Find Hymn of the Month sheets in your worship folder on the first Sunday of each month, at the church information counter, and here on St. Paul's Music webpage.

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Open Now Thy Gates of Beauty | LSB 901

September 2024

Stanza 1

Open now thy gates of beauty;

Zion, let me enter there,

Where my soul in joyful duty

Waits for Him who answers prayer.

Oh, how blessèd is this place,

Filled with solace, light, and grace!

When we come to St. Paul’s for worship, know this, God Himself has thrown the doors wide open. We joyfully sing and pray, and our Lord joyfully answers our prayers. He says to us, “Come to Me and I will comfort your soul, I will be your light, and clothe you in grace.”

Stanza 2

Gracious God, I come before Thee;

Come Thou also unto me.

Where we find Thee and adore Thee,

There a heav’n on earth must be.

To my heart, O enter Thou;

Let it be Thy temple now!

When we step through the doors for worship, two things happen. We come to meet Him and He is there to greet us. In this place—St. Paul's—heaven and earth meet. So we pray that as we enter the Divine Service, He would make our hearts His temple.

Stanza 3

Here Thy praise is gladly chanted;

Here Thy seed is duly sown.

Let my soul, where it is planted,

Bring forth precious sheaves alone,

So that all I hear may be

Fruitful unto life in me.

Here His Word is beautifully sung. Here His Word in our hearts is sown. We pray that all we hear and sing blossoms to a fruitful life in us.

Stanza 4

Thou my faith increase and quicken;

Let me keep Thy gift divine,

Howsoe’er temptations thicken;

May Thy Word still o’er me shine

As my guiding star through life,

As my comfort in all strife.

In the Divine Service, our Father gives us all we need to strengthen and sustain our faith—because Satan does all he can to “thicken” temptations. So our Lord daily gives us His strong Word as a light for our paths and a comfort in our sufferings.

Stanza 5

Speak, O God, and I will hear Thee;

Let Thy will be done indeed.

May I undisturbed draw near Thee

While Thou dost Thy people feed.

Here of life the fountain flows;

Here is balm for all our woes.

Here, in the last stanza, we pray—we cry out—Speak to us, O God! Let Thy perfect will be done in our lives. Bring us to the table where You feed our souls. Bring us to the fountain of life and wipe away all our tears.

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Praise to the Lord, the Almighty | LSB 790

October 2024

Stanza 1

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation!
O my soul, praise Him, for He is your health and salvation!
    Let all who hear
    Now to His temple draw near,
Joining in glad adoration!

Prepare yourselves; this is a big hymn! You can expect Kantor Gerhardt to pull out all the stops on the organ. In this hymn we sing with all the saints who’ve gone before us, with all the Hosts in heaven, and with Christians worldwide.

We can sing with all our hearts because “God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). And because the Father “raised Him [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come” (Ephesians 1:20–21). 

Stanza 2

Praise to the Lord, who o’er all things is wondrously reigning
And, as on wings of an eagle, uplifting, sustaining.
    Have you not seen
    All that is needful has been
Sent by His gracious ordaining?

Our Lord reigns over us and sustains us. He’s done this from the beginning. He chose Abraham to be the father of Israel. He placed Joseph in Egypt to save His people from famine. He used Moses to bring His people home. He raised up David to shepherd His people. And in the fullness of time He gave us His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). Jesus now sustains us with this promise: “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16–17). 

Stanza 3

Praise to the Lord, who has fearfully, wondrously, made you,
Health has bestowed and, when heedlessly falling, has stayed you.
    What need or grief
    Ever has failed of relief?
Wings of His mercy did shade you.

"For you formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:13–14). And even when health fails, which it will until Jesus returns, He promises to raise our bodies—whole and strong—on the last day. Jesus keeps His promises! 

Stanza 4

Praise to the Lord, who will prosper your work and defend you;
Surely His goodness and mercy shall daily attend you.
    Ponder anew
    What the Almighty can do
As with His love He befriends you.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10). What is the “work” He has created you to do? Our work is to love our Lord and our neighbor with all our hearts. He befriended and created us in Christ, who strengthens us for this great work. 

Stanza 5

Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore Him!
All that has life and breath, come now with praises before Him!
    Let the Amen
    Sound from His people again;
Gladly forever adore Him!

Look closely! There are FOUR!!!! exclamation points in this last stanza!  Today we sing with the angels! 

“Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders and the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ “ (Revelation 5:11-14). 

SING!

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Jerusalem, My Happy Home | LSB 673

November 2024

Stanza 1

Jerusalem, my happy home,

When shall I come to thee?

When shall my sorrows have an end?

Thy joys when shall I see?

In this hymn, we sing of coming home to the end of our sorrows and to a life in joy. We sing, When shall I come to thee? This is just like our kids in the car pleading, “Are we there yet?!!!” But will the New Jerusalem really be our home?

Jesus says yes: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that were I am you may be also (John 14:2-3).”

The writer of Hebrews says yes: "But you have come [even now] to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Hebrews 12:22)."

Even now, through faith in Jesus and the gifts of our Baptism, we have arrived — even as we ask, “Are we there yet?” Our place is guaranteed by Jesus. The “New Jerusalem” is the place where the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit fully and forever dwell with us

— in joy.

Stanza 2

O happy harbor of the saints,

O sweet and pleasant soil!

In thee no sorrow may be found,

No grief, no care, no toil.

O happy harbor of the saints: Our journey here on earth is full of storms. But Jesus is bringing us to a harbor full of joy. He is bringing us to a pleasant home that is free of sorrow, grief, anxiety, and endless toil.

"Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows (Psalm 23:4-5)."

Stanza 3

Thy gardens and thy gallant walks

Continually are green;

There grow such sweet and pleasant flow’rs

As no-where else are seen.

Stanza 3 unfolds the beauty of our new home. This home is the complete fulfillment of God's promises to His people. "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:1–3).” The New Jerusalem will be green, fruitful, and beautiful, with complete healing for our souls.

"On that day I swore to them that I would bring them out of the land of Egypt into a land that I searched out for them, a land flowing with milk and honey, the most glorious of all lands (Ezekiel 20:6)." There grow such sweet and pleasant flow’rs as no-where else are seen.

Stanza 4

There trees for-ever-more bear fruit

And ever-more do spring;

There ever-more the angels dwell

And ever-more do sing.

When Jesus takes us to this safe harbor, to this glorious and beautiful home, we will not be alone. There, an extraordinary choir of angels invites us to join their song.

Stanza 5

Apostles, martyrs, prophets, there

Around my Savior stand;

And soon my friends in Christ below

Will join the glorious band.

But wait! There’s more! The apostles, the martyrs, the prophets, and our friends will join the choir.

And there’s still more! “Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain’ ... And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ (Revelation 5:11-13).”

Stanza 6

O Christ, do Thou my soul prepare

For that bright home of love

That I may see Thee and adore

With all Thy saints above.

In the last stanza, we pray to Jesus, “Prepare my soul for our bright home of love. Prepare me to see and adore You with all your saints.” How does Jesus prepare us? He prepares us in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s as we sing the song of the church, as we receive and live in the gifts of His Word, our Baptism, and The Lord’s Supper.

That I may see Thee and adore with all Thy saints above.