Patterico's Pontifications

8/18/2019

Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 104

Filed under: Bach Cantatas,General,Music — Patterico @ 12:01 am



It is the tenth Sunday after Pentecost. Today’s Bach cantata is “Du Hirte Israel, höre” (You Shepherd of Israel, hear).

Today’s Gospel reading is Luke 12:49-56:

Not Peace but Division

“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and what constraint I am under until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

Interpreting the Times

He said to the crowd: “When you see a cloud rising in the west, immediately you say, ‘It’s going to rain,’ and it does. And when the south wind blows, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and it is. Hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

The text of today’s piece is available here. It contains these words:

You Shepherd of Israel, hear,
You who watch over Joseph like a sheep, appear,
You who sit above the Cherubim.

The Highest Shepherd watches over me,
what use are my worries?
Indeed every morning
is the Shepherd’s goodness renewed.
My heart, take hold of yourself,
God is faithful.

Happy listening! Soli Deo gloria.

[Cross-posted at The Jury Talks Back.]

3 Responses to “Sunday Music: Bach Cantata BWV 104”

  1. Our sermon was on division and weariness in life. It spoke to me. Our society is divided and I am weary from caregiving this week.

    DRJ (15874d)

  2. My prayers for you, DRJ, as you care for your son. Make God refresh your spirit, energize your body, and overwhelm you with his loving kindness and nearness. May you feel His presence deeply every time you perform an act of caretaking, no matter how stressful or how mundane it may be. “Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.” It’s an offering to Christ, this sacrificial love.

    Dana (fdf131)

  3. Thank you, Dana. Long week but I am blessed.

    DRJ (15874d)


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