Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising

Come, raise hearts and voices, gladly praising Christ the Lord; sing loudly of his amazing love, you honored people of Christendom.

A call to praise in the manner of the psalms (Ps 95:1-2). Note 'hearts and voices': worship is both inward faith and outward confession (Rom 10:9-10). The object of praise is Christ's 'love amazing' — Christmas is first of all a revelation of the Son's love, not merely a wonder of nature. 'Worthy folk of Christendom' honors the Church: Christians are made worthy not by themselves but by the One who has come to them. The stanza sets the communal, festive tone; Gerhardt is writing for the gathered congregation, as the shepherds 'made known' what they had heard (Luke 2:17).

Scripture

Ps 95:1-2, Rom 10:9-10, Luke 2:15-20, Eph 3:18-19

Imagery & language

Hearts and voices; 'love amazing'; the Church addressed as 'worthy folk.'

Law / Gospel

Gospel — praise for Christ's love.

Connection to previous

Opening call.

Sin and death may well groan and Satan moan; we, claiming our full salvation, cast every care away.

A taunt song over defeated enemies, in the tradition of 1 Cor 15:55 ('O death, where is your sting?'). The three tyrants of Lutheran soteriology — sin, death, devil — now 'groan' and 'moan' because Christ has come to undo them (Heb 2:14-15). 'Full salvation owning' is the response of faith: salvation is complete, not partial, and faith simply claims it as its own. Because of this, 'we cast our every care away' (1 Pet 5:7). The order matters: freedom from anxiety follows from the objective defeat of our enemies, not from a change in our circumstances.

Scripture

1 Cor 15:55-57, Heb 2:14-15, 1 Pet 5:7, Rom 8:1-2

Imagery & language

Personified enemies groaning; the casting away of care.

Law / Gospel

Gospel — enemies defeated, salvation full.

Connection to previous

Gives the reason for the praise called for in st. 1.

See how God, providing for us, gave his Son and everlasting life; Christ guides our weary steps from earth's woe to heaven's joy.

The source of salvation is the Father's provision: he 'gave His Son' (John 3:16; Rom 8:32). With the Son comes 'life abiding' — eternal life is not a separate gift but is found in the Son (1 John 5:11-12). The second half moves from gift to guidance: the Good Shepherd leads 'weary steps' on the pilgrim road (Ps 23; Heb 13:14). The phrase 'from earth's woe to heavenly joy' sets the whole Christian life between the manger and the consummation; the Lutheran realism about 'earth's woe' is never denied, but it is framed by the goal.

Scripture

John 3:16, Rom 8:32, 1 John 5:11-12, Ps 23:1-4, Heb 13:14, Isa 40:29-31

Imagery & language

God 'providing'; the weary pilgrim led home.

Law / Gospel

Gospel — the Father's gift and the Son's guidance.

Connection to previous

From the defeat of enemies (st. 2) to its source in the Father's gift.

Christ came down from heaven, in love befriending our race, extending help in our need, and saved us from the crafty Foe.

A compact Christology: descent (John 3:13; Phil 2:7), friendship with our race (John 15:13-15), help in need (Heb 4:15-16), and rescue from 'the wily Foe' (Eph 6:11, 'the schemes of the devil'). 'Befriending' is a warm word: the Son does not merely tolerate humanity but takes our nature and calls us friends. This is the Lutheran 'for us': the incarnation happens 'in our need,' not as a display. The past tense 'saved us' sets the whole of Christ's work — from crib to cross — as accomplished fact on which faith rests.

Scripture

John 3:13, Phil 2:6-8, John 15:13-15, Heb 2:17-18, Heb 4:15-16, Eph 6:11, Col 1:13

Imagery & language

Descent from heaven; friendship; the 'wily Foe.'

Law / Gospel

Gospel — Christ's descent and rescue.

Connection to previous

Shifts from the Father's giving (st. 3) to the Son's coming.

Jacob's Star shines in splendor with sweet and tender comfort, forcing Satan to surrender and breaking all the powers of hell.

