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| Norma A. Boeckler |
Ours has always been a singing Church. In the days of the Reformation, as historians tell us, our people not only preached the great truth of salvation from the housetops, but sang the precious Gospel of grace and truth into the hearts of the people in the fields and in the workshops, their hearts being full to overflowing and finding their natural vent in the songs of Zion.
She is the singing Church still, and her hymns are to this day the admiration of all who are able to appreciate the beauty and the power of sacred song. Let us avail ourselves of the treasures which are ours, and speak to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making melody in our hearts unto the Lord, thus fixing our attention upon the things which make for our peace and enrich the soul, and confessing our dear Saviour before the people and making His praise glorious in the land.
You perceive, my brethren, that we do not realize the idea of our text when we never sing the songs of Zion at home, and in our churches leave them to the choir, who may or who may not make melody in their hearts unto the Lord, and who may be interested in the service only as a musical performance designed to delight the audience, as in a concert hall or opera house. That is a desecration of the Church against which Christian people should set their faces. Our singing is to be part of our worship; if we would walk wisely we must engage in it in the same way as in the prayers offered at the altar in Jesus' name.
If any of us cannot sing, so as to sound the praises of God, we can at least make melody in our hearts to the Lord, and thus comply with the aspiration of the psalmist. "Let the people praise Thee, O Lord, let all the people praise Thee." Psalm 67:3. In this respect too it behooves us to walk circumspectly, lest we become indifferent to the worship of the Lord and embrace the delusion that this can be done by proxy. Be wise, and let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom. This will then find joyful expression in the songs of Zion for edification in your homes and in your church.
From The Lutheran Librarian and The Lutheran Library
"The Gospel Shows the Father's Grace"
by Matthias Loy, 1828-1915
1. The Gospel shows the Father's grace,
Who sent His Son to save our race,
Proclaims how Jesus lived and died
That man might thus be justified.
2. It sets the Lamb before our eyes,
Who made the atoning sacrifice,
And call the souls with guilt opprest
To come and find eternal rest.
3. It brings the Savior's righteousness
Our souls to robe in royal dress;
From all our guilt it brings release
And gives the troubled conscience peace.
4. It is the power of God to save
From sin and Satan and the grave;
It works the faith, which firmly clings
To all the treasures which it brings.
5. It bears to all the tidings glad
And bids their hearts no more be sad;
The heavy-laden souls it cheers
And banishes their guilty fears.
6. May we in faith its tidings learn
Nor thanklessly its blessings spurn;
May we in faith its truth confess
And praise the Lord our Righteousness!
Notes:
Hymn #297 from The Lutheran Hymnal
Text: John 3: 16
Author: Matthias Loy, 1863
Tune: Herr Jesu Christ, dich
1st Published in: "Cantionale Germanicum"
Town: Dresden, 1628
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