Chapter 25

PRAISE.

V. The Canticles continued.

The position which the _Te Deum _occupies in the morning is that of Respond of the whole people to the message of the Old Testament. We have found that the _Te Deum_ is a Hymn of the Incarnation; hence it is especially appropriate as a Respond to those Old Testament Lessons which contain, or imply, the promise of the Saviour's Birth and Work on Earth. Gen. iii., Isaiah viii., Malachi iii. may be taken as examples: but there are very many which relate the doings of men in such a way as to leave the hearers waiting and wishing for the adoption which comes to us through Christ.

Some of them set forth the facts which show our miserable state without Christ. Others contain predictions of the life which He came on Earth to lead. Thus the Christian worshipper seeing the Christ wanted, promised, foretold, or the world waiting, groaning in pain, suffering, responds to such Lessons with this Hymn of the Incarnation.

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In the evening the place is occupied by another Hymn of the Incarnation--_Magnificat_ (doth magnify)--the Song of the Blessed Virgin when the Birth of the Saviour was assuredly promised to her.

The Blessed Mother's words of greeting to the promise and assurance are very sacred, and may be regarded as the most suitable possible for any human being very near the Lord. The words of Isaiah, _Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given_ will often come to the worshipper's mind, when he uses her words to express his praise after the 1st Lesson.

Sometimes however the connection of the Old Testament Lesson with the Incarnation may with advantage be omitted in favour of another line of thought and praise.

Lessons which declare the great acts of Creation, Providence, and Government by God sometimes contain but remote reference to the Redeeming work of Christ: and for such Lessons another Canticle is provided, viz. _Benedicte omnia Opera_ (_Bless ye all works_) for the morning, and _Cantate Domino_ (_O sing unto the Lord_) for the evening.

Magnificat.

Jesus is known to us as the Son of Man: hence His people can use the words of the Blessed Virgin. When she looked forward to His coming, she used words which we can say after reading the Old Testament promises of a Saviour who should come into the world.

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1. _God my Saviour_. This is the meaning of the name _Jesus_. The names Jesus and John were given designedly: naturally, therefore, they supply leading thoughts to the two Hymns which are especially associated with our Lord's Birth, and the birth of His forerunner (cf. Benedictus throughout, but especially _vv._ 4, 5, 6).

5. The name, John, suggests God's _mercy_.

7. The name, Mary, may have prompted the word _exalted_.

9. In this verse we can trace Zacharias=_God hath remembered_; John=_God's mercy_; and Elizabeth=_God's oath_.

The Song of Hannah in 1 Sam. ii. exhibits many points of similarity and contrast, when compared with this Hymn.

Benedicite.

The Canticle _Benedicite omnia Opera_ is so called from Latin words meaning _Bless ye, all Works_.

Our Services were translated from the Latin Services used in our Church for centuries before 1549: for Latin was the common language of civilised Europe.

_Benedicite_ shares with other Canticles and with many parts of the Services the custom of being known by its first words in the Latin books.

We said that _Te Deum laudamus_ not only had its name from the Latin Service Books, but is of Latin origin whether composed by Hilary of Arles, Hilary of Poictiers, or Ambrose and Augustine. But _Benedicite_, {79} though it has now a Latin name, is of Greek origin. It is a translation of part of the Greek additions to the Book of Daniel. In Daniel iii. the 23rd verse records how the Three Children of Israel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah (i. 6), having come to great office in Babylon (ii. 49), and refused to fall down and worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar (iii. 18), were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. The 24th verse proceeds thus:

"Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished and rose up in haste," and told his counsellors that he saw four men walking in the fire without hurt.

At this point, between verses 23 and 24, there is a sort of pause in the action. It might be filled up by a mark indicating that some short time elapses. The Greek Version inserts 68 verses: consisting of a prayer of Azariah (Abed-nego), a few verses of narrative, and 40 verses of praise including the 32 verses which have been sung in the Church Services of many countries and many centuries.

