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Letter from the Pastor
May 31, 2015
Te Deum
“He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and
fear, and put their trust in the LORD.” (Ps. 40:3)
Gabriel and I were looking into attending the Higher Things youth gathering. We
found that we were too late for this year, and will have to register by January for next
year. Apparently, the gatherings are getting much more popular in recent years.
I was intrigued by the theme of this year’s gathering, that is, the Te Deum. You will
recognize the hymn as one normally associated with Matins, the Order of Service we use
on fourth Sundays of each month. The Higher Things organization has an impressive
record of guiding our youth to, an through, the treasures of our Lutheran faith. The Te
Deum is most certainly a treasure of the Church.
The title is from the Latin of the first few words of the hymn, “Te Deum laudamus,”
which is translated in our Lutheran Service Book (LSB) as “We praise You, O God.”
The origin of the lyrics is disputed. The article in Wikipedia cites the traditional
authorship of Ambrose and Augustine on the occasion of Augustine’s baptism. The same
article rejects that claim, and is in agreement with our LSB that the Latin text was written
in the 4th century. It has been translated into many languages, has enjoyed a variety of
musical settings, and is a regular liturgical hymn in Lutheranism, Roman Catholicism,
Anglicanism, and many Reformed church bodies.
It is no surprise that the Wikipedia article notes that the pattern of the hymn follows
the form of the Apostles’ Creed. The Creed, itself, as is widely recognized, follows the
pattern of Trinitarian Baptism, that is, each portion, in succession, speaks of the person of
the Father, then of the Son, and then of the Holy Spirit. The pattern is not as evident in
the Te Deum, but you will note that we stand at the singing of the hymn, and this,
because the hymn is Trinitarian (Perhaps LSB should have a triangle in front of the whole
hymn). So much of what has been handed down from the early Church shows that the
Church has always understood herself as being constituted in Baptism.
I am pleased that Higher Things has taken up this hymn as this year’s conference
theme. It is often true that our youth do not recognize spiritual treasures until the
treasures are shown them. True, we all could use similar pointers from time to time. But,
having been shown, let us not forget to cherish what we have learned to sing together in
praise of the one true God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The later part of the hymn (verses 8 and 9 in the setting on page 225 of our LSB) is an
adaptation of several Psalm verses, and is not included in the earliest versions. This is the
reason why these verses appear there in italicized type.
Wikipedia included this interesting historical note: “Jean-Baptiste Lully wrote a
setting of Te Deum for the court of Louis XIV of France, and received a fatal injury
while conducting it.” Another article on Jean-Baptiste Lully further conveys that he
struck his foot with his conducting staff, which resulted in an infection. Being a dancer,
in addition to his work as a composer and musician, he refused the recommended
removal of his foot when gangrene set in. The spread of the infection took his life.
Pastor Alan R. Coleman