Nicole’s e-Pistle

December 18, 2024

Greetings, friends, and rejoice! Our Lord is near!

Each week of Advent, I have presented you with a song. This week, I lift up a hymn from our hymnal, but it is not listed with Advent or Christmas hymns. It is a well-known piece set to music written by Ludwig von Beethoven. In fact, when I hear Beethoven’s Hymn of Joy (or more commonly called Ode to Joy), I sometimes forget that the words were not written at the same time.

The author of the lyrics was an ordained Presbyterian pastor from Pennsylvania named Henry van Dyke. After having served a church and later having taught English literature at Princeton, he was invited to preach at Williams College in Massachusetts. He was inspired by the views of the Berkshire Mountains surrounding the campus, so one morning at breakfast, he handed the following words to the president of the college. Our hymnal omits the third stanza, which I think is a shame. It might arguably be the loveliest of the three…

Joyful, joyful, we adore thee,
God of glory, Lord of love;
hearts unfold like flowers before thee,
opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness;
drive the dark of doubt away.
Giver of immortal gladness,
fill us with the light of day!

All thy works with joy surround thee,
earth and heaven reflect thy rays,
stars and angels sing around thee,
center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain,
flowery meadow, flashing sea,
chanting bird and flowing fountain,
call us to rejoice in thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving,
ever blessing, ever blest,
ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our brother,
all who live in love are thine;
teach us how to love each other,
lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the mighty chorus
which the morning stars began;
love divine is reigning o’er us,
binding all within its span.
Ever singing, march we onward,
victors in the midst of strife;
joyful music leads us sunward,
in the triumph song of life.

Blessings,