My Heart With Joy is Sounding

This 2008 translation of a text by Wilhelm Loehe is titled "Abendmahlslied" and subtitled Freudenlied der erquickten Seele. The origInal tune, O FREUDE, FREUDE was written in 1890 by Fr. Mener. An alternate tune is WIE SOLL ICH DICH EMPFANGEN.

1. My heart with joy is sounding—

Now God is one with me!

His love my heart surrounding

For all eternity:

So highly He esteemed me,

To come with love divine,

And with His blood redeemed me—

I’m His and He is mine!

2. I come, O Bridegroom holy,

My soul made sick by sin,

Your feast of love can solely

Heal all my ills within.

Your wounded side, O Jesus,

Has pow’r to sanctify;

Your blood sin’s grip releases,

So that I will not die.

3. All sin, Lord, I relinquish

Within this crimson flood,

Hell’s embers to extinguish

Beneath Your precious blood;

Accused by sin no longer,

I grasp Your love anew,

With faith made sure and stronger—

How well I’m fed by You!

4. Lord, what can I surrender,

What debt is owed and due?

All that I am I tender

In love, O Christ, to You!

I’m Yours for Your safe keeping,

For Satan, night and day,

With foul deceit is creeping,

To steal my soul away.

5. The path for my salvation

You walked to Calvary;

Receive my adoration

For all Your gifts to me!

May this be my beginning

To love You more, I pray,

To flee this world of sinning

And live my faith each day.

6. My faith bring to completion,

Lord, by Your flesh and blood,

My naked soul’s depletion

Now cover with Your good.

What mercy I am tasting

In this, Your meal of love,

With yearning I am hasting

To know Your bliss above.

The Death of Jesus Christ Our Lord

My favorite Maundy Thursday Holy Communion hymn is LSB 634.  Text by Haquin Spegel, 1645-1714; stanza 5 by LSB.  In LSB it was moved from "Passion Week" section in LW to "The Lord's Supper" section because it can be used whenever we celebrate the Sacrament.

The death of Jesus Christ, our Lord,

We celebrate with one accord;

It is our comfort in distress,

Our heart’s sweet joy and happiness.

He blotted out with His own blood

The judgment that against us stood;

For us He full atonement made,

And all our debt He fully paid.

That this forever true shall be

He gives a solemn guarantee:

In this His holy Supper here

We taste His love so sweet, so near.

His Word proclaims and we believe

That in this Supper we receive

His very body, as He said,

His very blood for sinners shed.

We dare not ask how this can be,

But simply hold the mystery

And trust this word where life begins:

“Given and shed for all your sins.”

They who this word do not believe

This food unworthily receive,

Salvation here will never find—

May we this warning keep in mind!

But blest is each believing guest

Who in these promises finds rest;

For Jesus ever shall remain

With all who here His grace obtain.

Help us sincerely to believe

That we may worthily receive

Your Supper and in You find rest.

Amen! They who believe are blest.

Fight, Work, Pray!

I completed this text requested by a deaconess at Concordia Theological Seminary in Fort Wayne for a hymn based on Luther's meditation and writing on the relationship between the Lord's Supper and works of mercy and care for our fellow human beings. ("Fight, Work, Pray!" is a pamphlet published by LCMS World Relief and Human Care with a preface by the Executive Director, Rev. Matthew C. Harrison.  The pamphlet reprints from Luther's Works, Vol. 35: "The Blessed Sacrament of the Holy and True Body of Christ, and the Brotherhoods" [1519] ).  The hymn text seeks to highlight aspects and benefits of the Sacrament empowering us to serve as Christ to the world today.  The meter, 3 4 9  3 4 6, matches the deeply moving tune by Amanda Husberg, CHILDREN OF PEACE.

1.  Fight, work, pray!
     Precious indeed
     Are all the masses huddled in need.
     Christ sends us
     Out with His love,
     For the life of the world.

2.  "Flesh and blood
     Given and shed
     Once on the cross so you may be fed;
     I in you,
     You now in Me
     For the life of the world."

3.  Mystery!
     How can it be?
     Saint bound to saint in true unity!
     One in Christ,
     One as His Church
     For the life of the world.

4.  Strengthen us,
     Lord, as we live:
     Pardoning others as You forgive.
     Bless our faith
     Active in love
     For the life of the world.

5.  I, Your guest,
     Frail though I be,
     Yet here Your life I taste and I see,
     As You give
     Heavenly gifts
     For the life of the world.

6.  All my debt
     You, Lord, have paid
     When on the cross atonement You made.
     Faith receives
     All You have done
     For the life of the world.

7.  What can I
     Render to You?
     True thanks and praise in all that I do;
     Fear, love, trust,
     Serve and obey,
     For the life of the world.

8.  Mercy known,
     Mercy received,
     Mercy now lived by all who believe.
     We are Christ's
     Body and voice
     For the life of the world!

You Satisfy the Hungry Heart

This hymn unites the work of composer, Robert Kreutz, and hymn text writer, Omer Westendorf.  It was among 200 texts submitted for possible use at the 41st International Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia in 1976 and "You Satisfy the Hungry Heart" was selected as the official hymn of that gathering.  First embraced by Roman Catholics, this hymn has since become well-known and a favorite in many denominations.  The hymn was first published in We Celebrate with Song (1979) with the tune name FINEST WHEAT substited for the original tune name given by the composer, BICENTENNIAL.

Refrain:

     You satisfy the hungry heart  

         With gift of finest wheat.  

              Come give to us, O saving Lord,

         The bread of life to eat.

