Here are the top Ninety-Six Reasons why a congregation should replace The Lutheran Hymnal with Lutheran Service Book:
LSB 336 — Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending (LW #15; also HS #802)
LSB 337 — The Night Will Soon Be Ending (HS #806)
LSB 351 — Creator of the Stars of Night (LW #17)
LSB 355 — O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide (LW #32)
LSB 356 — The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came (HS #805)
LSB 362 — O Sing of Christ (Stephen Starke)
LSB 376 — Once in Royal David’s City (LW #58)
LSB 377 — On Christmas Night All Christians Sing (LW #65)
LSB 378 — Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light (HS #811)
LSB 401 — From God the Father, Virgin-Born (LW #74)
LSB 402 — The Only Son from Heaven (LW #72)
LSB 403 — O Savior of Our Fallen Race (LW #45)
LSB 404 — Jesus, Once with Sinners Numbered (Stephen Starke)
LSB 406 — To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord (LW #223)
LSB 413 — O Wondrous Type! O Vision Fair (LW #87)
LSB 415 — Jesus on the Mountain Peak (HS #818)
LSB 417 — Alleluia, Song of Gladness (HS #819)
LSB 418 — O Lord, throughout These Forty Days (LW #92)
LSB 430 — My Song Is Love Unknown (LW #91)
LSB 446 — Jesus, Greatest at the Table (Stephen Starke)
LSB 454 — Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle (LW #117)
LSB 460 — Christians, to the Paschal Victim (LW #10)
LSB 462 — All the Earth with Joy Is Sounding (HS #829)
LSB 465 — Now All the Vault of Heaven Resounds (LW #131)
LSB 476 — Who Are You Who Walk in Sorrow (Herman Stuempfle)
LSB 482 — This Joyful Eastertide (LW #140)
LSB 483 — With High Delight Let Us Unite (LW #134)
LSB 489 — Hail Thee, Festival Day (LW #125, #148, #159)
LSB 491 — Up through Endless Ranks of Angels (LW #152)
LSB 501 — Come Down, O Love Divine (LW #162)
LSB 503 — O Day Full of Grace (LW #163)
LSB 512 — At the Name of Jesus (LW #178)
LSB 517–518 — By All Your Saints in Warfare (LW #193–194)
LSB 521 — Christ, the Lord of Hosts, Unshaken (Peter Prange)
LSB 529 — Since Our Great High Priest, Christ Jesus (Christopher Idle)
LSB 530 — No Temple Now, No Gift of Price (HS #861)
LSB 533 — Jesus Has Come and Brings Pleasure (LW #78)
LSB 534 — Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor (LW #281)
LSB 538 — Praise Be to Christ (Timothy Dudley-Smith)
LSB 539 — Christ Is the World’s Redeemer (LW #271)
LSB 540 — Christ, the Word of God Incarnate (Steven Mueller)
LSB 544 — O Love, How Deep (LW #275)
LSB 545 — Word of God, Come Down on Earth (James Quinn)
LSB 546 — O Jesus So Sweet, O Jesus So Mild (HS #858)
LSB 553 — O Christ, Our Hope, Our Hearts’ Desire (LW #151)
LSB 561 — The Tree of Life (HS #873)
LSB 564 — Christ Sits at God’s Right Hand (Stephen Starke)
