538. St. Joseph Hymn

The feast day for the upright man who claimed the Virgin's Son as his own, Jesus' earthly father Joseph, falls on March 19 according to on Lutheran Service Book's calendar of Feasts and Festivals. For what it's worth, the appointed lessons are 2 Samuel 7:4-16, Romans 4:13-18 and Matthew 2:13-23, minus a handful of verses (16-18) regarding the slaughter of the innocents. However, I'm going against my usual procedure on this hymn and just freestyling it. Why? Mainly because this hymn has been writing itself in my head and I just have to let it out. Here goes:

Naked You came, Lord, to our flesh;
In rags dear Joseph bound You,
That You in garments pure and fresh
Might clothe the race around You,
Though our filth must astound You!

That night, all jealousy aside,
The Virgin's husband claimed You,
Who might their union have denied
And by men's custom shamed You;
As David's Heir he named You.

A workman with hard hands and skilled,
Stout arms he might have wielded.
When Herod sought to have You killed,
To dreams he softly yielded;
Your precious life he shielded.

Departing country, kin and hearth
And into Egypt fleeing,
He served a father's selfless part,
Fulfillment guaranteeing
Of ancient scribes' foreseeing.

In what God's word of him reveals,
We see sincerely burning
A love that but a father feels,
His pride and profit spurning,
With higher things concerning.

On You, King David's Heir and Lord,
Who after Joseph toddled—
Incarnate God and living Word,
In grave-clothes briefly swaddled—
Our hope of life is modeled.

Let men the office now embrace
That Joseph wore with lightness,
And every child the Father's face
Reflect with Christlike brightness,
Draped freely in Your rightness.

ART: St. Joseph and the boy Jesus by Jusepe de Ribera, public domain.