Notes on the Notes – July 14, 2019

Welcome!

This week we will be exploring

Revelation 4:1-5:10

Service time is 10:30 a.m. at Windsor Park United, 1062 Autumnwood Drive.

This week’s music:

“Holy, Holy, Holy” (VU #315)

“Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty;
Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore thee,
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,
Which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy! Though the darkness hide thee;
Though the eye made blind by sin thy glory may not see,
Only thou art holy; there is none beside thee;
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
All thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!”

The words for this hymn are based on Revelations 4:8-11 and were written by Reginald Herber in 1826.  The tune, NICAEA, was composed by the Reverend John B. Dykes (1861).  It is named for the Council of Nicaea (C.E. 325) where the doctrine of the Trinity, known as the Nicene Creed, was formulated.  The descant was composed for The Hymn Book (1971) by Godfrey Hewitt, organist and choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral in Ottawa from 1931 to 1980.

Hear the Plymouth Choir and Congregation of First-Plymouth Church, Lincoln Nebraska on May 31, 2015 accompanied by the Plymouth Brass and Organist Christopher Marks.    at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SHDNs7Dt5M

“The Living God Be Praised” (VU #255)

“The living God be praised, who reigns enthroned above,
Ancient of everlasting days, and God of love.
Jehovah, great I Am! By earth and heaven confessed,
We bow before your holy name, forever blest.

Your spirit still flows free, high surging where it will;
In prophet’s words you spoke of old and you speak still.
Established is your law, and changeless it shall stand,
Inscribed upon the human heart, on sea, or land.

You have eternal life implanted in the soul,
Your love shall be our strength and stay, while ages roll.
We praise you, living God! We praise your holy name;
The first, the last, beyond all thought, and still the same.”

The thirteen principles of the Jewish faith were compiled by Moses Maimonides in the 12th century and shaped into the Yigdal, the Jewish doxology, by Daniel ben Judah in the fourteenth century.  A doloxogy is a short hymn of praise to God.  In 1885, Rabbi Max Lansberg and Newton Mann translated these articles into metrical English stanzas.  Around 1770, Thomas Olivers used the tune, LEONI, to set his Christian paraphrase of the Yigdal.

Hear the tune on piano at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u6diH2jVlI

“Crown Him with Many Crowns” (VU #211) 

“Crown him with many crowns, the Lamb upon his throne;
Hark, how the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own!
Awake, my soul, and sing of him who died for thee,
And hail him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

Crown him the Lord of life, who triumphed o’er the grace,
And rose victorious in the strife for those he came to save.
His glories now we sing who died and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

Crown him the Lord of peace, whose power a sceptre sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, absorbed in prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round his pierced feet
Fair flowers of Paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

Crown him the Lord of love; behold his hands and side,
Rich wounds yet visible above, in beauty glorified.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! for thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail throughout eternity.”

The lyrics to this 1851 hymn were written by Matthew Bridges and Godfrey Thring and are sung to the tune DIADEMATA by Sir George Job Elvey. The full song features twelve verses with two very different theological perspectives.

The original six stanzas were written by Bridges who was a Catholic, and were based upon Revelations 19:12,

“…and on His head were many crowns.”

Then Thring wrote six new verses because he didn’t necessarily agree with the message of the popular hymn. The Anglican clergymen was concerned that Protestant congregations were singing Catholic theology.  (Source: Andrew Rinaldi, GodTube) 

In Voices United, verses 1, 3 and 4 are written by Bridges, with verse 2 being adapted by Thring.

Learn about the hymn’s history and hear the hymn below:

“We Fall Down”

“We fall down, we lay our crowns at the feet of Jesus;
The greatness of mercy and love at the feet of Jesus.
And we cry “Holy, holy, holy.”
And we cry “Holy, holy, holy.”
And we cry “Holy, holy, holy is the Lamb.”

This song, written by Chris Tomlin, was inspired by the words from Revelation 4.

Hear Chris Tomlin at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9jhLNDfAKQ

“The Lord’s Prayer” (VU #959)

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name;
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial and deliver us from evil
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours,
Now and forever.”

This setting of the Lord’s Prayer was written by David Haas in 1986.

Hear the song at:  https://www.shazam.com/track/57413632/the-lords-prayer (click on “The Lord’s Prayer – We Give” under Music Videos title banner)

“Rejoice, the Lord is King” (VU #213)

“Rejoice the Lord is King! Your risen Lord adore!
Rejoice, give thanks and sing and triumph evermore.
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice: rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Jesus the Saviour reigns, the God of truth and love;
When he had purged our sins, he took his seat above.
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice: rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

God’s kingdom cannot fail, Christ rules o’er earth and heaven,
The keys of death and hell are to our Jesus given.
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice: rejoice, again I say, rejoice!

Rejoice in glorious hope, for Christ, the judge, shall come
To glorify the saints for their eternal home.
We soon shall hear the archangel’s voice,
The trump of God shall sound, rejoice!”

The original text for this hymn is from an Ascension festival hymn by Charles Wesley which was published by John Wesley in his Moral and Sacred Poems (1744).  The altered, more familiar version appeared in Charles Wesley’s Hymns for Our Lord’s Resurrection (1746).  The hymn is based on Philippians 4:4. “Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.” The early Methodists experienced much persecution and hardship and Charles wrote this hymn, based on Paul’s words penned while in prison, to encourage them. The hymn is a call to believe in the risen Christ. When one reads the text, you can almost see Charles Wesley standing on a box on a street corner, shouting these words to the masses.

The evangelistic focus of this hymn reflects the energy of the Wesley brothers as they founded the Methodist movement. Since the early Methodists were calling people toward Christ, it is possible that this text is not so much for congregants in attendance but for people who do not yet know the majesty of Christ. The text itself sums up in simple terms the following understanding of who Jesus is and views Christ as our Savior, King, and Judge.
The tune is a setting by John Darwall (1770) that was only paired with Wesley’s text in the late 19th century.

Hear the hymn on pipe organ at: https://youtu.be/F1YzlM2gHCg

Hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3pGwlF6vQg

Bonus video:  Lion and the Lamb by Big Daddy Weave