Come Into the Daylight's Splendor

We’ve gone through some rather dark days lately. I’ll admit, I often misappropriate Wordsworth, but I think the palpable evil of our age easily supplants the industrialism that bothered him, “The world is too much with us,” indeed.

George Herbert begins the last stanza of his poem, “The World,” with the allegorical destruction of the house, or our death: “Then Sin combined with death in a firm band, / To raze the building to the very floor; / Which they effected,--none could them withstand […]”

How are we to respond to this death and destruction? Lately, I keep going back to our Bishop’s galvanizing assertion that our exigent role in the Great Commission is to invite the hungering and thirsting to the feast of the Eucharist. How urgent the need is now for a missional Church, for we know the end of the story. Herbert’s turn ends his poem: “But Love and Grace took Glory by the hand, And built a braver palace than before.”

As we consider this invitation to the feast of the Eucharist, my thoughts turn to my favorite hymn, “Deck Thyself, My Soul, With Gladness,” which we got to sing again yesterday. I say my favorite, but I have yet been able to sing it in its entirety with my fellow congregants — the depth of the text and the accompanying melody grab hold of me every single time.

And so, I thought I’d delve into it for this posting. I don’t have anything against Wikipedia, indeed I often turn to it for quick info. I did that just now to explore Johann Franck’s hymn, “Schmücke dich, O liebe Seele” (1649), but was shocked by a couple of statements, that seem almost stupidly glib and unsubstantiated to me.

The first surprise came in the statement that Franck compared the unity between Jesus and a Christian receiving communion to the closeness of bridegroom and bride. ? (The footnote source was no longer accessible.) This notion has never occurred to me and after a careful reading of Franck’s text, this is nowhere implied. Feast and banquet images abound, along with our being the invited guest, but bridegroom and bride? No.

Talking about Johann Crüger’s hymn tune, “SCHMÜCKE DICH” (1649), Wikipedia also notes: “It has been described as joyful and dance-like […]” (The footnote references hymnary.org as the source, but I can’t find any reference there for this quotation.) In unmistakable contrast, the 1940 Hymnal, whose tempo suggestions always tend to bring a smile to my face!, suggests “moderately slow.”

Let’s consider the three stanzas included in the 1940 Hymnal.

Here’s Catherine Winkworth’s translation (1863):

Deck thy­self, my soul, with glad­ness,
Leave the gloomy haunts of sad­ness;
Come in­to the day­light’s splen­dor,
There with joy thy prais­es ren­der
Unto him whose grace un­bound­ed
Hath this won­drous ban­quet found­ed;
High o’er all the heav’ns he reign­eth,
Yet to dwell with thee He deign­eth.

Sun, who all my life dost bright­en,
Light, who dost my soul en­light­en;
Joy, the sweetest man e’er know­eth;
Fount, whence all my be­ing flow­eth;
At Thy feet I cry, my Mak­er,
Let me be a fit par­tak­er
Of this bless­ed food from heav­en,
For our good, thy glo­ry, giv­en.

Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray thee,
Let me glad­ly here ob­ey thee;
Never to my hurt invited,
Be thy love with love re­quit­ed;
From this banquet let me mea­sure,
Lord, how vast and deep its trea­sure;
Through the gifts thou here dost give me,
As thy guest in heav­’n re­ceive me.

(Franck’s original text his here:

1. Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele,
    laß die dunkle Sündenhöhle,
    komm ans helle Licht gegangen,
    fange herrlich an zu prangen!
    Denn der Herr voll Heil und Gnaden
    will dich jetzt zu Gaste laden;
    der den Himmel kann verwalten,
    will jetzt Herberg in dir halten.

5. Jesu, meine Lebenssonne,
    Jesu, meine Freud und Wonne,
    Jesu, du mein ganz Beginnen,
    Lebensquell und Licht der Sinnen:
    hier fall ich zu deinen Füßen;
    laß mich würdiglich genießen
    diese deine Himmelsspeise
    mir zum Heil und dir zum Preise.

6. Jesu, wahres Brot des Lebens,
    hilf, daß ich doch nicht vergebens
    oder mir vielleicht zum Schaden
    sei zu deinem Tisch geladen.
    Laß mich durch dies heilge Essen
    deine Liebe recht ermessen,
    daß ich auch, wie jetzt auf Erden,
    mög dein Gast im Himmel werden.)

Winkworth’s translation is strikingly beautiful and true to the original. The text admonishes us to leave the gloomy haunts of sadness and come into the daylight’s splendor. The German literally says, “leave the dark cave or cavern of sins.” Yes, these are dark days for our society, but we can’t dwell in the gloom. Sometimes on a personal level, I also tend to linger in the gloom and this hymn convicts me deeply every time.

sorry, but can’t help to return to the Wikipedia article — that hymnody.com quotation supposedly continues: “... the joyful intimacy and wonder expressed by the text. 'Leave the gloom haunts of sadness'; in other words, avoid the funereal tone that sometimes characterizes Reformed observances of the Lord's Supper–this is dance music for a feast!" [???] I see absolutely no rationale for this interpretation. In contrast, Crüger’s music is beautifully affective and has no implication of a “dance” for me…

Why should we come into the daylight’s splendor? God in his grace, invites us to his wondrous banquet as the Lord of Hosts chooses to live in us. “Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his Body, and our souls washed through his most precious Blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen” (BCP).

Winkworth says, “let me be a fit partaker,” but Franck says, “let me worthily enjoy” this blessed food from heaven. Franck doesn’t explicitly talk about obedience, but I appreciate how Winkworth notes our response should be obedience. I used to wonder about Winkworth’s line, “never to my hurt invited,” but it’s not saying that God doesn’t come to us in our hard times, rather God’s invitation to his banquet will never be in some way detrimental for us, indeed, it promises a hope and a sustenance for our way. This eternal banquet begins now and assures us of his love for us in this world with the promise of also being his guest in heaven.

We’ve supped at the feast, now it’s time to get back to work.

[…] And we humbly beseech thee, O heavenly Father, so to assist us with thy grace, that we may continue in that holy fellowship, and do all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with thee and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, world without end. Amen (BCP).

Deck thyself, schmücke dich — both imperatives appropriately evoke the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord or the Birthday of Christ. The German is the same for decorating a Christmas tree, deck the halls — darkness is turned to light, go and tell.

Cold are the people, winter of life,
We tremble in shadows this cold endless night,
Frozen in the snow lie roses sleeping,
Flowers that will echo the sunrise,
Fire of hope is our only warmth,
Weary, it's flame will be dying soon (Daniel Kantor).