The Hymn calls upon all God's creatures to worship Him--collectively in the first verse, afterwards in groups.

First group. Heavenly powers.

Second group. Earthly powers.

Third group. Earth and its component parts.

Fourth group. Men.

Notice first the leading verse of each group: 2. Angels--9. Winds (_spiritus_)--18. Earth--26. Children of men. The classification in the groups is evidently influenced by the 1st chapter of Genesis. In _v._ 4 the Waters above the firmament (Gen. i. 7) are {80} divided from the Wells, Seas, Floods of _vv._ 21, 22. The former appear here as Heavenly Powers, the latter as creatures of God in the Earth.

The Showers and Dew of _v._ 8 are regarded as coming from Heaven. They appear therefore in group 1, but in its last verse, so that the transition is easy to the earthly powers amongst which they might have been placed.

The second group includes the forces of Nature which more distinctly surround us on earth. There is some uncertainty in the various versions of this section. The Prayer Book, following, as usual, the Great Bible of 1539, has Dews and Frosts in _v._ 10, meaning probably Dews and Hoar Frosts. The Bible (A.V.) has Hoar Frosts coupled with Snows. It has Fire and Heat and also, in some Versions, Cold and Heat, but omits Winter and Summer. Sometimes there is contrast in the couples and sometimes the forces coupled together are of the same sort.

In group 3, Earth is called up first as including the rest, which progress from that which does not move to that which does, ranging through the inanimate moving things, such as budding things and water, and the animate creation, such as move in the sea, the air and, whether wild or tame, upon the earth.

Group 4 begins, like group 3, with an inclusive term "Children of Men": and proceeds through Israel, as God's People, and Israel's Priests, as God's special choice, to those who really serve God whether in this life or after it; concluding with the specially present service of the holy and humble, and, in particular, Ananias, Azarias, and Misael.

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All these Creatures of God's hand, whether animate or inanimate, or the Forces which are behind both, are challenged to praise their Maker. They are called up in twos and threes, a great army, representing all the visible and invisible hosts of Heaven and Earth.

In connection with this Hymn we should read Gen. i., Psalm civ., and Psalm cxlviii.

Cantate Domino.

Passing now to the corresponding Canticle at Evensong, we find _Cantate Domino_, the 98th Psalm, which, though much briefer, and nearly free from elaborate detail, makes the same acknowledgement of the Almighty Maker, and calls upon His creatures to praise Him in their various orders in very similar fashion. Here however the climax is reversed. Beginning with human beings and God's mercy to them, and notably to Israel, we pass on to the sea, the world, the floods, the hills and all the inhabitants, returning at the end to the people and God's justice and judgment.

In both these Canticles, the thought is present that those, who do what God designs that they should do, are thereby praising Him. Hills, and valleys, and seas, are thought of as if they were human beings: they rejoice, and sing, and clap their hands, when ungrudgingly and with all the beauty and generosity of their best nature they carry out the Will of God. When man does the like, of his own will and in his {82} own place, he also sings, and makes great the praise of God.

_v._ 2. _With his own right hand, and with his holy arm_. Several passages in Isaiah (li. 9, lii. 10, lix. 16, lxiii. 5) use this figure to represent God's invincible might.

Other phrases of Isaiah (lii. 7-10) are to be traced in this Psalm. _The Lord the King_, "Thy God reigneth": _declared his salvation_, "publisheth salvation": _all the ends of the world have seen the salvation of our God, "all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God_." _O sing unto the Lord . . . let the hills be joyful_, "Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places."

CANTICLES WHICH FOLLOW THE SECOND LESSON.

