Liturgy Lessons: March 19, 2017
Call to Worship: Psalm 138 (ESV)
Hymn of Adoration: O God Beyond All Praising (#660)
Confession of Sin: from Book of Common Worship
Sung response: Jesus, Lamb of God (Agnus Dei)
Assurance of Pardon: Jeremiah 31:31-34
Hymn of Praise: O Great God (Kauflin)
Catechism and Congregational Prayer
Tithes and Offerings
Doxology: #733
Sermon
Meditation
Supper: Lift Up Your Hearts Unto the Lord; Be Thou My Vision (#642)
Closing Hymn: O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing (#164)
Benediction
O God Beyond All Praising
Text: Michael Perry (1982)
Tune: JUPITER, from The Planets, Gustav Holst (1918)
Jupiter, the equivalent of the Greek Zeus, was the chief deity in the Roman Empire—the king of the gods in ancient Roman religion—until Christianity rose to prominence in the 4th century. Jupiter is also the name of the 4th movement of a symphonic suite titled “The Planets,” the most well-known work by 20th-century English composer Gustav Holst. As the title would suggest, it is a seven-movement orchestral suite in which each section corresponds to one of the planets (earth is not included). Holst depicts the character of each planet through orchestral color, and attempts to evoke the human emotions and psyche in response to each planet. The movement devoted to the largest planet is entitled “Jupiter, the bringer of jollity.” Bookended by music of effervescent cheerfulness is the Jupiter theme, and it is a melody that you go home humming. The suite, as a whole, has been incredibly popular and enduring, but it is Jupiter that has received the most attention. True to the planet’s gargantuan dimensions, Holst’s Jupiter theme has drawn many into its orbit, transcending the concert hall and being arranged by everyone from Frank Zappa to Led Zeppelin. The melody has been heard on an episode of the Simpsons and even topped the Chinese pop charts in 2004. And, it has found its way into the Orthodox Presbyterian Hymnal, paired with a text by English hymn writer Michael Perry. The title is fitting: “O God, beyond all praising.”
Two things are worth contemplating here. First, we are singing music that was an attempt to capture incomprehensible grandeur and awe. Jupiter could hold within itself more than 1,300 Earths, and is 2.5 times the total mass of all the other planets in our solar system, which God sang into existence on the 4th day of creation (Gen. 1:16). When pondering the sheer immensity of Jupiter, and the fact that God created it and calls it by name—along with all the other millions of stars and planets (Isaiah 40:26)—a proper response would be found in Psalm 8: “When I consider the work of your hands, the moon and the stars that you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him?”
The second thing I would like to highlight is the role that the text plays in orienting our affections toward true north. Music is a powerful tool, and a tune such as this, by itself, can arouse great emotion. But, as Bob Kauflin states in his book Worship Matters, “music is a carrier of God’s truth, not the truth itself. Jesus said the truth, not emotional highs, will set us free.” This hymn text orients our affections toward Christ, THE Truth, by whom all things were made (John 1:3). This frees our hearts and minds from the idolatry and hopelessness of worshiping created things rather than the Creator. Our opening Psalm in this week’s liturgy declares, “O Lord, before the gods I will sing your praise.” We are not so different from the Romans and Greeks in our tendency to make “gods” of all sorts of things; but, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our hearts and minds are illuminated, and we can trumpet the truth that the one, true God in Christ is the “maker of all things” (Psalm 121:2). May our doctrine and devotion rightly be pulled into the overwhelming gravity of Christ’s saving love, and may we, His people, declare with one voice “O God, beyond all praising, we worship you today; we marvel at your beauty, and glory in your ways, and make a joyful duty our sacrifice of praise.”
Link to sheet music: http://www.hymnary.org/hymn/TH1990/660
Link to recording of “Jupiter” mvt. From “The Planets” (listen for the theme at about the 2:50 mark): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz0b4STz1lo
Be Thou My Vision
Text: Ancient Irish Poem (anonymous, ca. 8th cent.)
Tune: SLANE, Traditional Irish Melody (anonymous)
On Easter Eve In the year 433 A.D., in County Meath, Ireland, St. Patrick defied a royal decree by lighting candles at the top of Slane Hill. High King Logaire of Tara had decreed that no one could light a fire before he, himself, had lit the signal fire on Tara Hill to usher in the beginning of the pagan spring festival. King Logaire was so impressed by Patrick’s courage and devotion that, despite his defiance, he was not punished and continued as Ireland’s first Christian missionary.
Sometimes, hymn singing connects us to the past in powerful ways. Many of us probably have memories of our parents and grandparents singing some of the hymns that we now teach our children. They can embed themselves in our spiritual and emotional memory in powerful ways. They are tools that the Holy Spirit can use to re-kindle within us the fire of faith that burns no matter how strong the winds of time or the cultural forces may gust against it. Such is the case with the famous Irish hymn “Be Thou My Vision.” The original poem, found in two Irish manuscripts in the library of the Royal Irish Academy, may be dated as early as the 8th century. It was rendered into English by Mary Byrne in 1905 (see below). Scholars have commented on how the language of this hymn is drawn from traditional Irish culture, particularly the use of ‘heroic’ imagery to describe God, who was cast as the ‘chieftain’ or ‘High King’ (Ard Ri) who provided protection to His people or clan. Some hymnals have altered the language by changing “High King of heaven” to the more inclusive “Great God of Heaven,” but this is less faithful to the spirit of the original text, and perhaps less theologically potent.
The Irish tune SLANE takes its name from the famous hill in Ireland. In 1919, this tune was paired with Eleanor Hull’s versification of the original 16-stanza poem, and for the past 100 years it has been one of the most enduring and popular hymns in the world. When we consider the tune takes its name from a place known for a bold act of faith, and we recognize the fierce devotional nature of the original material, we can sing this with a renewed vigor that comes from a deeper understanding of the victory we have as we abide in Christ.
Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. None other is aught but the King of the seven heavens.
Be thou my meditation by day and night; May it be thou that I behold even in my sleep.
Be thou my speech, be thou my understanding, be thou with me, be I with thee.
Be thou my father, be I thy son. Mayst thou be mine, may I be thine.
Be thou my battle-shield, be thou my sword. Be thou my dignity, be thou my delight.
Be thou my shelter, be thou my stronghold. Mayst thou raise me up to the company of the angels.
Be thou every good to my body and soul. Be thou my kingdom in heaven and on earth.
Be thou solely chief love of my heart. Let there be none other, O high King of Heaven.
Till I am able to pass into thy hands, my treasure, my beloved, through the greatness of thy love.
Be thou alone my noble and wondrous estate. I seek not men, nor lifeless wealth.
Be thou the constant guardian of every possession and every life. For our corrupt desires are dead at the mere sight of thee.
Thy love in my soul and in my heart—Grant this to me, O King of the seven heavens.
O King of the seven heavens grant me this—Thy love to be in my heart and in my soul.
With the King of all, with him after victory won by piety, may I be in the kingdom of heaven, O brightness of the son.
Beloved Father, hear, hear my lamentations; Timely is the cry of woe of this miserable wretch.
O heart of my heart, whate’er befall me, O ruler of all, be thou my vision.
Link to sheet music: http://www.daytonphilchoirs.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/be-thou-my-vision.pdf
Folk version (Audrey Assad): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Optrm7lF16s
Original Gaelic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1nTztTEHVY
Alicia Lewis (local composer), with Ross Hauck singing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsGZUPkSONk