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!