LSB 572 — In the Shattered Bliss of Eden (Stephen Starke)
LSB 578 — Thy Strong Word (LW #328)
LSB 586 — Preach You the Word (LW #259)
LSB 594 — God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It (HS #844)
LSB 596 — All Christians Who Have Been Baptized (Paul Gerhardt)
LSB 597 — Water, Blood, and Spirit Crying (Stephen Starke)
LSB 599 — O Gracious Lord, with Love Draw Near (Stephen Starke)
LSB 602 — The Gifts Christ Freely Gives (Richard Resch)
LSB 604 — I Bind unto Myself Today (LW #172)
LSB 616 — Baptismal Waters Cover Me (Kurt Reinhardt)
LSB 621 — Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence (LW #241)
LSB 624 — The Infant Priest Was Holy Born (HS #853)
LSB 630 — Now, My Tongue, the Mystery Telling (HS #852)
LSB 633 — At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing (LW #126)
LSB 639 — Wide Open Stand the Gates (Wilhelm Löhe)
LSB 640 — Thee We Adore, O Hidden Savior (HS #849)
LSB 650 — Holy Spirit, Ever Dwelling (LW #164)
LSB 667 — Saints, See the Cloud of Witnesses (HS #840)
LSB 671 — Sing with All the Saints in Glory (HS #839)
LSB 675 — Oh, What Their Joy (HS #838)
LSB 690 — Hope of the World (LW #377)
LSB 726 — Evening and Morning (LW #419)
LSB 736 — Consider How the Birds Above (Stephen Starke)
LSB 762 — There Is a Time for Everything (Stephen Starke)
LSB 764 — When Aimless Violence Takes Those We Love (HS #890)
LSB 769 — Eternal Spirit of the Living Christ (LW #432)
LSB 773 — Hear Us, Father, When We Pray (Chad Bird)
LSB 777/78 — Grant Peace, We Pray, in Mercy, Lord (LW #219)
LSB 792 — New Songs of Celebration Render (HS #897)
LSB 815 — All Praise to Thee, for Thou, O King Divine (HS #862)
LSB 818 — In Thee Is Gladness (LW #442)
LSB 821 — Alleluia! Sing to Jesus (HS #851)
LSB 834 — O God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth (LW #319)
LSB 836 — O God of Light (HS #869)
LSB 842 — Son of God, Eternal Savior (LW #394)
LSB 845 — Where Charity and Love Prevail (HS #878)
LSB 849 — Praise the One Who Breaks the Darkness (HS #881)
LSB 853 — How Clear Is Our Vocation, Lord (HS #879)
LSB 860 — Gracious Savior, Grant Your Blessing (Stephen Starke)
LSB 861 — Christ Be My Leader (LW #365)
LSB 863 — Our Father, by Whose Name (LW #465)
LSB 875 — Father, We Praise Thee (LW #482)
LSB 877 — God, Who Made the Earth and Heaven (LW #492)
LSB 884 — Lord, Support Us All Day Long (Stephen Starke)
LSB 885 — I Lie, O Lord, within Your Care (Jochen Klepper)
LSB 889 — Before the Ending of the Day (LW #489)
LSB 896 — Now Greet the Swiftly Changing Year (LW #183; also HS #837)
LSB 914 — Light of Light, O Sole-Begotten (Stephen Starke)
LSB 916 — Only-Begotten, Word of God Eternal (LW #323)
3 comments:
And then there are the ones in TLH that aren't in LSB:
