Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence
Let all mortal flesh keep silence and with fear and trembling stand
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence is a hymn text by Liturgy of St. James; tr. Gerard Moultrie (400) in 8.7.8.7.8.7 meter. Found in CW21 672, CW93 361, elw 490, lbw 198. Sung to PICARDY.
An ancient eucharistic hymn of profound awe at the approach of Christ in the Supper. The command to silence in the presence of the divine King is followed by the vision of the angelic hosts and finally the proclamation of the Light of Light coming down. One of the most striking Eucharistic texts in Christian hymnody.
History & Background
From the ancient Liturgy of St. James, one of the oldest eucharistic liturgies of the Eastern church (4th-5th century). Translated into English by Gerard Moultrie (1829-1885) in 1864. The tune PICARDY is a French folk carol melody.
Hymnal Appearances
- Christian Worship: Hymnal — 672
- Christian Worship — 361
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 490
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 198
- Lutheran Service Book — 621
- Lutheran Worship — 241
Bulletin Note
Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence — Liturgy of St. James, 4th c.
Preaching Connection
The awesome presence of Christ in the Eucharist — the command to silence before the Holy.
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: From Law's demand for reverent silence before God's majesty to Gospel's revelation of Christ's humble incarnation, culminating in heavenly liturgy and Easter victory
In the Church Year
Suggested in the one-year series
- Trinity 19 (3×)
- Trinity 22 (3×)
- Trinity 9 (3×)
- Advent 2 (2×)
- Holy Trinity (2×)
- Last Sunday of the Church Year (2×)
- Transfiguration (2×)
- Trinity 5 (2×)
- Visitation (2×)
- Advent 1 (1×)
- Advent 4 (1×)
- Christmas Day (1×)
Suggested in the three-year series
- Christmas Day (2×)
- Advent 3 (1×)
- Epiphany 5 (1×)
- Last Sunday of the Church Year (1×)
- Proper 17 (1×)
- Proper 19 (1×)
- Proper 4 (1×)
From LCMS Worship's published hymn suggestions, 2014–2026. The count is how many of those yearly lists suggested this hymn for that day.
Overview
A hymn from the ancient liturgy of Jerusalem, sung as the bread and wine are brought to the altar. It asks for silence and awe because of who is coming: Christ our God, the King of kings born of Mary, who gives his own body and blood as food. Around him the hymn sees what the eye cannot, the ranks of heaven escorting the Light of Light as he comes to destroy the powers of hell, and the seraphim and cherubim veiling their faces and crying Alleluia. It is a hymn of the incarnation and of the Sacrament at once, and it teaches the congregation where it is standing at the Communion: in the scene of Isaiah 6.
Central theme: The incarnate Lord comes to his people in his body and blood, and earth joins heaven's awed worship
Structure
Four stanzas of 87 87 87. St. 1: summons to silence before the descending Christ; st. 2: who he is and what he gives; st. 3: the heavenly procession and its purpose; st. 4: the seraphim's unceasing Alleluia.
Law & Gospel Shape
The Law is the awe of st. 1, mortal flesh before the holy God (Hab 2:20; Isa 6:5), and the 'powers of hell' of st. 3. The Gospel is that he comes 'with blessing in His hand' (1), gives 'His own self for heavenly food' (2), and comes as Light to vanquish darkness (3).
Confessional Connections
St. 2 confesses the real presence in terms a Lutheran can sing without reservation: 'in the body and the blood He will give to all the faithful His own self for heavenly food' (AC X; SC VI; FC SD VII). The parallel 'as of old on earth He stood… in human vesture' ties the Sacrament to the incarnation: the same flesh born of Mary is given (FC SD VIII on the personal union). The original context is the Eastern Great Entrance; in Lutheran use the hymn must not suggest adoration of unconsecrated elements or an offering by the priest; its 'descending' is Christ's coming in his Word and promise. St. 4 matches the Preface, 'with angels and archangels'.
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Distribution hymn or hymn during the preparation of the altar; Christmas Eve and the Christmas season; Advent; Holy Saturday (its place in the Liturgy of St. James); Trinity and St. Michael (the Sanctus scene).
Historical Notes
The prayer is the Cherubic Hymn of the Liturgy of St. James, still used in the East on Holy Saturday. Moultrie's metrical paraphrase appeared in Lyra Eucharistica (1864); The English Hymnal (1906) joined it to PICARDY.
About the Tune
PICARDY, a French carol melody (17th cent.), arranged by Vaughan Williams for The English Hymnal; its restrained minor mode is part of the hymn's effect.
