Expressions used in all these, which confine them only to the table of the Lord, and therefore I have distinguished and set them by themselves." Watts, therefore, considered this specifically a hymn for the Lord's Supper. When sung within that context, references to the body and blood of Christ, the flowing of sorrow and love, the power of such amazing love, and the transformation of one's life, all take a deeper and richer meaning. If the more specific references Lutherans expect are lacking, that is hardly surprising, as Watts was a Nonconformist and as he did not recognize the real presence of Christ in the Lord's Supper.
This hymn is divided into two main sections. The first two stanzas offer a poetic paraphrase of Galatians 6:14, with the poet's cry to god in the second stanza ("Forbid it, Lord") voicing the language of the King James Version ("But God forbid that I should glory"). In this section, the first wo lines offer the object of devotional contemplation ("the wondrous cross"), and the next six lines rehearse the parallel couplets the effect of this contemplation upon the poet (renunciation of the world's vain glory).
In the next section, the poet enters a deeper, closer inspection of the cross only to experience a higher, more comprehensive reevaluation of the world. This section is evenly divided between a contemplation of the body of Christ (stanza three) and a reevaluation of the world (stanza four). The poet's contemplation moves from the particulars of Christ's body (stanza three) to the whole body and then from the whole world to particulars of his life within the world (stanza four).
Beginning at Christ's head, the poet's gaze flows downward over the crucified body, finding within Christ's flowing blood both God's sorrow over sin and His merciful love toward all sinners. Recognizing that Christ's death is Christ's reign of love, the poet returns his gaze to Christ's head, only to see it now richly crowned in thorns.
1 When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count but loss And pour contempt on all my pride.
2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast Save in the death of Christ, my God; All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.
3 See, from His head, His hands, His feet Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a tribute far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all! Text: Public domain ____________________ "Joy to the World" was first published in 1719 in "The Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament." Watts wrote this as a paraphrase of Psalm 98. He gave this hymn the heading "The Messiah's Coming and Kingdom."
By the 19th century, English-speaking Lutherans had embraced this hymn, although not always as a Christmas hymn. After Lowell Mason, the Boston music educator and compiler of tunebooks, popularized the hymn in his publications of 1837 and the following years, it grew to become an essential part of the celebration of Christmas in America.
"Joy to the World" is an exuberant invitation to the world to praise God on the occasion of Christ's coming. The peoples are to rejoice because He has come, has seved us all from our sins, has comforted His people, and has had compassion on the afflicted.
1 Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King; Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n and nature sing, And heav’n, and heav’n and nature sing.
2 Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns! Let men their songs employ, While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat the sounding joy, Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
3 No more let sins and sorrows grow Nor thorns infest the ground; He comes to make His blessings flow Far as the curse is found, Far as the curse is found, Far as, far as the curse is found.
4 He rules the world with truth and grace And makes the nations prove The glories of His righteousness And wonders of His love, And wonders of His love, And wonders, wonders of His love. Text: Public domain
____________________ The following hymns in the Lutheran Service Book were written by Isaac Watts: 387 - Joy to the World 425-426 - When I Survey the Wondrous Cross 431 - Not All the Blood of Beasts 437 - Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed 669 - Come, We that Love the Lord 705 - The Man is Ever Blessed 707 - Oh, That the Lord Would Guide My Ways 733 - O God, Our Help in Ages Past 812 - Come, Let Us Join Our Cheerful Songs 814 - O Bless the Lord, My Soul 816 - From All That Dwell Below the Skies 832 - Jesus Shall Reign Where'er the Sun 867 - Let Children Hear the Mighty Deeds 903 - This is the Day the Lord has Made
Episode Five of "Behind the Hymn: Stories of the Hymns that We Love to Sing: Nikolai Grundtvig."
Today's episode featured two hymns by Nikolai Grundtvig: "God's Word is Our Great Heritage" (LSB 582) and "Built on the Rock" (LSB 645). _______________ To commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation in 1817, Grundtvig wrote "God's Word is Our Great Heritage." He wrote this hymn to the tune of Martin Luther's "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."
"God's Word is Our Great Heritage" speaks powerfully about relying on God and His Word to protect His Church. This hymn is a powerful testimony to a high view of Scripture and to God's powerful and efficacious Means of Grace.
1 God’s Word is our great heritage And shall be ours forever; To spread its light from age to age Shall be our chief endeavor. Through life it guides our way, In death it is our stay. Lord, grant, while worlds endure, We keep its teachings pure Throughout all generations.
Text: Public domain _______________ "Built on the Rock" is Grundtvig's famous anti-Rationalist hymn. This hymn is full of Biblical quotations and allusions, which is characteristic of Grundtvig. Stanza two speaks of how God is eternal and infinite, not enclosed on earth or in any building; yet He "chooses to live with us in love" and makes "our bodies His temple," presenting Himself to us in actual time and space by His Spirit through His Word and Sacraments.
Stanza three tells of believers as "living stones" (1 Peter 2:5), with Christ as the cornerstone of the Church.
There are several references to the Sacraments in the hymn: "He through baptismal grace us owns" (stanza three), and in stanza four, the font, altar, and Supper are mentioned, which proclaim the Christ who is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).
Stanza five brings together Jesus' words in several passages: "I know My own and My own know Me" (John 10:14), "Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me" (John 14:19), and "Peace I leave with you" (John 14:27).
1 Built on the Rock the Church shall stand Even when steeples are falling. Crumbled have spires in ev’ry land; Bells still are chiming and calling, Calling the young and old to rest, But above all the souls distressed, Longing for rest everlasting.
2 Surely in temples made with hands God, the Most High, is not dwelling; High above earth His temple stands, All earthly temples excelling. Yet He who dwells in heav’n above Chooses to live with us in love, Making our bodies His temple.
3 We are God’s house of living stones, Built for His own habitation. He through baptismal grace us owns Heirs of His wondrous salvation. Were we but two His name to tell, Yet He would deign with us to dwell With all His grace and His favor.
4 Here stands the font before our eyes, Telling how God has received us. The_altar recalls Christ’s sacrifice And what His Supper here gives us. Here sound the Scriptures that proclaim Christ yesterday, today, the same, And evermore, our Redeemer.
5 Grant, then, O God, Your will be done, That, when the church bells are ringing, Many in saving faith may come Where Christ His message is bringing: “I know My own; My own know Me. You, not the world, My face shall see. My peace I leave with you. Amen.” Text: Public domain
The following hymns in the Lutheran Service Book were written by Nikolai Grundtvig: 503 - O Day Full of Grace (Grundtvig added to the original text) 582 - God's Word is Our Great Heritage 645 - Built on the Rock the Church Shall Stand
