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nd God said, Let there
be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and
let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them
be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and
it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the
stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule
over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and
God saw that it was good. 19 And the
evening and the morning were the fourth day. (Gen 1:14-19)
The
name of the author of this hymn has been lost in antiquity, however we may
assume that every Godly and biblical hymn such as the present one has its
Author in the Heavens where He placed His stars in illustrious array.
The music is a CONDITOR Sarum melody of the 7th century. The
English translation from the Latin is by Mr. John M. Neale. (1852)
Creator of The Stars of Night
Creator of the stars of night,
Thy people’s everlasting light,
Jesu, Redeemer, save us all,
And hear Thy servants when they call.
Thou,
grieving that the ancient curse
Should doom to death a universe,
Hast found the medicine, full of grace,
To save and heal a ruined race.
Thou cam’st, the Bridegroom of the
bride,
As drew the world to evening-tide;
Proceeding from a virgin shrine,
The spotless Victim all divine.
At Whose dread Name, majestic now,
All knees must bend, all hearts must bow;
And things celestial Thee shall own,
And things terrestrial, Lord alone.
O Thou
Whose coming is with dread
To judge and doom the quick and dead,
Preserve us, while we dwell below,
From every insult of the foe.
To God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One,
Laud, honor, might, and glory be
From age to age eternally.
Creator
of the stars of night, Thy people’s everlasting light, Jesu, Redeemer, save us
all, And hear Thy servants when they call.
The Creator of the earth and all the heavens knows every star and its position
where it was flung by the Finger of His Word. The stars are forever over-watching
our world, but we can only see them after sundown. There is a very Bright Star
called the Bright and Morning Star that represents our Lord Jesus Christ and
His presence among us during the darkest hours of our earthly life. The Morning
Star is the last to lose its brightness in Heaven at the rising of the sun. He
is with us all the night long, and when the dawn comes stealing across the sky,
He is the rising Sun of Righteousness with healing in His wings. He hears His
people when they call upon Him day or night.
Thou,
grieving that the ancient curse Should doom to death a universe, Hast found the
medicine, full of grace, To save and heal a ruined race. The ancient curse
was occasioned by the Serpent in the Garden at Eden when Eve was beguiled by
that old master of deceit. The curse of death and darkness came upon, not only
all mankind, but all living things. It was ruinous to the world that God had
made; but God offered a remedy through the means of a Redeemer. The leprosy of
sin is a blood disease that can only be healed by a change in the constituent
natures of our blood. That healing comes through the washing of the Blood of
Christ for sinners who are called and chosen in Christ.
Thou
cam’st,
the Bridegroom of the bride, As drew the world to evening-tide; Proceeding from
a virgin shrine, The spotless Victim all divine. Our Lord Jesus Christ came
into the world under the gracious auspices of the Father to satisfy the terms
of n ‘arranged betrothal’ – a betrothal to the Church which our
Lord bought and paid with the blood of His sacrifice. In the latter sun of our
world, the Bridegroom will come to claim His Bride and carry her across the
threshold of the Gates of New Jerusalem to be wedded and remain with Him in eternity. In the
process of time, our Lord is preparing a celestial mansion for His Bride, and
when the preparation is complete, He shall return to claim His Bride.
At
Whose dread Name, majestic now, All knees must bend, all hearts must bow; And
things celestial Thee shall own, And things terrestrial, Lord alone. Yes, all knees shall bow at
His coming – even the wicked murderers of
Racca, and shall confess Him as Lord, but too late to claim the salvation He has
offered to those who trust in Him. 11 For it is
written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and
every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every
one of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:11-12) Those who have raped, tortured, and beheaded
little children and their parents will rue the day they committed such
unmentionable sins. They will no longer bend the knee to a false idol of Allah,
but to the Triune God who has a Son, a Holy Ghost, and a terrible swift sword
to execute justice and punishment to the wicked.
O
Thou Whose coming is with dread To judge and doom the quick and dead, Preserve
us, while we dwell below, From every insult of the foe. Who are the quick
and the dead? The dead are those who, living in this worldly physical life, are
dead to Christ. These are the walking dead of Ephesians 2. The quick are those
who have been made alive in Christ to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 25 Jesus said
unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:25-26) Did you note the subtle distinction Christ is making here of life
or death? If we are dead in Christ, we yet live the true life of the saint. And
we MUST believe while we yet live in this world. After death, no decision will
be accepted. God will close the door of salvation at the moment of our death
just as He closed (not Noah) the door of the Ark when the Floods were upon the
earth. When we are assaulted day in and day out by the enemy, God will prepare
a table before us in the presence of our enemies.
To
God the Father, God the Son, And God the Spirit, Three in One, Laud, honor,
might, and glory be From age to age eternally. If you thought,
from the title of this hymn, that the subject of the hymn was the stars, you
would be mistaken. The subject is not about the creature but rather the
Creator. His creation of the worlds, the stars, the suns, the moons, of the
world, of the rivers, seas, mountains, valleys, and of life itself, only gives
testimony to His glory and Holiness. If I ask you Who created the world? what would you answer? If you
answer God, you would be correct. But could you be more specific? Yes, you
could. On the eve of Creation, when the world was without form and void, God the Father brooded over
the morass of mud and darkness in company with the Holy Ghost - And the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters. (Gen 1:2)
Where
was our Lord Jesus Christ –
ever present from eternity past with the Father – during this great event of the creation of the worlds? He
was right beside the Father acting under the direction of the Great Architect
(God the Father) executing the creation plans of the Godhead. In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the
beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not
any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of
men. (John 1:1-4) 14 And the Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of
the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
If
you are a bear hunter, you learn to identify bear tracks. If you would know the
Creator better, look to the stars, the sun and moon, and to the beauty of the
rose, the newborn baby, and the multitudinous beauties found in nature. Those
are the tracks of God!