Scripture References
Hab 2:20 Zech 2:13 Ps 2:11 1 Tim 6:15 Rev 19:16 John 6:51-56 1 Cor 10:16 John 1:9 Isa 6:1-5 Rev 4:8 Heb 12:22-24 Col 2:15
Stanza by Stanza
Let every mortal be silent and stand in fear and trembling, setting aside earthly thoughts, for Christ our God comes down to earth with blessing in his hand and claims our worship.
Silence is the first act of worship because it is the creature's admission that God speaks first. The prophets command it before the Lord in his temple (Hab 2:20; Zech 2:13), and 'fear and trembling' is how Psalm 2 tells kings to serve him. 'Mortal flesh' names the singers honestly: dying sinners. Yet the one before whom they fall silent is called 'Christ our God', and he comes 'with blessing in His hand'. That phrase governs the whole stanza. The awe is not the dread of a sinner awaiting sentence but the trembling of one about to be given something far beyond deserving. 'Ponder nothing earthly minded' is the old 'Lift up your hearts': attention is asked for because a gift is being handed over.
- Scripture
- Hab 2:20, Zech 2:13, Ps 2:11, Phil 2:12, Col 3:2, Luke 24:50-51
- Imagery & language
- Silence; standing in trembling; the descending King with a hand raised in blessing.
- Law / Gospel
- Law: mortal flesh before the Holy One. Gospel: he comes to bless.
- Connection to previous
- Opening summons.
He is King of kings, yet born of Mary; as he once stood on earth, Lord of lords in human flesh, so in his body and blood he will give all the faithful his own self as heavenly food.
The stanza turns on the word 'yet'. The titles of Revelation 19:16 belong to a man with a mother. The eternal King took 'human vesture' and stood on the same earth we stand on. Then comes the application: the incarnation is not only a past event, because the body he took is the body he gives. 'His own self' is as direct as hymnody gets about the Supper. The gift is not grace in general or a memory of him but Christ, and it is given 'to all the faithful', into the mouths of ordinary believers. This is why the hymn serves equally at Christmas and at Communion: Bethlehem, 'house of bread', and the altar are one mystery, God giving himself in flesh.
- Scripture
- Rev 19:16, 1 Tim 6:15, Luke 1:31-35, John 1:14, John 6:51-56, Matt 26:26-28
- Imagery & language
- Royal titles set against a human birth; flesh as a garment; heavenly food.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel: the Lord of lords gives himself as food.
- Connection to previous
- Explains who the descending Christ of st. 1 is and what the blessing in his hand is.
The armies of heaven, rank on rank, go before him as the Light of Light comes down from the realm of endless day to defeat the powers of hell, and the darkness clears away.
What the congregation cannot see is described as a military procession. The angels are a vanguard, and the one they escort is 'Light of Light', the Nicene Creed's name for the Son. He comes for battle. The purpose clause is the Gospel of the stanza: he descends 'the powers of hell to vanquish'. At Bethlehem the heavenly host appeared with the same Lord for the same end (Luke 2:13; 1 John 3:8), and at the altar the victory is delivered, since where there is forgiveness of sins the devil has no claim. 'As the darkness clears away' is John's prologue: the light shines and the darkness has not overcome it. Worship is thus not a retreat from the conflict but the place where its outcome is given out.
- Scripture
- Luke 2:13-14, John 1:5, 9, 1 John 3:8, Col 2:15, Heb 1:6, Ps 68:17
- Imagery & language
- An army in ranks; vanguard; light invading darkness.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel: Christ comes to destroy the devil's work. Hell's powers are the Law's threat.
- Connection to previous
- Widens the scene from the altar to the unseen host accompanying him.
At his feet the six-winged seraphim and the ever-watchful cherubim cover their faces before his presence and cry without ceasing: Alleluia, Lord Most High!
Isaiah saw the seraphim covering their faces and calling 'Holy, holy, holy' before the Lord enthroned, and John says that Isaiah saw Christ's glory (John 12:41). The hymn puts that scene 'at His feet': the one sinless angels cannot look upon is the one who has just been said to give himself as food to sinners. That contrast is the last word of the hymn. Angels veil their faces; mortal flesh receives him. Isaiah's cry was 'Woe is me', and he was answered by a coal from the altar touching his lips and taking away his guilt; the Church has long heard the Sacrament in that. The stanza ends with the creatures' song, which the congregation joins in the Sanctus, heaven and earth at one liturgy.
- Scripture
- Isa 6:1-7, John 12:41, Rev 4:6-8, Ezek 10:12, Heb 12:22-24, Rev 19:1-6
- Imagery & language
- Six wings; sleepless eyes; veiled faces; unceasing cry.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel by contrast: what angels veil their faces before is given to sinners. Ends in praise.
- Connection to previous
- The procession of st. 3 arrives; the hymn that began in silence ends in Alleluia.