December 17th : O Wisdom, proceeding from the mouth of the Most High, pervading and permeating all creation, mightily ordering all things: come and teach us the way of prudence.
O Word of God incarnate,
O Wisdom from on high,
O Truth unchanged, unchanging,
O Light of our dark sky:
We praise You for the radiance
That from the hallowed page,
A lantern to our footsteps,
Shines on from age to age.The Church from You, dear Master,
Received the gift divine;
And still that light is lifted
O’er all the earth to shine.
It is the chart and compass
That, all life’s voyage through,
Mid mists and rocks and quicksands
Still guides, O Christ, to You.O make Your Church, dear Savior,
A lamp of burnished gold
To bear before the nations
Your true light as of old!
O teach Your wand’ring pilgrims
By this their path to trace
Till, clouds and darkness ended,
They see You face to face!
This hymn, written by William Walsham How in 1867, originally had four verses, but in the Lutheran Service Book, the middle two verses were combined into one. In this hymn, we reflect on the light of Christ, considering the scriptural image of His Word being a lamp for us. How was an Anglican pastor and bishop, and I wonder if he had the O Antiphons in mind when writing this hymn. The tune MUNICH used for this hymn was adapted by the great Lutheran composer Felix Mendelssohn for his oratorio Elijah in 1846. Though this tune, named after the German city, appears to have been used at least since the late 16th century, it didn’t really gain new life and popularity until paired with this hymn, “O Word of God Incarnate.” Since then, it has been used in many hymnals with various texts. Thus, we can be thankful for both the teaching of this hymn and for preserving this old tune from the early days of Lutheranism.
The O Antiphons are a name for Christ, and today we start with the first: Wisdom. This hymn, “O Word of God Incarnate”, teaches us who Christ is: the Word made flesh (Jhn. 1:14). He is Wisdom, light of light, eternal truth, a lamp to our feet, an immortal guide from age to age (Jhn. 1:1-5, 8:12; Psa. 119:105; Pro. 1:7, 2:1-15 , 2 Sam. 22:29). We ask, then, that Christ would teach and lead us in prudence as the Word. And we, as the Church, should seek Him first in all things (Matt. 6:33). He and His Word in the written Scriptures are a gift! Though He has returned to the Father, He is still with us in His Word and Sacraments. Though we must walk through this dark world, we are not alone; He is the light of the world (Jhn. 8:12). We have the Word and Wisdom as our true guide. So we thank and praise Him for such a wonderful gift. But we do not stop here. We ask Christ to also sanctify us, to make us more and more like Him. We ask that, as the Church, we might shine His light in this dark world for others (Dan. 1:23; Phil. 2:14-16; Matt. 5:16; Rev. 1:20) . God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of that everlasting Truth. So in our praise and thanks to Him, we ask the Wisdom from on high, coming from the mouth of God, to teach us His ways that we might walk in them.
Blessings to you and yours,
~Madelyn Rose Craig
“O Word of God Incarnate.” Hymnary.org.
“O Word of God Incarnate – 523.” The Lutheran Service Book. 2006.
“MUNICH*171″. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary Handbook.
Madelyn Rose Craig 