Beloved in the Lord, is there a hymn that makes you stand up a little straighter? Is there a hymn that, when you hear it begin to play, makes your eyes narrow and a sense of determination swell in you? One of those hymns for me is Thy Strong Word. When the organ starts to play and I hear the familiar melody begin, I can’t help but feel the raw power and intensity of what we are about to sing.
This one is a relatively new hymn. It doesn’t really have a powerful story behind it, at least know that I know of. That said, it doesn’t mean it isn’t incredibly poignant or relevant for us today.
It was written in 1954 by Concordia Seminary – St. Louis professor Martin Franzmann as a commencement hymn for the school, based on its motto, which translates from the Greek to “Light from Above.” This tends to be one of those hymns that is sung during Reformation Sunday in Lutheran Churches, or, at least, a great many of them, and it is not surprising why. It speaks to the powerful Word of God, and how that strong Word, bringing life and hope and renewal, working within the lives of the saints, the Church and the World.
Part of what makes it so powerful is that, in six stanzas it tells us the redemption story, from Creation to the Cross, and the takes us beyond to the life of the Church. You hear it from the first words sung, “Thy strong word did cleave the darkness; at thy speaking it was done” to that proclamation of the cross, “From the cross Thy wisdom shining, breaketh forth in conqu’ring might; from the cross forever beameth all thy redeeming light” to the doxology that it concludes with.
The structure, the poetic language, the deep intensity, it just seems to drive the deeply theological truths from Scripture that we find in this hymn, as light pierces darkness.
And all if it reminds us of the powerful, continuous reminder of the Word of God in our lives, that the story of salvation is as vital, as important today as it always has been, as we respond with praise and thanksgiving, calling us to worship and to glorify the Triune God of transcending light. Often, when I sing it personally, I can’t help but think that it speaks to our faith and our most fundamental beliefs as Christians, as it calls me to bear the light of Christ to the world around me. It is, after all, the Word of God that cleaved the darkness of my life, and called me life in the baptismal waters that rebirthed, renewed and restored me, just as it does with all of us, just as He does with all of us.
So as you hear the words, I want you to feel the power and the intensity, and I hope that it causes you to have the same reaction, the same response as you pray to God to:
Give us lips to sing thy glory,
Tongues thy mercy to proclaim,
Throats to shout the hope that fills us,
Mouths to speak thy holy name.
Alleluia! Alleluia! May the light which thou dost send
Fill our songs with alleluias, Alleluias without end!
