Our Savior and Our AdvocateĀ Ā The HYMN OF THE DAY, āWhen in the Hour of Deepest Needā (615) is based on the words of King Jehoshaphath in 2 Chronicles 20.12: āO our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee.āĀ Author Paul Eber (1511-1569) also used a Latin hymn of his professor at NĆ¼rnberg, Joachim Camerarius (1500-1574), for inspiration.
Eber, physically handicapped by a horse-riding mishap, was also a student in Wittenberg, where he studied with Luther and Melanchthon, and later became pastor of the Castle Church.
In faith, in the hour of deepest need, when we know not where to look for aid, we, like the woman of Canaan in the Gospel, cry out to Our Lord.
The PRELUDE is a partita setting of this hymn by Johann Michael Bach (1648-1694), a cousin of J.S. Bach.Ā Johann Michael Bach served as the kantor in Gehren.Ā Additionally, he was a harpsichord builder. (The memorial to Johann Michael Bach in Gehren is pictured on the right.)
I Bind Unto Myself TodayĀ Ā THE ENTRANCE HYMN (604) is by St. Patrick (372-466), and translated by Cecil F. Alexander (1818-1895) in 1889.
Tradition holds that Patrick and his colleagues prayed this prayer as they fled the attempt by King Loegaire to kill them as they refused to honor a heathen festival.Ā Patrick was of Roman descent; born in north Britain to Calpurnius, a deacon and member of the town council of Dumbarton.Ā Patrick was sold as a slave to Ireland, where he learned Irish.Ā Returning to England as a young adult, he was ordained a priest and became missionary to Ireland around 425.Ā In 432, he became the bishop of Ireland.
The tune is an Irish folk tune found in George Petrieās Complete Collection of Irish Music.Ā The version in Lutheran Service Book dates to The English Hymnal of 1906.