Balaam's oracle — 'a star shall come out of Jacob' (Num 24:17) — fulfilled in Christ, who calls himself 'the bright morning star' (Rev 22:16), and echoed by the star of the Magi (Matt 2:2). Gerhardt pairs two effects of the one Light: toward believers, 'comfort sweet and tender'; toward Satan, defeat. The same Christ is gentle to sinners and terrible to the devil. This is the evangelical double edge of the incarnation: 'the reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil' (1 John 3:8). Hell's powers are 'broken' not by force of arms but by the light of a child.

Scripture

Num 24:17, Rev 22:16, Matt 2:2, 2 Pet 1:19, Mal 4:2, 1 John 3:8, Col 2:15

Imagery & language

Star imagery; comfort and conquest from one light.

Law / Gospel

Gospel — comfort for us, defeat for Satan.

Connection to previous

Develops the 'wily Foe' of st. 4 into the overthrow of hell.

From the bondage that oppressed us, from sin's fetters that held us, from the grief that sorely troubled us, we captives are now free.

A triple 'from' — bondage, fetters, grief — answered by one declaration: 'we… now are free.' This is the jubilee proclamation of Isa 61:1 that Jesus claimed in Nazareth (Luke 4:18): liberty to the captives. Lutheran theology understands the natural man as bound — the will captive to sin (Luther, Bondage of the Will; FC II; AC XVIII). Here the captivity is not denied but ended: 'If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed' (John 8:36). The present tense 'now are free' is declarative, like absolution — freedom is a gift pronounced, not an achievement.

Scripture

Isa 61:1, Luke 4:18, John 8:34-36, Rom 6:17-18, Rom 8:2, Gal 5:1

Imagery & language

Bondage, fetters, captives; liberty proclaimed.

Law / Gospel

Law named (bondage of sin) only to be overcome; Gospel — liberation.

Connection to previous

Climax of the victory theme; enemies defeated (2, 5) means captives freed.

Oh, the inexpressible joy when by faith we grasp this blessing and come to you confessing that you have won our freedom!

The stanza names how the freedom of st. 6 becomes ours: 'by faith we grasp.' Faith is the empty hand that takes hold of what Christ offers (Ap IV: faith is the reception of the promise). Faith then speaks: 'confessing that our freedom Thou hast wrought.' The confession gives all credit to Christ — 'Thou hast wrought' — excluding any synergism (FC II). The 'joy beyond expressing' (1 Pet 1:8, 'joy inexpressible') is the fruit of justification, not its cause.

Scripture

Eph 2:8-9, Rom 5:1-2, 1 Pet 1:8, Rom 10:9-10, Gal 5:1

Imagery & language

Joy beyond words; faith 'grasping'; the confession of the mouth.

Law / Gospel

Gospel — faith receives; joy follows.

Connection to previous

Shows how the objective freedom of st. 6 is received.

Gracious Child, hear us; cheer us from your lowly manger, lead us gently and stay near us until we join the angels' choir.

The hymn ends in prayer to the Christ Child, who is addressed as one who hears — a confession of his divinity even in the manger (he is prayed to). 'From Thy lowly manger cheer us': comfort comes from the place of humiliation. The requests — lead, be near — trust Christ's promise to be with us always (Matt 28:20). The goal returns to the angels of Luke 2: the Church on earth will finally join their song (Rev 5:11-13; 7:9-12). Christmas worship is a foretaste of that choir; the liturgy's 'with angels and archangels' says the same.

Scripture

Luke 2:13-14, Matt 28:20, Ps 23:2-3, Isa 40:11, Rev 5:11-13, Rev 7:9-12

Imagery & language

The 'gracious Child' prayed to; manger and angelic choir framing the Christian life.

Law / Gospel

Gospel — prayer trusting Christ's nearness to the end.

Connection to previous

Turns the confession of st. 7 into prayer; the angels' song closes the circle begun at Bethlehem.