Sing with All the Saints in Glory

Our hymn for the month of November is "Sing with All the Saints in Glory," hymn 671 in Lutheran Service Book. This hymn was written by William J. Irons, a 19th Century Anglican priest. The hymn first appears in the book Psalms and Hymns for the Church, published in 1873. Originally the text had four stanzas, but in our hymnal two of the verses have been squeezed together into one. We have used this hymn at St. Paul's previously, but it deserves a place in your mind and heart.

In the Proper Preface of our Communion liturgy we confess that, in the Divine Service, we join our worship "with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven." Our hymn is a firm confession and reminder that our loved ones who have departed this life in the faith continue to worship with us as they rest from their labors. 

As we celebrate the Feast of All Saints on November 1 (and observe it in worship on November 2), this is a message of great comfort to us. "Death and sorrow, earth's dark story, to the former days belong." The day is coming when death will be no more. As St. Paul tells us, "The last enemy that will be destroyed is death" (I Corinthians 15:26). And in Revelation our Lord tells St. John, "God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:5). That Day is surely coming: "Soon the storms of time shall cease; in God's likeness we awaken, knowing everlasting peace." 

As we await that glorious Day when the image of God, distorted by sin, will be perfected in us, we know that death is not the end. We know that a blessed rest awaits us. “God has promised, Christ prepares it; there on high our welcome waits.” And then, on the Last Day, shall come the sound of the trumpet that shall raise us all, and the faithful shall rise to endless day. “Life eternal! Oh, what wonders crowd on faith; what joy unknown, when, amid earth's closing thunders, saints shall stand before the throne!” What a glorious Day that shall be!

By the way, as I said above, this hymn was written by an Anglican priest. We Lutherans do not insist that our texts be written by Missouri Synod Lutherans. Lutherans are not the only ones who confess the truth of God's Word, and we are not the only ones who can write theologically solid hymns. And good, solid hymns were written long before there was a Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. However, we do insist that we should only use theologically solid hymns, no matter their source.

Here is the text, which is in the public domain, from the hymnary.org website:

1. Sing with all the saints in glory, 
Sing the resurrection song! 
Death and sorrow, earth's dark story, 
To the former days belong. 
All around the clouds are breaking; 
Soon the storms of time shall cease; 
In God's likeness we awaken, 
Knowing everlasting peace. 

2. Oh, what glory, far exceeding 
All that eye has yet perceived! 
Holiest hearts for ages pleading 
Never that full joy conceived. 
God has promised, Christ prepares it; 
There on high our welcome waits.
Ev'ry humble spirit shares it, 
Christ has passed the eternal gates. 

3. Life eternal! Heav'n rejoices; 
Jesus lives who once was dead. 
Shout with joy, O deathless voices!
Child of God, lift up your head! 
Life eternal! Oh, what wonders
Crowd on faith; what joy unknown,
When, amid earth's closing thunders,
Saints shall stand before the throne!

To hear me read the text of the hymn, CLICK HERE.

To hear the hymn sung, CLICK HERE.

I Walk in Danger All the Way

Beginning this month at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Marion, Iowa, we will sing a "Hymn of the Month" each month, at least for a while, This selection will often be a new hymn to us—sometimes a new text. sometimes a new tune, and sometimes both. Though sometimes they may be difficult to sing or unfamiliar to our ears, they are, indeed, worth your time to learn. And since you may be unfamiliar with the text or tune, I wanted you to have an opportunity to become familiar with it before we sing it this coming Sunday. 

Our hymn for the month of October is "I Walk in Danger All the Way," hymn 716 in Lutheran Service Book. It is a hymn from the 18th Century, written by Lutheran pastor and bishop Hans Adolph Brorson. The hymn is comprised of two parts. The first three stanzas focus on the threats we Christians face from sin, death, and Satan. The truth that the life of the Christian is a life where we "pass through trials all the way" and bear our crosses as our Lord bids us do. We are forced to come face to face with our own mortality, with death stalking us like we are his prey. The concluding three stanzas show how our Lord provides for our protection and deliverance from these fearsome foes. Angel hosts accompany us on our journey along the narrow way of our life in Christ. Because we are baptized children of our heavenly Father, we "walk with Jesus all the way" throughout our lives, until, finally, we come to our heavenly goal. 

This is a beautiful text which describes our life in Christ, both in the hardships we face because the world hates us as much as it hates our Lord Jesus, or the triumph which is already ours now and which will be perfected at the Last Day. God grant you great comfort and joy in your walk with Jesus with this song on your lips!

Here is the text:

1 I walk in danger all the way,
The thought shall never leave me
That Satan, who has marked his prey,
Is plotting to deceive me.
This foe with hidden snares
May seize me unawares
If I should fail to watch and pray.
I walk in danger all the way.

2 I pass through trials all the way,
With sin and ills contending;
In patience I must bear each day
The cross of God's own sending.
When in adversity
I know not where to flee,
When storms of woe my soul dismay,
I pass through trials all the way.

3 And death pursues me all the way,
Nowhere I rest securely;
He comes by night, he comes by day,
He takes his prey most surely.
A failing breath, and I
In death's strong grasp may lie
To face eternity today
As death pursues me all the way.

4 I walk with angels all the way,
They shield me and befriend me;
All Satan's pow'r is held at bay
When heav'nly hosts attend me;
They are my sure defense,
All fear and sorrow, hence!
Unharmed by foes, do what they may,
I walk with angels all the way.

5 I walk with Jesus all the way,
His guidance never fails me;
Within His wounds I find a stay
When Satan's pow'r assails me;
And by His footsteps led,
My path I safely tread.
No evil leads my soul astray;
I walk with Jesus all the way.

6 My walk is heav'nward all the way;
Await, my soul, the morrow,
When God's good healing shall allay
All suff'ring, sin, and sorrow.
Then, worldly pomp, begone!
To heav'n I now press on.
For all the world I would not stay;
My walk is heav'nward all the way.

To hear me read the text of this beautiful hymn, watch this video. 

To hear the music and words of this hymn together, click this link.