Sunday’s Hymn of the Day is Your Hand, O Lord,
in Days of Old (LSB #846). It also makes the connection between Christ
healing disease and infirmities of the body when he walked the earth and His
redemptive work in cleansing us from our sins. The last stanza asks that we,
too, may be delivered from the sickness of sin, that we might offer up our
praise and thanksgiving, as the Samaritan did in the Gospel reading.
“Your Hand, O Lord, in Days of Old” (Lutheran Service
Book, #846)
Those three little letters — “alt.” —often found in
the notes beneath a hymn text can cover a great amount of literary territory.
What they are indicating is that the text has been altered in some way. It has
been changed from the way it had been originally written by the author.
Sometimes the alterations are quite minor, perhaps a
word change or two. Other times they are quite major, with entire sections of a
work being changed or even deleted. Both kinds of alterations are part of the
version of “Your Hand, O Lord, in Days of Old.”
The very first line of this hymn, written by Edward H.
Plumptre, a noted English clergyman who lived in the 19th century, has
undergone two changes. It was originally penned as “Thine Arm, O Lord, in Days
of Old.” The change from “thine” to “your” is readily understandable, in that language
usage has changed since the words were first written in 1864. The change from
“arm” to “hand” is more significant, and perhaps more debatable. Plumptre was
writing the hymn for a specific setting. It was to be used at the King’s
College Hospital in London. His choice of words suggests that he wanted to
focus on the healing power of Jesus, who used his divine force to bring
wellness and wholeness as part of his earthly ministry. The image of healing
hands underscores compassion; the image of the mighty arm underscores limitless
power. In his dealings with us, our Lord shows both. We receive blessings from
his powerful arm—and renewal and restoration from his gracious hand.
The more expansive usage of “alt.” is employed when
entire sections of a poem that has become a hymn are either omitted or
radically changed. In Lutheran Service Book and in other recent Christian
hymnals, the third stanza originally written by Plumptre has been removed and the
hymn has been reduced from four to three stanzas. It might be suggested that
the words of the eliminated third stanza are too “dated” or “Victorian” for the
modern person. A phrase such as “leprous taint” is not often heard these days.
Yet the writer’s choice of image still has something to say. In the current
third stanza Dr. Plumptre reminds us that, although our Lord touched people
directly with his hand, healing touch in our times comes through the faithful labor
of scientific and medical personnel. He concludes the stanza with words of
prayer to our “great deliverer” that can be part of our devotions today: “Give
joy and peace where all is strife and strength, where all is faint.” [2]
[1] The Ten Lepers copyright © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[2] https://www.cuchicago.edu/globalassets/www-digital-team-media-files/documents-and-images/academics/centers-of-excellence/center-for-church-music/devotions/hymn-of-the-day-devotion---proper-23-series-c.pdf
[3] Collect for Saturday of the week of Pentecost 17, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By the Church, Vol. II © 1995 The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau, Delhi, NY
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