lutheranhymns | Entries tagged with grace/faith

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Instead of trailing alleluias, this one features a trailing Amen. (The verses all end with a normal "Amen," but that's part of the meter count.)

There isn't really a rhyme scheme, but duplicated own/own, myself/myself, and a questionable own/done. Maybe it's better in the original Finnish.

Done with this section.

A different arrangement of 596. Same text, but different time signature, and technically different "meter" since the last line isn't repeated. I think this tune is slightly more familiar than the previous one, although with the choir arrangements, who knows.

Some very big tenor/bass gaps in the last line.

My choir tried to sing a very complicated arrangement of this, and despite there being multiple soloists so we didn't have to do all of it, it was still very tricky. i can't remember if we actually did it or if too many people were out sick and the director was like "...nah."

The text is a reference to the parable of "build your house upon the rock."

Interesting mention of "veil"(s) in verse 2. First darkness "veils" Jesus' face--maybe that's just a fancy way of saying "when life is hard and we can't clearly see Jesus' presence"? And then it says "...my anchor holds within the veil." What's the veil here? General darkness? The temple veil that separates the most sacred places from where the public is allowed, which was destroyed with Jesus' death? A metaphor for death in general? (I'm from the generation whose theology is a little influenced by Harry Potter when it comes to jargon like this.)

You probably know this one.

The verses were actually written for a novel by the lyricist's sister, as a song sung to a dying child. So there's actually a reason that it's kind of twee and sentimental. Which is not an excuse, just context.

In summer church camp contexts it sometimes gets a Spanish version of the chorus because it's so repetitive that you can just add "Jesús" and "Biblia," but that didn't make it in here. They do have a four-part harmony, though, because what this song really needs is complex choral accompaniment...

This is definitely a Martin Luther original: lots of verses, lots of weird German rhymes, lots of talk about how grace is necessary because good works are not enough.

If you squint you can find some allusions to texts that we often read on Reformation Day, presumably because they were important to Luther's theology. In verse 6 Jesus is quoted as saying "I am your rock and castle." This is a callback to Psalm 46, "God is our refuge and our strength"--that seems much more abstract than the military imagery we have going on here, but Luther famously (and very loosely) adapted that into "A Mighty Fortress is Our God," and I think that's the same reference. In verse 8, Jesus says "I make you free, be free indeed!" which is from John chapter 8: "if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." We often read that as the Reformation Gospel even though it feels more indirect, but I guess "freedom" (from sin) is the point.

There's some probably-unintentional humor in verse 2, "in sin my mother bore me" (the narrator). The point is "I have been a sinner all my life, even before I was born I was a human and therefore totally sinful, I need Jesus' grace." But on a skim it almost looks like it's saying the mother was sinful at the time. Which, true, in the sense that all humans are sinful. But the doctrine that Mary was unique in being born and conceived without sin because only someone with special sin-avoiding powers would be worthy of giving birth to Jesus is the kind of super-saint Catholic rhetoric that the Reformation was partially about getting away from.

This song raises two rhetorical questions but only really answers the second. We have:"How can we tell a heaven from hell if everyone dwells in the dark of night?" And then "Where is the sun?" which is answered with "Oh, there will be none!" Which is a paraphrase from Revelation about how Jesus is the ultimate light so in heaven we won't need astronomical objects.

But that kind of begs the question of "okay, so then in hell would it just be very well-lit?" I don't really understand what's the point of the first question. Like, on Earth, we're all sinful and don't have direct access to Christ, so I don't think the answer is going to be "oh if you hang out with really sinful people you'll know," the point is nobody is perfect.

The rhyme scheme is inconsistent at best.

Is the composer famous for other things?

Not really, but the music guy (William Bradbury) has written several other tunes, most of which are also in this section.

What key is it in?

E flat major. The reason this is interesting is not that that's a particularly distinctive key, but the melody line doesn't actually end on an E flat, it lands on the G, which is the "third" of that scale.

What does that mean?

Well, the final chord is E flat, so it reaches a nice "conclusion," but the melody hasn't exactly "settled down." That's kind of weird in this context, because the text is all about coming to Jesus and him accepting us just as we are. So having the music sound like "ehhh...you're there but not quite" is unexpected. Or maybe that's just a big stretch.

How's the Shannon density?

Somewhat low; the first phrase is variations on "that p-adjective noun." "That prickly pear, that porous gate, that pretty fish," etc.

Is the melody a contemporary praise song?

It could pass for one, but actually it's from Ghana!

Is this a Martin Luther original?

No, but it's by a near contemporary. It's a reasonable assumption to make, however: it has a bunch of verses, translated German rhyme schemes, I'm guessing the tune is a then-contemporary dance song. And the lyrical translations of Luther's message are straight to the point. "good works cannot avert our doom...For faith alone can justify; works serve our neighbor and supply the proof that faith is living."

Is that actually true? Like, are Christians just motivated to do good works even though they don't "have" to because they're overflowing with the love of God and stuff?

When I have an answer I'll get back to you. I lean towards "nah" but a lot of smart and trustworthy people seem to think so??

What about the last two verses?

Paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer, in case this wasn't wordy enough already.

Skipped this last time! Might have done this earlier (also might not have), but I was stuck out of town...maybe more on my main blog someday. Or maybe not, I'm vague like that.

Is this the same text as #587?

Yes. Still very good!

Is the melody as good?

I'm gonna say not. 587's intro is cool, this feels a little more standard. This one is in a better key for most instruments to play, so there is that. They're both about the same vocal range, neither should be too difficult.

What about the accompaniment parts?

Neither of them have accompaniment in the standard pew edition, so it's a tie!

Is this the only melody for these line lengths?

Apparently so, at least in this book.. (It shows up again for another hymn.) When I started skimming it I mentally associated the first few lines with another melody, but maybe I merged that in with a different song.

How well does the translation hold up?

A lot of not-really-feminine rhymes (tender/surrender is pretty good). What amused me was "God, who did so gently school me." In context it obviously means "educate," but...I like the image of God one-upping someone, but like in a nice way.

Why is "lovingkindness" one word?

I think it's a translation of some Latin (Hebrew? Greek??) concept. Not super common, but shows up in some songs.

What's going on at the beginning?

The little notes are so you can hear the accompaniment part and then know where to come in.

Is the accompaniment part so important that it needs a few bonus measures?

I'm not sure, but it's pretty good.

Is that the best thing about the song?

No, that would be the text. "Thousands of new worlds!" "false limits of our own" narrowing our conception of God's love! I think it's a really brilliant summation of God's grace and our human tendency to feel guilty and unworthy of it.

Has your choir sung any arrangements of this?

Yes, but it's a less meaningful textual setting in my opinion. By Gwyneth Walker, who we'll probably run into later.