Text: Lamentations 3:22-66
Hymn: 834, O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth
Kretzmann Commentary: Lamentations
Bonus Bumper: Thomas Tallis – Lamentations I
This hymn has a tricky tune, Wittenberg New, by Jan O. Bender. One either chooses to grab a big breath after the first line and sing the next four lyrical phrases in one breath, or one steals a break here and there. On the first and fourth verses, I broke after “mote” and “men,” respectively.
Higher Things has chosen O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth to be their conference hymn at their two “Given” conferences at Utah State University and Vanderbilt University this summer. I hope they enjoy singing it as much as I have. Pastor George Borghardt and conference music director Chris Loemker discuss the lyrics on the weekly Higher Things podcast.
Text and tune: © 1967 Augsburg Fortress.
Podcast under OneLicense.Net A-718131.
Setting from Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission.
O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth
- O God, O Lord of heav’n and earth,
Thy living finger never wrote
That life should be an aimless mote,
A deathward drift from futile birth.
Thy Word meant life triumphant hurled
In splendor through Thy broken world.
Since light awoke and life began,
Thou hast desired Thy life for man. - Our fatal will to equal Thee,
Our rebel will wrought death and night.
We seized and used in prideful spite
Thy wondrous gift of liberty.
We housed us in this house of doom,
Where death had royal scope and room,
Until Thy servant, Prince of Peace,
Breached all its walls for our release. - Thou camest to our hall of death,
O Christ, to breathe our poisoned air,
To drink for us the dark despair
That strangled our reluctant breath.
How beautiful the feet that trod
The road that leads us back to God!
How beautiful the feet that ran
To bring the great good news to man! - O Spirit, who didst once restore
Thy Church that it might be again
The bringer of good news to men,
Breathe on Thy cloven Church once more,
That in these gray and latter days
There may be those whose life is praise,
Each life a high doxology
To Father, Son, and unto Thee.
TURRIE on 
Dan
