Context, context, context

[Concerning οὖν] As with the other particles, we do not interpret utterances by deciphering a code, but by a process of inferencing which may use semantic concepts but which then draws out implications from contextual and encyclopaedic information. Putting it simply, it is not the ‘meaning’ of individual words that give understanding of utterances, but the whole background of shared knowledge between speaker and hearer as well as the surrounding narrative.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 96

Lord, it belongs not to my care

516 St. Agnes. C. M.

1 Lord, it belongs not to my care
   whether I die or live:
   To love and serve Thee is my share,
   And this Thy grace must give.

2 If life be long, I will be glad
   That I may long obey:
   If short, yet why should I be sad
   To soar to endless day.

3 Christ leads me through no darker rooms
   That He went through before;
   He that into God's kingdom comes
   Must enter by this door.

4 Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet
   Thy blessed face to see;
   For if Thy work on earth be sweet,
   What will Thy glory be?

5 My knowledge of that life is small:
   The eye of faith is dim;
   But 'tis enough that Christ knows all
   And I shall be with Him.
                         Richard Baxter
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I wasn't aware that Richard Baxter wrote any hymns, but it appears he wrote about two dozen, this being the most popular one, occurring about 240 hymnals. The American Lutheran Hymnal omits our verse 2 and inserts a different verse later:

4 There shall we end our sad complaints
   And weary, sinful days;
   And join with the triumphant saints
   That sing Jehovah's praise.

</idle musing>

But is it true?

When something is presented as a ‘state of affairs’ it does not necessarily mean that it is true, but that the speaker is presenting it as true. The speaker may himself believe that the statement is true but be mistaken in that belief. ὅτι was dealt with earlier when considering the way in which humans represent the words of others, but it is worth mentioning again here. It is clearly related to the use of ἵνα, but in this context it guides a hearer in interpreting what follows as an actual, rather than a potential, state of affairs.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 81 (emphasis original)

I'll praise my Maker, whilst I've breath

513 Old 113th (Lucerne). 6. 8. 8. 8. 8. 8.

1 I'll praise my Maker, whilst I've breath;
   And, when my voice is lost in death,
   Praise shall employ my nobler pow'rs.
   My days of praise shall ne'er be past
   Whilst life and thought and being last,
   or immortality endures.

2 Happy the man, whose hopes rely
   on Israel's God, who made the sky
   and earth and seas with all their train.
   His truth for ever stands secure,
   He saves th' oppress'd, he feeds the poor;
   And none shall find his promise vain.

3 The Lord pours eye-sight on the blind;
   the Lord supports the fainting mind
   and sends the lab'ring conscience peace;
   He helps the stranger in distress,
   the widowed and the fatherless,
   and grants the pris'ner sweet release.

4 I'll praise him, while he lends me breath;
   And, when my voice is lost in death,
   Praise shall employ my nobler pow'rs.
   My days of praise shall ne'er be past
   Whilst life and thought and being last,
   or immortality endures.
                         Isaac Watts
                         Alt. by John Wesley
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I always find it ironic that John Wesley put in the foreword to his hymnals that no one was to tamper with the words of any song he or Charles had written—yet he was only too ready to modify the work of others!

This hymn has a couple of other verses. I'm not sure how much is original to Watts and how much is Wesley's alterations. You can research to your heart's delight by going here.

2 Why should I make a man my trust?
   Princes must die and turn to dust;
   Vain is the help of flesh and blood;
   Their breath departs, their pomp and power
   And thoughts all vanish in an hour,
   Nor can they make their promise good.

5 He loves his saints, he knows them well,
   But turns the wicked down to hell;
   Thy God, O Zion ever reigns:
   Let every tongue, let every age,
   In this exalted work engage:
   Praise him in everlasting strains.

</idle musing>

Actual vs. potential state of affairs (Greek)

The particle ὅτι may be usefully regarded as operating in a manner parallel to that of ἵνα but giving procedural instructions to a reader or hearer to read the following text as describing an actual state of affairs, rather than the potential one ἵνα introduces. In simple terms, ὅτι introduces a description of a situation, Whereas ἵνα introduces a potential situation: what the speaker or subject wants to see happening or thinks should be happening. Here the mood of the verbs in the corresponding clauses supports this analysis with the indicative indicating ‘fact’ — as presented by the speaker or subject — and the subjunctive indicating potentiality.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 80 (emphasis original)

O God of love, O King of peace, Make wars throughout the world to cease (hymn)

511 Theodore. L. M.

1 O God of love, O King of peace,
   Make wars throughout the world to cease;
   The wrath of sinful man restrain,
   Give peace, O God, give peace again.

2 Remember, Lord, Thy works of old,
   The wonders that our fathers told,
   Remember not our sin's dark stain,
   Give peace, O God, give peace again.

3 Whom shall we trust but Thee, O Lord?
   Where rest but on Thy faithful word?
   None ever called on Thee in vain,
   Give peace, O God, give peace again.

