Thank you Karen! Regardless of the fact this was recorded three years ago, it, as all of our hymns, are timeless. It is today’s hymnody in The Daily Treasury of Pray (Pray Now in the app) . I learn so much from you and appreciate the time you’ve invested into these timeless lessons on the hymnody in video format. Also, it was so great to meet you in Milwaukee at the LWML National Convention 2023.
Thank you for your commentaries on the various hymns. Our church does print out the scripture verses, and the hymn of the day for the following Sunday, so we could prepare for next Sunday. By the way, my church is in California, so I’m afraid I can’t sing the The hymn along with you guys.
I like the TLH Our Father Thou in heaven above. The late Pastor Martin Taddey sang that hymn during Matins. When I visited a Catholic Church, I heard the organist play that tune. I could not believe my ears. I asked the organist what he was playing. He knew I was Lutheran and showed me the music. It was Luther’s hymn.
Interesting. I did not know it the Anglicans as well as the Christians Non-conformists, who only chanted Psalms and did not sing hymns. Isaac Watts, a nonconformist, complained about only singing Psalms. Someone told him in response: young man, give us something better. And that was the start of Isaac Watts writing of hymns.
Thank you for sharing. You mentioned this hymn had originally seven verses. I would love to read all seven verses. Do you know where I would find that information?
Strangely enough, no hymnal seems to contain all 7 verses [Skip to the bottom for the short answer of where you can]. The Hymnary organization's exception website for hymnology research & reference shows the hymn appearing in 71 hymnals since 1859, but only 7 of those were published after 1979. Of those seven, most were Lutheran (2 by WELS, 2 by LCMS, 1 by ELCA; the other two are a Spanish language 'word book', and the non-denominational online-only Cyber Hymnal). As I looked, it seemed almost all of the hymnals use 3-5 of the verses; all use verse 1. F. S. Key's poem was entitled "Hymn for the Fourth of July, 1832", so hymn titles in published hymnals may differ based on the exact wording of the first line - "Before You, Lord, We Bow" and "Before the Lord we Bow" seem to be popular choices. The only place I could find the full seven was in the book, Poems of the Late Francis Scott Key, Esq., Author of "The Star Spangled Banner." published in 1857. Here is the full text as it appears in that source:
@@jasonzehnder7190 thank you kindly for that explanation. The full text, for some reason did not show up in your reply. I will seek it out in the book you referenced. Thank you again.
Oh, no! Let me try again: Original typesetting has been adhered to as much as possible, (use of caps, em dashes, spacing, etc.) Hymn FOR THE FOURTH OF JULY, 1832. BEFORE the Lord we bow- The God who reigns above, And rules the world below, Boundless in power and love. Our thanks we bring, In joy and praise, Our hearts we raise To heaven's high King. The nation thou hast blest May well thy love declare, Enjoying peace and rest, Protected by thy care. For this fair land, For this bright day, Our thanks we pay- Gifts of thine hand ! Our fathers sought thee, Lord ! And on thy help relied ; Thou heard'st and gav'st the word, And all their need supplied. Led by thy hand To victory, They hailed a free And rescued land. God of our sires ! that hand Be now, as then, displayed To give this favored land Thy never-failing aid. Still may it be Thy fixed abode ! Be thou our God ! Thy people we ! May every mountain height, Each vale and forest green, Shine in thy word's pure light, And its rich fruits be seen ! May every tongue Be tuned to praise, And join to raise A grateful song ! Earth ! hear thy Maker's voice, The great Redeemer own ; Believe, obey, rejoice : Bright is the promised crown. Cast down thy pride, Thy sin deplore, And bow before The crucified. And when in power he comes, O, may our native land, From all its rending tombs, Send forth a glorious band ! A countless throng Ever to sing, To heaven's high King, Salvation's song ! From: Poems of the Late Francis S. Key Esq., Author of “The Star Spangled Banner”; with an Introductory Letter by Chief Justice Taney [Published 1857]
Some people on RU-vid have posted this as a Catholic hymn with the wordings from all thy saints. So I thought this was a Catholic hymn. I did a little searching, and think that the author was actually Anglican. We sang this hymn during communion at the Lutheran Church of Our Savior in Cupertino, California. June 11.
Thank you so very much for you’re work on the history of our hymnody and for sharing on RU-vid. I am greatly helped through your work. God’s blessings to you
I follow you from Norman Oklahoma (Trinity Lutheran) and have learned so much about our hymnody through your explanations. I’m thankful for your efforts and for sharing your knowledge of our great Lutheran hynmnody
Thanks be to GOD for this, the story of Jacob and the gift of forgiveness that GOD gave him. Thanks for the online service, a refreshment for the week Grace Lutheran Church and Pastor Seifert!
The dishonest steward, nor did the rich land owner seek the kingdom of God. No one in this parable is right, there all crooked. But you sweet brother live by every word that comes from the mouth of God…
Another thing about this hymn is if you sing it and do not look at the footnotes at the bottle of the page, you would think it was an old hymn from the 16, 17, or 1800s, not 1981.
I always love the background you provide on these hymns! To clarify a little, only the text to the hymn is new. The hymn tune, Beach Spring, was written in 1844 and has been used with other text as well, including LSB 848: Lord, Whose Love through Humble Service. ✝️
