26 July 2016

Wouldn't you know...

...we took it out of our hymnal even as God was answering the prayer:

Rise again, ye lion-hearted
Saints of early Christendom.
Wither is your strength departed,
Wither gone your martyrdom?
Lo, love's light is on them,
Glory's flame upon them,
And their will to die doth quell
Even the lord and prince of hell.

These are men by fear unshaken,
Facing danger dauntlessly;
These no witching lust hath taken,
Lust that lures to vanity.
Mid the roar and rattle
Of tumultuous battle
In desire they soar above
All that earth would have them love.

Great of heart, they know no turning,
Honor, gold, they laugh to scorn,
Quench desires within them burning,
By no earthly passions torn.
Mid the lions' roaring
Songs of praise outpouring,
Joyously they take their stand
On th' arena's bloody sand.

Would to God that I might even
As the martyred saints of old,
With the helping hand of Heaven,
Steadfast stand in battle bold!
O my God, I pray Thee,
In the combat stay me.
Grant that I may ever be
Loyal, staunch, and true to Thee. Amen.
TLH 470

And one that Mark Preus rightly laments we were utterly foolish to leave out of our hymnal: Luther's paraphrase of Psalm 12:

O Lord, look down from heav'n, behold
And let Thy pity waken;
How few are we within Thy fold,
Thy saints by men forsaken!
True faith seems quenched on ev'ry hand,
Men suffer not Thy Word to stand;
Dark times have us o'ertaken.

With fraud which they themselves invent
Thy truth they have confounded;
Their hearts are not with one consent
On Thy pure doctrine grounded.
While they parade with outward show,
They lead the people to and fro,
In error's maze astounded.

May God root out all heresy
And of false teachers rid us
Who proudly say: "Now, where is he
That shall our speech forbid us?
By right or might we shall prevail;
What we determine cannot fail;
We own no lord and master."

Therefore, saith God, "I must arise.
The poor My help are needing.
To Me ascend My people's cries,
And I have heard their pleading.
For them My saving Word shall fight
And fearlessly and sharply smite,
The poor with might defending."

As silver tried by fire is pure
From all adulteration,
So thro' God's Wordshall men endure
Each trial and temptation.
Its light beams brighter thro' the cross,
And, purified from human dross,
It shines through every nation.

Defend Thy truth, O God, and stay
This evil generation;
And from the error of its way
Keep Thine own congregation.
The wicked everywhere abound
And would Thy little flock confound;
But Thou art our salvation.
TLH 260


10 comments:

j. krauser said...

Tune?

William Weedon said...

Tune for Rise Again Ye Lionhearted is Löwen, last euch wiederfinden. Tune for Psalm 12 is Ach Gott vom Himmel, though I do think it was sung to Nun Freut euch also.

William Weedon said...

Here's Psalm 12:

https://youtu.be/dBMG1aKJVS8

Here's a slightly different (but basically the same) setting of Rise Again:

https://youtu.be/eXeXrDaupmc

Petersen said...

We sing both at Redeemer, Ft Wayne though some have claimed that that is the essence of contemporary worship. Because,, you know, we're not using the hymnal.

William Weedon said...

Anything in THE Hymnal (TLH) is still using the hymnal.

Pastor Harvey S. Mozolak said...

My personal losses from TLH that did not make it into the LBW and not into your LSB I think:

I Will Sing My Maker's Praises 25
Hallelujah Let Praises Ring 23
Now Let All Loudly Sing Praise 28
Now May He Who from the Dead 51

I kept them alive for a few years... as inserts...

William Weedon said...

I Will Sing is LSB 977 (Available in Accompaniment Edition and Builder)
Alleluia! Let Praises Ring is LSB 822
I believe the other two were not included.

Pastor Harvey S. Mozolak said...

good. the grammar on Now Let All Loudly is backwards to most lips... will note

Pastor Harvey S. Mozolak said...

Did you see the Peter Leihart (THEOPOLIS) article titled Poetry... really well done

William Weedon said...

Harvey, I haven't! Will have to look it up.