A Hymn Of Glory Let Us Sing

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’” (Matthew 2:1-2)
The magi, guided by God, did not find the “King of the Jews,” as they supposed; they found the King of all people. Jews of Jesus’ day looked to the Old Testament patriarch Abraham as their religious and ethnic ancestor. God had made a covenant with Abraham that from his descendants would come the Messiah; and for the most part, Jews considered the promise of the Messiah to be exclusive to their ethnicity. Gentiles, in most Jews’ reckoning, were not included in that promise. However, in that regard they overlooked the glorious God-given Messianic prophecy of Isaiah, who wrote, “The Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your [Jesus’] light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.” (Isaiah 60:2-3)Read More »TLH 128 “Brightest and Best of the Sons of the Morning”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

In the Old Testament, the kings of Israel were anointed to their office. We read of how Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed Solomon as king by pouring oil on his head (1 Kings 1:34, 39). This ceremony of anointing publicly identified Solomon as the one whom God Himself had chosen and endowed with the Holy Spirit to be the ruler of His people.
The anointing of Israel’s kings also served an even more important purpose. It pictured something about the coming of the promised Savior. His titles of Messiah (Hebrew) and Christ (Greek) mean “the Anointed One,” God’s own choice to be the world’s Redeemer.Read More »TLH 59, LSB 398 “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed”

Martin Schalling’s (1532-1608) Lutheran roots were deep. A graduate of the University of Wittenberg where Luther had once taught, he had been a student of Luther’s dear friend Philip Melanchthon. He was also a close friend of Nicolaus Selnecker, one of the authors of the “Formula of Concord”. Surrounded by such “Reformation royalty,” Schalling was a teacher, a superintendent, and then a court preacher by 1576.Read More »“Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart” TLH 429, LSB 708

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING Historically, Lutheran churches have placed great emphasis on the study of the Bible, God’s Word, because that Word… Read More »TLH 337 “Our Lord and God, Oh, Bless This Day”

One of the blessings that we enjoy as members of a congregation of like-minded Christians is the opportunity for joint prayer. Though the Lord assures us that our individual prayers are both heard and answered, He also encourages us to join our hearts in prayer when we are gathered for worship. He promises that if as few as two of us agree in what we ask, it will be done for us by our Father in heaven (Matthew 18:19, 20).
With this encouragement from our Lord, we ought to value highly the prayers that we say together when we are gathered for worship. These include not only the collects, general prayers, the Lord’s Prayer, and special intercessions for fellow believers, but also the prayers in the hymns that we sing together.
“Abide, O Dearest Jesus” is one such prayer, usually sung at the close of a service. It recalls a simple request spoken by two disciples of Jesus on the day of His resurrection. They were on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus when Jesus joined them, though they didn’t recognize Him until later. They were troubled by the crucifixion and death of Jesus, wondering how those things could possibly fit with their conviction that He was the promised Savior. Jesus cleared everything up for them by identifying and explaining many Old Testament prophecies of the Christ. They were so thrilled at what He was telling them that when they reached their destination, they asked Him to stay with them, which He was pleased to do.Read More »TLH 53, LSB 919 “Abide, O Dearest Jesus”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING The most famous hymn Henry Francis Lyte (1793-1874) ever wrote was Abide with Me! Fast Falls the Eventide,… Read More »WS 742, LSB 793 “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven”

Hymn 383 is referenced to Acts 4:12: “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Clearly, this Bible passage teaches that only Jesus saves. Numerous other Bible verses teach the same thing. However, many today strongly object to that truth. They find it offensive. They acrimoniously challenge us by asking, “Do you really think it’s fair that only Christians are saved? What about those millions of others who are just as faithful and devout in their religions as you are in yours? Or what about all those who have never even heard the Gospel? Would a just and loving God really condemn all those people to eternal hell, just because they don’t believe in Jesus?”Read More »TLH 383 “Seek Where Ye May to Find a Way”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

Jesus ended His Sermon on the Mount with an illustration involving two men who built houses; one built on rock, the other on sand. The house built on rock withstood the onslaught of rain, flood, and winds and remained standing, while the one built on sand was destroyed. Whoever hears His Word and takes it to heart, Jesus says, is like the wise man who built on rock (Matthew 7:24-27).
The unknown author of our hymn used the same picture of faith and trust in Jesus Christ, describing Him as the “Ground of faith,” (stanza 2) and again, “the firmest ground of faith” (stanza 5). When our trust for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life is in Jesus, it is founded on ground that is rock solid, that will never give way. He is such firm ground for our trust because He is the only Son of God, sent by the Father to save the lost.Read More »TLH 245, LSB 571 “God Loved the World So That He Gave”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING Thomas Kelly’s hymn reflects how Jesus exchanged His crown of thorns for a crown of glory. If you… Read More »TLH 219, LSB 532 “The Head that Once was Crowned with Thorns”

A HYMN OF GLORY LET US SING

Paradox and perspective are two elements which, along with the lofty melody of “Winchester New” (http://lutherantacoma.com/hymns/012.mp3), stand out in Henry H. Milman’s Palm Sunday hymn, “Ride On, Ride On, in Majesty.”
Paradox
A paradox is a statement that seems self-contradictory but which may, in fact, express a profound truth. The Spirit-inspired writers of the Bible often used paradoxical statements to express divine truth in a memorable way (see Matthew 5:4 and 10:39, and 2 Corinthians 12:10 for just three of many possible examples). So also, in verse 2 of this hymn, Milman uses the paradoxical term lowly pomp to perfectly characterize the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem at the beginning of Holy Week. “Ride on, ride on, in majesty! / In lowly pomp ride on to die. / O Christ, Thy triumphs now begin / O’er captive death and conquered sin.” (v. 2)Read More »TLH 162 Ride On, Ride On, in Majesty