4 Where saints and angels dwell above
   All hearts are knit in holy love;
   O bind us in that heavenly chain,
   Give peace, O God, give peace again.
                         Henry W. Baker
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
A very good hymn for our times!
</idle musing>

Those Greek particles

There are some small words in Greek that are very helpful guides in interpreting the phrases or clauses that they introduce. Traditionally, they have been read as if they have a fixed lexical meaning, and this has led to some difficult translations both logically and theologically, in which a theological agenda has been pinned on a fixed lexical meaning that the language cannot sustain. Relevance theory deals with such words as giving procedural instructions to a reader or hearer to process the following phrase, clause or sentence in a certain way. In other words, it constrains the range of possible meanings and gives clues to the reader about the communicative intention of the author. The assumption is that these are present in the text to make something ostensive.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 71

Who owns whom? (Tozer for Tuesday)

As long as we imagine that we own anything, that thing will curse us. As soon as we know that we own nothing, it is God’s. That is what happens to a man when he becomes a Christian.—A.W. Tozer, Reclaiming Christianity, 101

Come Peace of God, and dwell again on earth

510 Pax. 10. 10. 10. 10.

1 Come Peace of God, and dwell again on earth.
   Come, with the calm that hailed Thy Prince's birth.
   Come with the healing of Thy gentle touch.
   Come, Peace of God, that this world needs so much.

2 Break every weapon forged in fires of hate.
   Turn back the foes that would assail Thy gate:
   Where fields of strife lie desolate, and bare,
   Take thy sweet flow'rs of peace and plant them there.

3 Bring selfish lives from shadowlands of loss,
   Into the radiance of the Savior's Cross.
   Where in that gift so precious, yet so lone,
   Life finds its brotherhood and love its throne.

4 Come! blessed peace, as when, in hush of eve,
   God's benediction falls on souls who grieve:
   As shines a star when weary day departs.
   Come! Peace of God, and rule within our hearts.
                         May Rowland
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I don't recall ever singing this hymn, but I love the sentiments of it—and we especially need this prayer—because it really is a prayer more than a hymn—answered in our world right now.

It wasn't surprising to me that this hymn isn't very popular—peace hymns rarely are. But I was surprised that it only occurs in five(!) hymnals.
</idle musing>

How to recognize irony

It is the fact that there is no linguistic marker to introduce irony which makes its identification so difficult. The playwright Tom Stoppard is quoted as saying that there should be a typeface for irony since readers so often fail to recognise it and thereby either misunderstand the speaker’s words or regard him as a liar! The need for irony to be recognised is obvious: if we attribute to a speaker thoughts or opinions that he does not hold then we are misrepresenting him, and in biblical text this is very serious.—Margaret Sim, A Relevant Way to Read, 54–55

In Christ there is no east or west

507 St. Peter. C. M.

1 In Christ there is no east or west,
   in him no south or north,
   but one great fellowship of love
   throughout the whole wide earth.

2 In Christ shall true hearts ev’rywhere
   their high communion find.
   His service is the golden cord
   close binding humankind.

3 Join hands, then, people of the faith,
   whate’er your race may be.
   All children of the living God
   are surely kin to me.

4 In Christ now meet both east and west,
   in him meet south and north.
   All Christly souls are joined as one
   throughout the whole wide earth.
                         John Oxenham
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
I've always loved this hymn—yes the tune fits it well, but the theology of it, the broad expanse of inclusion speaks of the wideness in God's mercy, grace, and love. I was surprised to see that it's only in about 325 hymnals.

I also didn't know that John Oxenham is a pseudonymn for William Arthur Dunkerly.
</idle musing>

God the omnipotent!

505 Russian Hymn. 11. 10. 11. 9.

1 God, the Omnipotent! King who ordainest
   Thunder Thy clarion, and lightning Thy sword!
   Show forth Thy pity on high where Thou reignest;
   Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

2 God, the All-Merciful! earth hath forsaken
   Meekness and mercy, and slighted Thy word;
   Let not Thy wrath in its terror awaken;
   Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

3 God the All-rightous One! man hath defied Thee;
   Yet to eternity standeth Thy word
   Falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside Thee;
   Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

4 So will Thy people, with thankful devotion,
   Praise Him who sav’d them from peril and sword!
   Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,
   Peace to th’nations and praise to the Lord!
                         Henry F. Chorley
                         John Ellerton
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
What a mess this hymn is! For being a relatively recent hymn and only in 200 or so hymnals, it seems every hymnal has a different set of verses and arranges them differently. Further, I haven't been able to figure out how John Ellerton is associated with the hymn.

Despite all that, it seems a very appropriate prayer/hymn for our times, although I couldn't help but see the irony in the tune being titled Russian Hymn!
</idle musing>

Break, day of God, O break!

504 Darwall. 6. 6. 6. 6. 8. 8.

1 Break, day of God, O break!
   The night has lingered long,
   our hearts with sighing wake;
   we weep for sin and wrong:
   O bright and Morning star, draw near;
   O Sun of Righteousness, appear.

2 Break, day of God, O break!
   The earth with strife is worn;
   the hills with thunder shake,
   hearts of the people mourn:
   break, day of God, sweet day of peace,
   and bid the shout of warriors cease.

3 Break, day of God, O break,
   like to the days above!
   Let purity awake,
   and faith, and hope, and love.
   But lo! We see the brightening sky;
   the golden morn is drawing nigh.
                         Henry Burton
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
And I thought yesterday's was relatively unknown! Today's only occurs in a paltry six hymnals. the author wrote quite a number of hymns, but none of them reached any level popularity. And once again, I don't recall ever singing this one. Maybe tomorrow's hymn will be better known!
</idle musing>