Today’s hymn is of traditional origin. Deep River is a song about longing for heaven, written over 150 years ago. The earliest printed evidence is from 1867. It’s performed above by Wilford Kelly.
” Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24 ESV)
Deep river, my home is over Jordan, Deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground. Oh, don’t you want to go to that gospel feast, That promised land where all is peace? Oh, deep river, Lord, I want to cross over into campground.
We return to our Sunday Singing hymn selections with this moving African spiritual, “There Is a Balm in Gilead.” Kathleen Battle & Jessye Norman sing with The New York Philharmonic in the recording above.
It’s a song that provokes you to ask often we should tell people of the living hope that’s been given to us. How often should we echo the words of the prophet in Jeremiah 46:11 (ESV)?
“Go up to Gilead, and take balm, O virgin daughter of Egypt! In vain you have used many medicines; there is no healing for you.”
Other medicines don’t actually work, but the balm in Gilead will heal us completely.
Refrain There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole, there is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged and think my work’s in vain, but then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
If you cannot preach like Peter, if you cannot pray like Paul, you can tell the love of Jesus and say, “He died for all.”
Tonight, another Sissel video. I knew the song well, but had not seen the video before — and it’s quite lovely.
“Soria Moria” comes from “Soria Moria Castle,” a Norwegian fairy tale in Asbjørnsen’s and Moe’s famous collection. I think it’s included in Dasent’s East o’ the Sun and West o’ the Moon, but I’m not entirely sure and too lazy to consult my copy (which is in the basement).
This particular song was, according to the liner notes on the original album (which were easier to find), written by Svein Gundersen and Stig Nielsen, and the music was first composed for a musical play called ‘Isfront.’
There’s a couple of pretty amazing high notes in this number, along with some cool scenery.
It’s Christmas Eve. Very likely Christmas Day (or later) by the time you see it. Consider this your Christmas greeting from me.
I’m sure I’ve posted this song before (though perhaps not this performance), but I consider it one of the most beautiful Scandinavian Christmas songs out there. If I post it enough, maybe Americans will catch on to it. If not, you’ll have the satisfaction of being among the few, the proud, the Initiated.
God became man. Without in any way questioning the primacy of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have long noted that the great heresies almost always began by getting the Incarnation wrong. So it’s perfectly all right to make a big day of this one.
You can find lists of great and favorite Christmas songs everywhere, and whose list is definitive will depend on who you trust. This morning, I looked up Parade’s list of 50 best and compared it to a list of 30 from ClassicFM. You might think Parade’s list leans toward pop songs, but I found a 46% overlap between the lists out of a possible 60%. I wish these songs were what you could expect on the radio or while shopping.
Parade’s first 10 (with ClassicFM’s number in parentheses), not intended ranking priority:
Silent night (2)
O Come All Ye Faithful (6)
12 Days of Christmas
Do You Hear What I Hear
The Little Drummer Boy
Joy to The World (13)
The First Noel (29)
Jingle Bells
Deck the Halls
O Christmas Tree (this one also made it on the list at #43 as “O Tannenbaum”)
That leans toward popular fare, and it’s a good, fun list. “O Come All Ye Faithful” is one of the best carols of all time. You could sing it year round in English or Latin. On “Silent Night,” ClassicFM notes, “During the Christmas truce of 1914 during World War I, the carol was sung simultaneously by English and German troops.”
My second day after eye surgery. (It was a detached retina, I might as well admit.) I have no reason to complain. I can go about my life moderately well (though my depth perception, never the best, is pretty poor right now). I am in very minor discomfort, not pain. Just enough to make me grumpy, if I took the trouble to be around people to be grumpy at. Give it time.
The little two-hymn medley above from a young Sissel Kyrkjebø is included on her classic Christmas album, Glade Jul, which sold almost as many copies as there are people in Norway. The first one is Det Kimer Nå Til Julefest ([Bells] Ring Now for the Christmas Celebration). The lyrics are by the Danish preacher and author N.F.S. Grundtvig. The second is Jeg Synger Julekvad (I Sing a Christmas Song), which is, I believe, more of a folk hymn. Both hymns are offered with subtitles, apparently done by AI and not always to be relied upon.