25 I Will Sing My Maker's Praises
99 Now Are the Days Fulfilled
100 Christians, Sing Out with Exultation
103 To Shepherds as They Watched by Night *
104 Now Praise We Christ, the Holy One
108 We Sing, Immanuel, Thy Praise *
115 O Blessed Day, When First Was Poured
148 Lord Jesus Christ, My Life, My Light
150 Lord Jesus, Thou Art Going Forth *
165 Behold the Lamb of God!
202 Welcome, Happy Morning
211 Lo, Judah's Lion
220 Jesus, My Great High Priest
226 Come, Oh, Come, Thou Quickening Spirit
228 Oh, Enter, Lord, Thy Temple *
260 O Lord, Look Down from Heaven
266 O God, Our Lord, Thy Holy Word
268 Zion Mourns in Fear and Anguish *
317 Alas, My God, My Sins Are Great
319 In Thee Alone, O Christ, My Lord *
323 With Broken Heart and Contrite Sigh
348 Jesus, Jesus, Only Jesus
353 Lord Jesus Christ, My Savior Blest
379 I Do Not Come Because My Soul
385 Now I Have Found the Firm Foundation
485 Lord Jesus, Who Art Come
594 When My Last Hour Is Close at Hand
607 Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning
And then there are the hymns with stanzas missing:
58 O Lord, How Shall I Meet Thee (5-6, 8)
77 All My Heart This Night Rejoices (4-5, 8b-15a)
105 Praise God the Lord (4-5)
171 Upon the Cross Extended (5, 7, 9b-12a)
207 Like the Golden Sun Ascending (1, 3, 5)
292 Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide (5, 7-8)
349 Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me (3, 5-6)
364 How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (4)
444 Rise! To Arms! (4)
473 The Church's One Foundation (3)
520 Commit Whatever Grieves Thee (3-5, 7, 9-10)
523 Why Should Cross and Trial Grieve Me (4, 6, 8)
524 In Thee, Lord, Have I Put My Trust (3, 5)
528 If God Himself Be For Me (2, 7-10)
589 Oh, How Blest Are Ye Whose Toils Are Ended (5)
And that's only my "first tier," not even talking about the "second tier" ones I'm already missing but can bite my lip and live without....
Granted, there are some unfortunate omissions in LSB. You've identified the most important, from the looks of it. Personally, the relegation of "I Will Sing My Maker's Praises" to the electronic edition is the single most inexplicable and inexcusable aspect of the LSB.
The LSB could have been even better and stronger than it is. However, while I regret the loss of these hymns you identify (and, in most cases, I likewise bemoan the lost of many stanzas here and there), I believe that the significant gains in LSB, as compared to TLH, outweigh the losses. There are, in other words (and of course this is my opinion), more hymns of greater importance missing from TLH than from LSB. If it is inexplicable and inexcusable for LSB to have dumped "I Will Sing My Maker's Praises" into the electronic edition, it is even more so for TLH to have excluded Luther's "To Jordan Came the Christ Lord."
I have mixed feelings on the shortening of hymns. I'd like to believe that, if all the stanzas were included, pastors would use good discretion in using those hymns and omitting stanzas as necessary (for whatever reason). The reality is, however, that many of the longer hymns never get used because pastors and congregations are scared away by the number of stanzas. Thus, for the sake of the Church at large, I am glad for great hymns that may be discovered in part by being shortened. One case in point in the only hymn with the same number in both TLH and LSB: #598. I doubt it was used very often in TLH, both because of its length and because of its title. It's a much shorter hymn in LSB, but it commends itself to far more frequent use; and it's a great hymn as it stands there, even though shortened.
>Personally, the relegation of "I Will Sing My Maker's Praises" to the electronic edition is the single most inexplicable and inexcusable aspect of the LSB.
If you will add to that "In Thee Alone" (also in the electronic edition, but tweaked from TLH) and "To Shepherds as They Watched by Night," then I will agree with you about the most grievous omissions.
I don't know what your sermon sounded like on Sunday, but here "I Will Sing My Maker's Praises" would have been the absolute perfect song to go with the sermon!!
>There are, in other words (and of course this is my opinion), more hymns of greater importance missing from TLH than from LSB.
Yeah, I think I agree with you. When I'm being objective. And there's also the aspect that those hymns from TLH which are MIA are no longer under copyright and thus are available for use by congregations which have only LSB. The reverse isn't true for those who have only TLH.
But for when I'm not being objective ;-)
the gain of a new friend or the blessing of a new baby does not take away the sorrow over the loss of the one who recently died. And it's hard to remember that the gain of the new has greater import than the loss of the old. (Not like I would ever get emotional over hymns or anything. LOL.) I am afraid that some of the themes in the list of what's missing from TLH-to-LSB will color/change our theology over the next 4-6 decades, just like the lack of sacramental hymns in TLH changed our theology during the 1900s. I guess I still have some pie-in-the-sky wish that continued (though limited) use of the hymns I listed above may help counteract such change in theology, and keep those hymns alive for when the next hymnal revision comes about.
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