O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide

Rev. Andrew Preus, pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in New Haven, MO, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Lutheran Service Book #355, “O Savior, Rend the Heavens Wide.”

This Advent hymn by Friedrich von Spee begins by looking forward to the Last Day, as we ask our Savior to come down with great might and take us to our eternal home. As God refreshes His creation, so He sends Jesus as the true King, for He is the shoot from the stump of Jesse. Knowing that Jesus is our hope, we pray for Him to come quickly with His comfort. As the Morning Star, He shines His light into the darkness of our sin. We know that He will come to lead us out of the doom of sin and death and into His eternal Promised Land, where we will praise Him forever.

“The Hymns of Advent'' is a series on Sharper Iron that looks at a variety of the hymns found in the Advent section Lutheran Service Book. The season of Advent prepares us for Christ’s coming. The hymns of Advent teach that this is more than getting ready for Christmas; the Word of the Lord sung in hymnody helps us to receive Christ as He comes to us now in the means of grace and when He comes again in glory on the Last Day.