We have seen that the Gospel is frequently hidden[1] in the Old Testament Lessons. The unfolding of this hidden thought comes by natural sequence in the Second Lessons. They are chosen from the Gospels, which tell the History of our Lord's Earthly Life, or from the other parts of the New Testament, which carry on the History from His Ascension. The Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of the Gospel History, and the Epistles form a book of correspondence commenting on the first, or illustrating the second, volume. Lessons from the Gospels are records of the Gospel Spring-time, Lessons from the {83} Epistles and the Acts are records of the Summer; the Revelation of S. John carries us on to the Autumn, or Harvest time. To adopt a different metaphor, one kind of Second Lessons are chapters from the Wars of our Leader, another kind are chapters from the Wars of His lieutenants. There is in the one kind the Gospel thought, pure and simple; in the other kind there is the Missionary thought.

Since the Lessons have place in the Services as parts of an Act of Praise, we must always consider each Lesson in combination with its attendant Canticle. We saw that the First Lesson, when combined with the Respond of the Congregation in _Te Deum_, is an Act of Praise to God, for His Promise of Salvation by His Son. In like manner the Second Lesson, when combined with its Responding Canticle, may be an Act of Praise to God, for the Coming of the Saviour, or for the Spread of the Gospel. We must therefore now discuss the connection between the Second Lessons and their attendant Canticles.

_Benedictus_ and _Nunc dimittis_ praise God for the Coming of His Son--_Jubilate Deo_ and _Deus misereatur_ praise Him for the Spread of the Gospel.

Benedictus.

_Benedictus_ is the Hymn of Zacharias upon the first beginning of the actual Coming of Messiah. "The horn of salvation was virtually raised up when the Incarnation became an accomplished fact" (Godet). The birth of S. John the Baptist was foretold to his father Zacharias, and the name by which he was to be {84} called. Zacharias showed his faith in the Angel's message by giving him this name--John--which means _God's mercy_. _Benedictus_ is a Hymn upon that name. There is a Psalm, well-known, we are to suppose, to Zacharias, upon the same theme. It is number cvi. in our Bible. From it a very large proportion of the leading words of this Hymn are taken. _Blessed be the Lord God of Israel_ (_v._ 48), _visited_ (_v._ 4), _redeemed_ (_v._ 10), _salvation_ (_v._ 4), _spake_ (_v._ 2), _since the world began_ (_v._ 48), _from our enemies--from the hands of all that hate us_ (_vv._ 10, 41), mercy (_vv._ 1, 7), remember, remember the covenant (_vv._ 4, 7, 45), _being delivered_ (_v._ 43), _righteousness_ (_v._ 3), _all the days of our life_ (=at all times, _v._ 3). Some of these come twice in the Hymn, or in the Psalm, and leave comparatively few leading words unaccounted for.

There are, however, two verses in the Hymn which require further notice. The word _anatole_ is translated _dayspring_ in the last couplet, because it is treated here as giving light to those who sit in darkness. But in Zech. iii. and vi. it is used of Joshua the son of Zerubbabel and translated _Branch_. The thought of Joshua the High Priest as prefiguring Jesus our High Priest suggested the idea of the Branch, but its other meaning suggested the star of the East ushering in the day.

Distinguish between the Zacharias who speaks and the Zechariah of the Old Testament, the prophet whose words he uses. Note that Joshua and Jesus are the same word, and that the prophet's words about Joshua are used by John's father about Jesus. {85} Also there are references to Psalm cxxxii., where _vv._ 1 and 11 mention God's remembrance and God's oath, and _v._ 17 has the _horn_ of David and _I will make to flourish_, using a word akin to the word for _dayspring_ (_exanatelo_, _anatole_).

_v._ 2. _A mighty salvation_. In S. Luke (A.V.) horn of salvation: see Psalm xviii. 2. The horn is used as the symbol of strength.

_v._ 6. The oath is in Gen. xxii. 16, 17, 18, _By myself have I sworn--that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven--and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed_. It is explained (Gal. iii. 16) that Abraham's seed is Christ: in Him all nations are blessed. _And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise_ (Gal. iii. 29). Thus the oath to multiply Abraham's seed is fulfilled in the increase of the Christian Family.

