Holy God We Praise Your Name -- Ignaz Franz

 

Chant. Chances are, that you may have heard the original of this song only in some obscure monophonic form (without various harmonic parts mixed in), but nevertheless sung beautifully by some monks in a place with great acoustics, perhaps. If you had the original words, or something close to the original words (as in this Frankish Hymnal from the 8^th Century, shown here), it would have been in that same now-extinct language – Latin – that only pharmacists and others in the medical profession use today. All this did not matter to Ignaz Franz in 1771, however, when he took the original Latin and penned some German words, which in English say “Holy God, We Praise Your Name”. God listens in any language, so whether you’re saying ‘Te Deum’ (in Latin), ‘Grosser Gott, Wir Loben Dich’ (in German), or the words in English, He hears you.

 

That this ancient hymn has survived for over 1,600 years says something about the words that a believer from the 4^th Century used to express his faith. Indeed, they still mean something in the 21^st Century. Ignaz Franz probably speculated, to one degree or another, that ‘Te Deum’ emanated from one of the Christians, perhaps Ambrose or Augustine, who were bishops in the early church in Europe and North Africa during the last years of the crumbling Roman Empire. The original author, whose role would likely have been a formal one to guide worship in the church, would have crafted this and other hymns for various times that believers would assemble. Central to their faith expressions would have been the Apostles’ Creed, a statement that Ignaz and his contemporaries would have still acknowledged 1,400 years later. Basics of Christianity – that’s how someone might sum up this Creed. Ignaz’s eight verses, translated from the Latin into German (and then into English [seven verses by Clarence Walworth in 1858; and one verse by Hugh T. Henry several decades later]) intersperse these creedal axioms with praises to the Creator. Three verses that begin this hymn underscore the breadth of His ‘vast domain’ (v.1), and the creatures therein who lift praises to extol Him. Earth and heaven’s inhabitants – angels, seraphim and cherubim, apostles, prophets, and martyrs – are among the ‘all’ that offer Him this exaltation. The Trinity (v.4); Christ’s virgin birth by Mary, and His sacrifice (v.5); and His certain return to redeem all believers (vv.6 and 7) are foundations of the faith that Ignaz wanted to preserve, even as the Latin language expired. Only in the writer’s last two verses does the believer petition God for help – for eternal salvation and rest (v.7), and for protection until His rescue is secured (v.8).

 

‘Te Deum’ remains a model for 21^st Century prayers. None of the things that Ambrose or Augustine felt were essential have become ‘old-fashioned’. Though we may worry that our consumption is damaging what He’s created, the basics of our planet are unshaken. The sky, earth, and seas are still here, and though it’s true we pollute it, His fingerprints on this planet remain unobscured. None of my senses or the history I’ve heard or read tell me that He’s unreal, that He never came here, or that His promises are discredited. Ambrose, Augustine, and Franz were like me – what else is there to believe, when so many have seen Him, and so many have believed in Him throughout the centuries since He returned to heaven? How many millions of humans have leaned on the Truth of Him? Could God be that big of a hoax? I choose to think He’s still preparing a place for me there with Him (John 14:2). Have you got something more certain than Him?

 

 

See here for little biographic information on author: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/f/r/a/n/franz_i.htm

 

See here also: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ignaz_Franz

 

See here for all eight original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/h/o/l/y/g/holygod.htm

 

See here for article detailing the original Latin hymn (from the 4^th Century) which the author used to construct the modern-day hymn in the 1770s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Te_Deum

Revive Us, O Lord -- Steve Camp and Carman Licciardello

 

Their paths crossed, perhaps just to make this one song. Was that true for two popular singers in the mid-1980s, by the names of Steve Camp and Carman Licciardello? They may have had something in common, as they thought about what to say in their collaborative project that they called “Revive Us, O Lord”.  As is evident by what they wrote, they felt an emergency was ongoing, which in a physical analogy oftentimes means an ambulance (perhaps like this one shown here) is necessary to prevent death. The two men had come to a shared faith in separate walks from different directions, so expressing the same message says something about not only the congruence, but also the universal truth of what they wanted to say.  What was it?

 

Steve Camp was 30 and Carman Licciardello was 29 in 1985, and can we infer from their words that these two, nearly the same age physically, also were closely aligned in their estimation of how Christendom was going here on planet Earth? Was it something in each of their personal journeys or rather something they sensed in the Christian world at large that caused them to cry out in their lyrics about betrayal, a need for repentance, and a divine renewal? Both Steve and Carman (his birth name was Carmelo) were musically talented from early ages, but their walks toward Christian faith were different. In childhood, Carman performed in his mother’s band and then moved on to his own shows as a teenager in Atlantic City casinos, before trying to take himself into the Las Vegas scene. So, at age 20, Carman was still searching for himself, and was in for a big change when a Christian music artist’s (Andrae Crouch) concert profoundly affected his outlook. He accepted the message he heard that night, though his musical career went on a five-year hiatus. In the same 20-year stretch of time, Steve Camp accepted Christ at age 5, and his early musical journey included mentorship by two men (Larry Norman and Keith Green) prior to beginning a professional music career by age 22. So, two different beginnings, but by their late 20s Steve and Carman were evidently on the same page. Where and how they met to collaborate is not known (at least, it’s not shared readily on websites, etc), but Camp and Licciardello agreed that something was amiss in their world. They admitted that they’d abandoned God, walked away from doing His work, and had strayed so far that they could no longer hear His voice nor feel energized by His resurrection (v.1). Were they dead? They must have thought so, because alive people don’t need revival! This was an urgent appeal, with Christians needing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and with not just one jolt of divine electrical stimulation. Steve and Carman vocalize ‘revive us’ no less than 11 times in their collective exclamation.  Did God respond to their alarm bells?