First of all, I feel I should warn you (the horror!) that it’s possible I may not be posting tomorrow. I am scheduled for minor surgery involving my vision, and will just have to see whether I’m in shape to work a computer or not.
I would appreciate your prayers if you think of it, but they assure me it’s a common procedure and the risks are low. (At least that’s how I choose to interpret it.)
So, tonight – another Christmas carol. Not Sissel, I’m afraid. She doesn’t seem to have done this one. There are performances by the Heretic Tabernacle Choir, but I don’t want to give them more business than I already have done. There are English choir versions, but the English sing it to the wrong tune (I believe that was a major reason for the unpleasantness of 1776).
At last I found a nice one by the Hillsdale College Choir. That will do.
I remember that when I was a kid, my first favorite Christmas hymn was “Away in the Manger” (erroneously believed, at the time, to have been written by Martin Luther). It’s a kid’s carol, and one of the first songs I ever learned by heart.
Then, some years later, I remember, I decided I preferred “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”
I’ve gone on to other favorite Christmas hymns since that time, but I still favor the Little Town, in a general way.
It was written by Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), an Episcopal priest who eventually became bishop of Massachusetts. (According to Wikipedia, he introduced Helen Keller to both Christianity and Annie Sullivan.) He said he wrote it after visiting the Holy Land, and Bethlehem on Christmas night. I recall reading an anecdote that after his death, a little girl in his congregation is supposed to have said, “How happy the angels will be to have him in Heaven!”
Today’s hymn is another old one that’s has been revived by the great John Rutter into the piece performed in the video above. “What Sweeter Music” or Herrick’s Carol was originally written by Englishman Robert Herrick (1591-1674), who is better known for the poetic line “Gather ye rosebuds while ye may.”
“When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.’” (Luke 2:15 ESV)
1. What sweeter music can we bring Than a bright carol, for to sing The birth of this, our heavenly King? Awake the voice! Awake the string!
Refrain: We see him come and know him ours, Who with his sunshine and his showers Turns all the patient ground to flowers.
2. Dark and dull night, fly hence away, And give the honor to this day, Which sees December turned to May; If we may ask the reason, say: [Refrain]
3. The darling of the world is come, And fit it is we find a room To welcome him. The nobler part Of all the house, here is the heart: [Refrain]
4. Thus we will give him and bequeath This holly and this ivy wreath To do him honor, who’s our King And Lord of all this revelling: [Refrain]
It’s Advent season, coming up on Christmas. I have my Christmas tree lit, and some candles are burning away like the billy-o, and I’m going to share another Sissel Christmas clip, because that’s what I do.
I believe Sissel has said this is her favorite song out of all her repertoire. I especially like the arranger’s hat tip to Grieg in the instrumentation.
This 1774 hymn was noted in the earliest record as a Christmas hymn by Robert Robinson (1735-1790) of Norfolk, England, and it shows how the first coming of the Lord is often blurred with his second coming. The original music for the hymn was lost, but what’s that to any hymn?
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
“And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.” (Daniel 7:13-14 ESV)
1 Mighty God, while angels bless thee, May an infant lisp thy name? Lord of men as well as angels, Thou art every creature’s theme.
2 Lord of every land and nation, Ancient of eternal days; Sounded through the wide creation Be thy just and lawful praise.
3 For the grandeur of thy nature, Grand beyond a seraph’s thought, For created works of power, Works with skill and kindness wrought.
4 For thy providence that governs Thro’ thine empire’s wide domain; Wings an angel, guides a sparrow, Blessed be thy gentle reign.
5 But thy rich, thy free redemption, Dark thro’ brightness all along; Thought is poor, and poor expression, Who dare sing that awful song?
6 Brightness of the father’s glory, Shall thy praise unutter’d lie? Fly my tongue such guilty silence! Sing the Lord who came to die.
7 Did Arch-angels sing thy coming? Did the shepherds learn their lays? Shame would cover me ungrateful, Should my tongue refuse to praise.
8 From the highest throne in glory, To the cross of deepest woe; All to ransom guilty captives, Flow my praise, for ever flow.
9 Go return immortal Saviour, Leave thy footstool, take thy throne; Thence return, and reign for ever, Be the kingdom all thine own. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Amen.
