481. Proper 9 (Series C)

The lessons for this Sunday (July 3-9) are Isaiah 66:10-14, Galatians 6:1-18 (skipping 11-13) and Luke 10:1-20. The tune is WE WEISS, WIE NAHE – not the one you're probably thinking of, by Johann D. Meyer (1692), but the other one, a.k.a. ROTHENBURG, whose credit line references G. Österreicher (1623), F.V. Buttstedt (1774) and a Christliche Gesänge out of Elberfeld (1805). The Australian LH pairs it with "Who knows how soon life may be ending." The repeat in the penultimate line of each stanza is an artifact of the tune's basic structure, going back to its earliest uses. The arrangement is cribbed from a 1910 German hymnal.

Rejoice with Zion, all who love her;
Be glad with her for whom you mourn.
Feed unto satisfaction of her;
Be comforted, you long forlorn.
Drink in, drink in her fountains of delight,
Her glory shining bounteous bright.

Lo, God will send peace like a river,
The nations' glory as a stream:
Full nourishment will He deliver
Till on her breast you safely dream.
Like babes, like babes whose mother comforts them,
God will console Jerusalem.

When Christ His saving pow'r exhibits.
Your hearts shall therefore burst with song
The foe, whose wiles His word inhibits,
Like lightning shall be hurled headlong.
Rejoice, rejoice, not that the demons fly,
But that your names are fixed on high.