"Prepare the way, O Zion"

 

Our Advent hymn today comes from the Scandinavian country of Sweden. “Prepare the Way, O Zion,” first published more in 200 years ago (1812) in Stockholm, is considered one of the great Advent hymns to emerge from the Church of Sweden – a former state church and the largest Lutheran denomination in Europe. It was originally seven stanzas in length but is now most often published in the 3-stanza version that we have in Glory to God.

 

For me, this is one of my earliest memories of a hymn specific to the Advent season. As an organ nerd, admittedly, it could well be the organ arrangement I remember that features the melody played in dissonant intervals meant to imitate the “honking” of a semi traversing the open road – a nod to an earlier version of the hymn’s title: Prepare the Royal Highway. However, I also appreciate the hymn’s rhyme scheme and multiple Biblical references.

 

The hymn’s author, Frans Mikael Franzén, employs the same rhyme scheme throughout each stanza of this hymn, each consisting of four lines – three for each individual verse and a common fourth line refrain that follows. The three verses published in our hymnal are:

 

Prepare the way, O Zion, your Christ is drawing near!
Let every hill and valley a level way appear.
Greet One who comes in glory, foretold in sacred story.
Refrain: O blest is Christ who came in God’s most holy name.

He brings God’s rule, O Zion; he comes from heaven above.
His rule is peace and freedom, and justice, truth, and love.
Lift high your praise resounding, for grace and joy abounding.
Refrain: O blest is Christ who came in God’s most holy name.

Fling wide your gates, O Zion; your Savior’s rule embrace,
and tidings of salvation proclaim in every place.
All lands will bow rejoicing, their adoration voicing.
Refrain: O blest is Christ who came in God’s most holy name.

 

You’ll notice in each stanza the first two lines rhyme with each other – near/ap-pear; a-bove/love; em-brace/place. Franzén then uses internal rhyme (meaning there’s a rhyme scheme within the same line) for the third line of each stanza as well as the fourth line (refrain) – came/name. In the case of the third line, he takes the rhyming a step further and uses a two-syllable internal rhyme each time – glory/story; re-sounding/a-bounding; re-joicing/voicing. In my opinion, this gives the text momentum as the stanzas move along.

 

Finally, the text’s Biblical references make this a perfect hymn for the Second Sunday of Advent and the readings from Isaiah and Mark. In the first stanza, we get a reference to the prophetic voice of Isaiah (“foretold in sacred story”) as well as allusions to the Old Testament reading, Isaiah 40:1-11: A voice cries out: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain...’ (vs. 3-4). This same sentiment is later expressed by John the Baptist and written about by Mark in today’s gospel reading, Mark 1:1-8: As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way; the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight...’” (vs. 2-3).

 

I hope singing this hymn today will help enliven your Advent journey a bit. If you listen closely, perhaps you’ll even hear a couple of those “semi honks” in the musical offering!