 

From what they wrote Steve and Carman must have thought there was still some reason to hope, if only Christians would expose themselves to His prescription for healing. They expected God was still faithful and willing to call us His own (v.2). We could still be drawn by His own life’s revival, with His Spirit sparking our sense of fidelity (v.2). Finally, part of the healing process is humanity’s willingness to be cleansed, to admit we’re dirty (refrain). It may seem like a simple question, but Jesus once asked someone ‘Would you like to get well?’ (John 5:6) In our pandemic world today, some of us are asking others this same question, and wondering why the answer seems so elusive to them. To some with a spiritual disease, the same question might be asked. What better cure is there than Jesus?  

 

 

 

See here for biography of one of the authors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carman_%28singer%29

 

Here’s a link to an obituary of one of the authors: Died: Carman, Christian Showman Who Topped Charts with Tri...... | News & Reporting | Christianity Today

 

See here for biography of one of the authors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Camp

 

See here for information on the album for the song by one of the authors: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/After_God%27s_Own_Heart

Savior, Teach Me -- Jane E. Leeson

 

In her heart, this Englishwoman was a teacher of children, though whether she ever set foot in a classroom is not clear. Jane Eliza Leeson’s 19^th Century instruction, instead, came through her pen, as when she asked her Creator to impart something pretty basic to her in “Savior, Teach Me”, so that she could pass it along to her students. Her life’s attitude was such that she was probably unconcerned whether her authorship of the song was recognized or not. Jane’s objective was to communicate the root message, to coax her hearers that He had something to teach that no one else could. So, what was it that Jane, from deep inside central England (see it’s flag here; she was perhaps some 100 miles north-northwest of London) in 1842, wanted the ‘Savior (to) Teach Me’?

 

Love. In a word, that was the daily lesson that Jane Leeson thought God could teach us. What had Jane seen or experienced by the time she was 34 years old that prompted her to write five verses on this theme? That’s not too difficult to answer, looking at the body of work that Jane contributed largely across one decade in the mid-1800s, and from the little we know of her faith background. Jane had evidently learned, probably in her own childhood bible lessons, the basic definition of God – God is love (1 John 4:8). It’s perhaps the most fundamental thing to know about Him. So, Jane was echoing what she had known all of her young life up to that point. But, it was more than intellectual acknowledgement she sought. Responding to the love He’s shown was one aim that Jane emphasized in her poem. ‘Loving Him…’ (v.1); ‘...may I move…serve…follow…’ (v.2); ‘…Thy steps to trace…’ (v.3); ‘…rejoice to show…’ (v.5) were the manifest ways that Jane pledged would move her from mere recognition of God’s nature to adoption of His nature. ‘Serve’ (v.1), ‘Grace’ (v.2), ‘Obedience’ (v.4) were other words that Jane yoked to His love in ‘Savior, Teach Me’, in case her hearers didn’t grasp that these were likewise intrinsic to His nature. Did Jane herself live out this love, or did she just write about it? It’s said that Jane was very humble, and did not immediately seek recognition for her works, so we could say she instead re-directed attention from herself to the love-Giver of whom she wrote. Another way that we can see how Jane responded in her life to this love, was in the multiple publications she penned (between 1842 and 1853), especially for children. ‘Savior, Teach Me’ was included in one of her first publications (Hymns and Scenes of Child­hood; or a Spon­sor’s Gift [Lon­don: Burns, 1842]), but she didn’t stop there. She kept responding and applying the lesson of love she’d received from Him for the next 11 years and eight subsequent publications, employing the poetic gift that she’d received from Him. This love is evidently a potent thing!

 

He loved like no one else ever before. That’s another theme in her poem that Jane Leeson only implies just once, in verse one – ‘Sweeter lesson cannot be’.  Jane learned quite a bit from this four-letter word, but she’d probably say the source is what makes this phenomenon so extraordinary. This love is still giving, in fact. Of all the earthly love songs I’ve ever heard, the characters’ lives ultimately move beyond the scenes composing the songs’ parameters. People die, or maybe the love wears out somehow, and so the object of love changes. Jane’s love is different. It’s from a never-dying, never-changing, and once-for-all-times-sacrificing God. You got a love that can top all of that?   

   

See more information on the song story in these sources: Amazing Grace: 366 Inspiring Hymn Stories for Daily Devotions by Kenneth W. Osbeck, Kregel Publications, 1990; and A Treasury of Hymn Stories – Brief Biographies of 120 Hymnwriters with Their Best Hymns, by Amos R. Wells, Baker Book House, 1945.  

 

Also see this link, showing all five original verses: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/htm/s/t/e/a/steachme.htm

 

Also see this link for author’s brief biography: http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/l/e/e/s/leeson_je.htm

 

Also see this site for author information: https://hymnary.org/person/Leeson_Jane