_v._ 9. _Thou, child_,=John the Baptist.

_The Highest_=God Almighty.

_v._ 10. St John Baptist was to give people knowledge of Jesus--the Saviour.

_v._ 11. The Dayspring is Jesus. The word for dayspring in Greek means "springing up," and is translated _Branch_ in Zech. iii. 8 and vi. 12, and Jer. xxiii. 5.

_v._ 12. Read Isaiah ix. 2 (_to give light_, &c.) and Isaiah xlix. 9-11 (_to guide_, &c.). Also 2 Pet. i. 19 and Rev. xxi. 23 and xxii. 16.

It will be noticed that although the occasion was the Birth of John, yet his father's Hymn is directed to the Coming of Jesus. Jesus is the Dayspring or {86} Branch--John is to be the herald of the Saviour. Not till the 9th verse does the father address his infant son: his mind is turning upon the greater Birth which was to come six months later.

In verses 5, 6 and 7 there is a complex reference to the birth of Christ's forerunner. By a play on the names Zacharias, Elizabeth and John he sings that _God's remembrance_ was wedded to _God's oath_, and thence was born _God's mercy_: for as we said above the 'text' of the Hymn is John--God's mercy.

This Hymn may be called a Hymn of the Advent; whatever is read in the Gospels as the Second Lesson will be sure to excite, in those who listen, Praise to God for the Advent of His Son.

Nunc Dimittis.

The Evening Service is supplied with a different Hymn of the Advent for its Second Lesson--that of the aged Simeon, when, having waited through his long life for it, he was blessed at last with the sight of the Infant Jesus. Holding Him in his arms when He was brought to the Temple, he used these words of praise. God was letting him depart in peace: notice the words _Thou lettest_: it is not the imperative, praying for release; but the indicative, praising God for His mercy. The other chief thoughts of this short Hymn are that Jesus is God's _Salvation--before the face of all people--a Light to Gentiles--and the glory of Israel_. Comparing these with the Hymn of Zacharias, we shall be struck with the correspondence of two very different compositions.

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_Lighten_: not as in Te Deum 'to come upon,' but as in 3rd Collect at Evening Service, 'to give light.'

_Gentiles--Israel_: making up together the whole human race.

Jubilate Deo.

It is scarcely necessary at this time to show that the 100th Psalm is suitable as a Canticle after a Missionary Lesson; for it seems to be assumed that the Old Hundredth, in its metrical form, is an integral and necessary part of a Missionary meeting. "In its breadth and simplicity it is fit for all occasions of access of the redeemed to God, and naturally it has become (both in its original form and its metrical rendering) the regular hymn of unmixed thanksgiving in the Church of Christ. It is in _vv._ 1, 2 an invitation to joy, because we know that we are God's people[2]."

This Psalm was formerly used at Lauds on Sundays.

1. We claim the whole earth for God,

2. Because He is God, because He made us, and because He protects us.

4. The wide extent of His mercy is made the ground of praise and thanksgiving at this place in the Service, because the spread of the Gospel has been called to mind by the Second Lesson.

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Deus Misereatur.

Ps. lxvii., styled by Dr Kay The Spiritual Harvest-Home Song of Israel, is to be applied by us to the Harvesting of Missionaries, when set before our minds in the Second Lesson. It especially refers to the gathering-in of the Gentiles ('all nations'), and extends the threefold blessing of Num. vi. 24-26 to them; see _vv._ 1, 6, 7. Cf. the description which is placed at the head of this Psalm in the Bible, _A prayer for the enlargement of God's kingdom--to the joy of the people--and the increase of God's blessings_.

In the Sarum Use it was a special Sunday Psalm at Lauds (see p. 44); together with Psalm 63, it followed _Jubilate Deo_ and preceded _Benedicite_.

[1] Novum Testamentum in Vetere latet, Vetus Testamentum in Novo patet.

[2] Bishop Barry.

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