Verses on Various Occasions · Chapter
CXLIII: Vespers—Sunday explained
A hymn to God as the Father of Lights, who creates light from darkness and blends morning and evening.
What happens
A hymn to God as the Father of Lights, who creates light from darkness and blends morning and evening. The speaker pleads for mercy against sin and lawlessness, seeking purity and the immortal prize through constant vigilance and grace, concluding with a doxology to the Trinity.
Themes in this chapter
Sin and Redemption
The hymn pleads for deliverance from the 'whelming weight of crime' and seeks to avoid 'a sinner’s due,' emphasizing the need for redemption.
Faith and Doubt
The speaker expresses faith in God's mercy and the hope of Heaven, while acknowledging the peril of 'lawlessness and strife.'
Characters to notice
- Father, Son, and Paraclete
Addressed in the doxology as the recipient of worship.
- Lord
Implied as the 'Father of Lights' and the one who hears the plaint.
- Sinner
Referenced in 'a sinner’s due' as the one who earns punishment.
Key passages
“Father of Lights, by whom each day Is kindled out of night”
God, the source of all light, who creates each day from darkness.
Opens the hymn with a metaphor for God as the origin of light and life.
“Hear, lest the whelming weight of crime Wreck us with life in view”
Listen to us, so that the overwhelming burden of sin does not destroy us while we still have life ahead.
A plea for divine intervention against the consequences of sin.
“So may we knock at Heaven’s door, And strive the immortal prize to win”
Thus may we seek entry to Heaven and earnestly pursue eternal reward.
Expresses the hope of salvation and the effort required to attain it.