Musical Notes

Hello OCBC family!
During my quite time, normally I use, beside my Bible, a hymnal, and read a hymn as a devotional lecture, and many times, I read a Christmas hymn during non-Christmas  time. This happened to me last week. I read, and enjoyed, the old hymn “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.”

This hymn is from an ancient liturgy, the Liturgy of St. James, from the 4th century. The lyrics that we sing during Advent season are more modern than the original ones, a work by Gerard Moultrie in 1864.

This hymn evokes the incarnation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and the melody is in minor key and to be sung in unison; this brings some mysterious feelings that makes you to meditate in this mystery, God in flesh, coming to this world to save man from his sins.

Read the first two stanzas of this hymn.

1 Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded,
for, with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

2 King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth He stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
in the body and the blood.
He will give to all the faithful
His own self for heav'nly food.

The last stanza is a reference of the vision of Isaiah in the temple, when God called him to be a prophet.

Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”
(Isaiah 6:2-3)

 4 At His feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the Presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry,
“Alleluia, alleluia,
alleluia, Lord Most High!”

OCBC use this hymn to worship our incarnate God.
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In His service,
Israel