Today's feast-day for Saint Michael and All Angels is not celebrated as widely as it once was, but sometimes churches (such as my own) will observe it on the nearest Sunday (which we did yesterday).
I realized that the hymn I posted last week was really perfect for today, but fortunately there are dozens to choose from, as this partial list indicates.
High on a hill of dazzling
light
As first creation’s glory shone,
Vast troops of angels stretched for flight,
Stand waiting round God’s heavenly throne.
Go,
says the Lord, "my Gabriel, go --
Salute the Virgin's fruitful womb;
Make haste, you seraphs
down below,
Sing and proclaim the Savior come."
Here a bright squadron leaves
the skies,
And thick around Elisha stands;
Again a heav’nly soldier flies,
And breaks the chains from Peter’s hands.
Your wingèd troops, O God of
hosts!
Wait on your wandering church below:
When we are sailing to your coasts;
Let angels be our convoy, too.
Are they not all your
servants, Lord?
At your command they go and come;
With cheerful haste obey your word,
And guard your children to their home.
Isaac Watts, 1709; alt.
Tune: SALISBURY (L.M.)
Thomas Ravenscroft, 1621
This text reminds us of only a few of the scriptural stories of angels: Gabriel's visit to Mary (Luke 1: 26-38). the heavenly host that appeared to Bethlehem's shepherds (Luke 2:8-14), the angels with flaming chariots that protected the prophet Elisha (2 Kings 6:17), and the liberation of Peter from prison (Acts 12:4-11).
Isaac Watts wrote other hymn texts specifically about Saint Michael's war in heaven, from Revelation 12:7-12, so it may have been a particular interest of his, but not all of them are still likely to be sung in many places. Texts like From heav'n the sinning angels fell and Down headlong from their native skies are perhaps better left in the past.
Two Years Ago: O Captain of God's host
Four Years Ago: They are evermore around us
Five Years Ago: Stars of the morning, so gloriously bright
Six Years Ago: Around the throne of God
Continuing a look at the psalter tunes that originally set the style for hymn tunes as we know them today, we come to the Scottish Psalter. The version of 1650 is the best-known today, and was used most often by various churches, but there were earlier ones as well. Today's familiar tune comes from the 1615 version, published in Edinburgh by Andro Hart, a printer and bookseller. The tune we know as DUNDEE was one of twelve tunes included in Common Meter (C,M,. or 8.6.8.6. - four-line stanzas beginning with a line of eight syllables) which were not specifically assigned to a particular psalm. Since many, if not most, of the psalm paraphrases were also written in Common Meter, they could be sung to FRENCH TUNE, as DUNDEE was originally called (though no French origin has yet been traced). The tunes in Hart's psalter were melody-only.
In 1621 The Whole Booke of Psalmes, based on the earlier psalm paraphrases of Sternhold and Hopkins, was published by composer Thomas Ravenscroft, which included FRENCH TUNE, now arranged in four-part harmony and called DUNDY TUNE, and matched with a paraphrase of Psalm 36. (You can see the original page from Ravenscroft's psalter here; scroll down for a version of Psalm 36 we would not likely sing today; the familiar melody is found in the tenor part). Ravenscroft re-named the tune in honor of the city of Dundee, which was known at that time as the Scottish Geneva because of its importance in the Reformation in Scotland. However, the name FRENCH TUNE persisted in many hymn and psalm collections well into the nineteenth century, while others came to call it DUNDEE. The Companion to the Baptist Hymnal (1976) calls it "a sturdy tune that should not be sung at too rapid a tempo."
Under whichever name this tune has been sung consistently for nearly four hundred years to a wide variety of texts. In addition to many many psalms, one hymn we have already seen here, and this text by William Cowper is also frequently sung to it. God moves in a mysterious way,
Great wonders to perform;
And, planting footsteps in the sea,
God rides upon the storm.
Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
God treasures up all bright designs
And works one sovereign will.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.
Judge not our God by feeble sense,
Trust only for God's grace;
Behind a frowning providence
God hides a smiling face.
God's purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan God's work in vain;
God is the one interpreter,
And God will make it plain.
William Cowper, 1774; alt.
Tune: DUNDEE (C.M.)
Scottish Psalter, 1615
In 1635, Andro Hart, who first published this tune, published another psalter which matched each paraphrase to a particular tune, and the tunes in this book were in four-part harmony. A tune very similar to DUNDEE, called CAITHNESS (named for a county in Scotland), first appeared in this book, and they sometimes get confused, though they only share the first five notes. But I have stood next to people who started singing a hymn to DUNDEE and ended up singing it to CAITHNESS. I'm sure none of my readers would ever do that.
