I Trust, O Lord, Your Holy Name The HYMN OF THE DAY (734) was originally seven stanzas and titled “In Thee, Lord, Have I Put My Trust” (The Lutheran Hymnal 524).
A magnificent Reformation-era Psalm paraphrase by Adam Reusner (1496-1575), it is based on Psalm 31.1-5, from which today’s Introit is also taken. Stanza four notably incorporates Christ’s last words on the cross, from Psalm 31.5 “Into your hands I commit my spirit.” “O faithful God, forsake me not, To You my soul commending…Now and when life is ending.”
Reusner, after studying in Wittenberg, became the secretary to military Captain Georg von Frundsberg. Throughout his life, he wrote over forty hymns. “I Trust, O Lord” was first published in 1533 in the Form und Ordnung Geystlicher Gesang und Psalmen. Luther included it in the 1539 Leipzig hymnal Geystliche Lieder. (Pictured at right is the 1565 version of the hymn from Das Gros Kirken Gesangbuch)
The choir sings stanza three in a setting by Seth Calvisius (1556-1615). In addition to music, Calvisius studied astronomy and mathematics. He directed the Leipzig Thomanerchor from 1594 until his death.
The lessons are 1 Samuel 16.1–13; 1 Corinthians 13.1–13; and St. Luke 18.31–43.
The hymns are: 942 Kyrie, God Father; 734 I Trust, O Lord, Your Holy Name; 688 Come, Follow Me, the Savior Spake; 685 Let Us Ever Walk with Jesus; 642 O Living Bread from Heaven; 568 If Your Beloved Son, O God
Prelude: Kyrie, O God the Holy Ghost (BWV 671) -J.S. Bach
Choral Voluntary: I Will Alway Give Thanks -R King (1660-1720)