1.  As when the shepherd calls his sheep,

         They know and heed his voice;

              So when You call Your fam'ly, Lord,

         We follow and rejoice.   Refrain

2.  With joyful lips we sing to You

          Our praise and gratitude

               That You should count us worthy, Lord,

          To share this heav'nly food.   Refrain

3.  Is not this cup we bless and share

          The blood of Christ outpoured?

               Do not one cup, one loaf, declare

          Our oneness in the Lord?   Refrain

4.  The myst'ry of Your presence, Lord,

          No mortal tongue can tell:

              Whom all the world cannot contain

          Comes in our hearts to dwell.   Refrain

5.  You give Yourself to us, O Lord;

          Then selfless let us be,

               To serve each other in Your name

          In truth and charity.  Refrain

Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior

"I will rejoice greatly in the LORD; my soul shall exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."  (Isaiah 61:10)

1.  Thee we adore, O hidden Savior, Thee,

     Who in Thy Sacrament art pleased to be;

          Both flesh and spirit in Thy presence fail,

          Yet here Thy presence we devoutly hail.

2.  In this memorial of Thy death, O Lord,

     Thou dost Thy body and Thy blood afford:

          O may our souls forever feed on Thee,

          And Thou, O Christ, forever precious be.

3.  Thou, like the pelican to feed her brood,

     Didst pierce Thyself to give us living food;

          Thy blood, O Lord, one drop has pow'r to win

          Forgiveness for our world and all its sin.

4.  Fountain of goodness, Jesus, Lord and God:

     Cleanse us, unclean, with Thy most cleansing blood;

          Increase our faith and love, that we may know

          The hope and peace which from Thy presence flow.

5.  O Christ, whom now beneath a veil we see,

     May what we thirst for soon our portion be:

          To gaze on Thee unveiled and see Thee face to face,

          The vision of Thy glory, and Thy grace.   Amen.

(Stained glass window is from the chapel at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Bay City, Michigan.)

The Death of Jesus Christ, Our Lord

Haquin Spegel (1645-1714) wrote this Communion hymn, originally ten stanzas long.  Lutheran Worship omitted the ninth stanza, which reads:

     O Jesus Christ, our Brother dear,

     Unto Thy cross we now draw near;

        Thy sacred wounds indeed make whole

        A wounded and afflicted soul.

Lutheran Service Book omitted two more stanzas, the fifth and seventh of the remaining nine stanzas, which read:

     A precious food is this indeed--

     It never fails us in our need--

        A heav'nly manna for our soul

        Until we safely reach our goal.

     The guest who comes with true intent

     To turn to God and to repent,

        To live for Christ, to die to sin,

        Will thus a holy life begin.

The fifth stanza is not remarkable; the seventh stanza, it was felt by the Hymnody Committee, focused the communicant far too much on what he/she brings to the Sacrament.  Instead, one's thoughts ought to center more on the promise of forgiveness given in the Sacrament.  Thus, a new stanza was penned by Joe Herl and myself to reflect the catechism's answer to the question concerning the worthiness of the communicant:  "That person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: 'Given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.' " 

That left the Hymnody Committee with seven stanzas of the original with a new stanza.  A few word changes were made, most notably in what is now stanza seven.  The concluding stanzas were slightly reordered, to end the hymn on a more evangelical note.

1.  The death of Jesus Christ, our Lord,

     We celebrate with one accord;

       It is our comfort in distress,

       Our heart's sweet joy and happiness.

2.  He blotted out with His own blood

     The judgment that against us stood;

       For us He full atonement made,

       And our debt He fully paid.

3.  That this forever true shall be

     He gives a solemn guarantee:

       In this His holy Supper here

       We taste His love so sweet, so near.

4.  His Word proclaims and we believe

     That in this Supper we receive

       His very body, as He said,

       His very blood for sinners shed.

5.  We dare not ask how this can be,

     But simply hold the mystery

       And trust this word where life begins:

       "Given and shed for all your sins."

6.  They who this word do not believe

     This food unworthily receive,

       Salvation here will never find--

       May we this warning keep in mind!

7.  But blest is each believing guest

     Who in these promises finds rest;

       For Jesus shall in love remain

       With all who here His grace obtain.

8.  Help us sincerely to believe

     That we may worthily receive

       Your Supper and in You find rest.

       Amen!  They who believe are blest.

We Sing th' Amazing Deeds

This hymn by Isaac Watts he himself subtitled: Incomparable food; or, The flesh and blood of Christ.  

1.  [We sing th' amazing deeds

        That grace divine performs;

    Th' eternal God comes down and bleeds

        To nourish dying worms.

2.  This soul-reviving wine,

         Dear Saviour, is thy blood;

     We thank that sacred flesh of thine

         For this immortal food.]

3.  The banquet that we eat

         Is made of heav'nly things;

     Earth has no dainties half so sweet

         As our Redeemer brings.

4.  In vain had Adam sought

         And searched his garden round;

     For there was no such blessed fruit

         In all that happy ground.

5.  Th' angelic host above

         Can never taste this food;

     They feast upon their Maker's love,

         But not a Saviour's blood.

6.  On us th' almighty Lord

         Bestows this matchless grace,

     And meets us with some cheering word,

         With pleasure in his face.

7.  Come, all ye drooping saints,

         And banquet with the King;

     This wine will drown your sad complaints,

         And tune your voice to sing--

8.  Salvation to the name

         Of our adored Christ!

     Through the wide earth his grace proclaim,

         His glory in the high'st.