November 18, 2012: The Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Order of Worship for November 18 2012

Hymn: We Gather Together

From The Presbyterian Hymnal Companion: This folk hymn dating from the seventeenth century was first written during Holland’s struggles for independence from Spain. The political environment played a role in the writing of the text. Frederick Henry, prince of Orange, had just assumed leadership of the Dutch provinces following the assassination of his father, William the Silent (1625). A capable politician and military leader, Frederick led the way for Dutch independence, and peace came to the Netherlands in 1648.

Tiffany Shomsky of Hymnary.org writes: When this hymn was first published in America, the idea of the United States' Manifest Destiny to overtake the American continent in God's name was still popular. The militant language and patriotic association can lend a sense of nationalism to the song that is inappropriate for a worship service. It may take some care to put this text in an appropriate context for worship. However, there are several phrases that may bring certain Scripture passages to mind (e.g., “the wicked oppressing,” Ps. 55:3; see also Scripture references below). When the hymn is put in this context, the message is clearly about the Church seeking God's help and thanking Him for His presence in the pursuit of victory over evil.

Hymn: Let All Things Now Living

Katherine K. Davis wrote this text for the tune ASH GROVE in the 1920s; it was published under a pseudonym. Davis wrote several other texts under different pseudonymns, including “The Little Drummer Boy.” The hymn references Old Testament imagery and instructs all creatures to praise their Creating God. The first stanza gives reasons for praising, and the second joins all the voices together in one song.

Hymn and Anthem: Now Thank We All Our God

Perhaps the most well known hymn to ever come out of Germany, the first two stanzas were written by Martin Rinkart around 1630 as a table prayer before a meal. They are based on a text from the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus 50:22-24: “And now bless the God of all, who everywhere works great wonders, who fosters growth from our birth.” The final stanza serves as a Trinitarian doxology. The anthem setting the choir will sing today is a rhythmic version of the tune that is more in line with what the original tune would have sounded like.

Anthem: Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

Composer Jason McCoy wrote this anthem in 2011, using the words of Henry Alford and Anna Barbauld. The first verse uses Alford’s words from his hymn, “Come, Ye Thankful People, Come,” published in 1844 and revised in 1867. The Psalter Hymnal Handbook writes that the text “uses imagery found in two gospel parables: the growing seed (Mark 4:26-29) and the wheat and the weeds (Matt. 13:24-30, 36-43). However, the initial agricultural harvest theme becomes an eschatological metaphor for the final judgment when the angels will gather God’s chosen people into the “glorious harvest home” and cast the evil “weeds” into the “fire.” Thus the text provocatively combines language and imagery that represent annual harvests as well as the ultimate consummation of history. The second and third verses were compiled using stanzas from Barbauld’s hymn, “Praise to God, Immortal Praise.”