{"id":19070,"date":"2023-12-17T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=19070"},"modified":"2023-12-16T20:40:32","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T01:40:32","slug":"advent-singing-from-heaven-above-to-earth-i-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=19070","title":{"rendered":"Advent Singing: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-embed-aspect-4-3 wp-has-aspect-ratio wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"From Heaven High\" width=\"474\" height=\"356\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/TjsfGQK58jk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today&#8217;s advent hymn is not one I&#8217;ve sung before, but the video above recommends it well. The text is originally from the great Martin Luther (1483-1546), translated in 1855 by a woman who brought many German hymns into English, Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878). The <em>Psalter Hymnal Handbook<\/em> notes Luther wrote this &#8220;for his family&#8217;s Christmas Eve devotions,&#8221; and &#8220;intended that stanzas 1-7 be sung by a man dressed as an angel and stanzas 8-15 by children.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The video has only five verses, but I&#8217;ve copied the text from the 1918 Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-book so you can get the full piece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;And this will be a sign for you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger&#8221; (Luke 2:12 RSV).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1 From heaven above to earth I come<br>To bear good news to every home;<br>Glad tidings of great joy I bring,<br>Whereof I now will say and sing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">2 To you this night is born a child<br>Of Mary, chosen virgin mild;<br>This little child, of lowly birth,<br>Shall be the joy of all the earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">3 This is the Christ, our God and Lord,<br>Who in all need shall aid afford;<br>He will Himself your Savior be,<br>From all your sins to make you free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">4 He brings those blessing, long ago<br>Prepared by God for all below,<br>That in His heavenly Kingdom blest<br>You may with us forever rest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">5 These are the tokens ye shall mark;<br>The swaddling-clothes and manger dark;<br>There shall ye find the young child laid,<br>By whom the heavens and earth were made.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">6 Now let us all with gladsome cheer,<br>Follow the shepherds, and draw near,<br>To see the wondrous gift of God,<br>Who hath His own dear Son bestowed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">7 Give heed, my heart, lift up thine eyes!<br>What is it in yon manger lies?<br>Who is this child, so young and fair?<br>Dear little Jesus lieth there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">8 Welcome to earth, Thou noble Guest,<br>Through whom the sinful world is blest!<br>Thou com&#8217;st to share my misery,<br>What thanks shall I return to Thee?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">9 Ah! Lord, who hast created all,<br>How hast Thou made Thee weak and small,<br>That Thou must choose Thy infant bed,<br>Where humble cattle lately fed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">10 And were the world ten times as wide,<br>With gold and jewels beautified,<br>It would be far too small to be<br>A narrow cradle, Lord, for Thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">11 For velvets soft and silken stuff<br>Thou hast but hay and straw so rough,<br>Whereon Thou, King, so rich and great,<br>As &#8217;twere Thy heaven, art throned in state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">12 And thus, dear Lord, it pleased Thee<br>To make this truth quite plain to me,<br>That this world&#8217;s honor, wealth and might<br>Are naught and worthless in Thy sight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">13 Ah! dearest Jesus, holy Child,<br>Make Thee a bed, soft, undefiled,<br>Within my heart, that it may be<br>A quiet chamber kept for Thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">14 My heart for very joy doth leap,<br>My lips no more can silence keep;<br>I, too, must sing with joyful tongue<br>That sweetest ancient cradle-song:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">15 Glory to God in highest heaven,<br>Who unto man His Son hath given!<br>While angels sing with pious mirth<br>A glad New Year to all the earth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today&#8217;s advent hymn is not one I&#8217;ve sung before, but the video above recommends it well. The text is originally from the great Martin Luther (1483-1546), translated in 1855 by a woman who brought many German hymns into English, Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878). The Psalter Hymnal Handbook notes Luther wrote this &#8220;for his family&#8217;s Christmas Eve &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/?p=19070\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Advent Singing: From Heaven Above to Earth I Come<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19070"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19071,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19070\/revisions\/19071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brandywinebooks.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}