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Text Identifier:"^wise_men_they_came_to_look$"

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Wise men, they came to look for wisdom

Author: Christopher Martin Idle (b. 1938) Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8 Appears in 10 hymnals Lyrics: 1 Wise men, they came to look for wisdom, finding one wiser than they knew; rich men, they met with one yet richer-- King of the kings, they knelt to you: Jesus, our wisdom from above, wealth and redemption, life and love. 2 Pilgrims they were, from unknown countries, searching for one who knows the world; lost are their names, and strange their journeys, famed is their zeal to find the child: Jesus, in you the lost are claimed, aliens are found and known and named. 3 Magi, they stooped to see your splendor, led by a star to light supreme; promised Messiah, Lord eternal, glory and peace are in your name: Joy of each day, our song by night, shine on our path your holy light. 4 Guests of their God, they opened treasures, incense and gold and solemn myrrh; welcoming one too young to question how came these gifts, and what they were: Gift beyond price of gold or gem, make among us your Bethlehem. Topics: Life in Christ Christ Incarnate - Christmas and Epiphany; Christian Year Season of Epiphany Scripture: 1 Corinthians 1:30 Used With Tune: NEUMARK

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WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT

Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8 Appears in 270 hymnals Composer and/or Arranger: Georg Neumark (1621-1681) Tune Key: g minor Incipit: 51232 12757 77651 Used With Text: Wise Men, They Came to Look for Wisdom

DORON

Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8 Appears in 1 hymnal Composer and/or Arranger: C. E. Couchman Tune Key: F Minor Incipit: 11122 34321 11771 Used With Text: Wise Men, They Came to Look for Wisdom

Instances

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Published text-tune combinations (hymns) from specific hymnals
Text

Wise Men, They Came to Look for Wisdom

Author: Christopher Idle (1938-) Hymnal: Common Praise (1998) #161 (1998) Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8 Lyrics: 1 Wise men, they came to look for wisdom, finding one wiser than they knew; rich men, they met with one yet richer -- King of the kings, they knelt to you: Jesus, our wisdom from above, wealth and redemption, life and love. 2 Pilgrims they were, from unknown countries, searching for one who knows the world; lost are their names and strange their journeys, famed is their zeal to find the child: Jesus, in you the lost are claimed, aliens are found and known and named. 3 Magi, they stooped to see your splendour, led by a star to light supreme; promised Messiah, Lord eternal, glory and peace are in your name. Joy of each day, our song by night, shine on our path your holy light. 4 Guests of their God, they opened treasures -- incense and gold and solemn myrrh; welcoming one too young to question how came these gifts, and what they were. Gift beyond price of gold or gem, make among us your Bethlehem. Topics: Epiphany (feast); Christmas Scripture: Matthew 2:1-12 Languages: English Tune Title: WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT
Text

Wise Men, They Came to Look

Author: Christopher Idle Hymnal: The Worshiping Church #186 (1990) Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8 First Line: Wise men, they came to look for wisdom Lyrics: 1 Wise men, they came to look for wisdom, finding one wiser than they knew; rich men, they met with one yet richer-- King of the kings, they knelt to you: Jesus our wisdom from above, wealth and redemption, life and love. 2 Pilgrims they were, from unknown countries, searching for one who knows the world; lost are their names, and strange their journeys, famed is their zeal to find the child: Jesus, in you the lost are claimed, aliens are found, and known, and named. 3 Magi, they stooped to see your splendor, led by a star to light supreme; promised Messiah, Lord eternal, glory and peace are in your name. Joy of each day, our Song by night, shine on our path your holy light. 4 Guests of their God, they opened treasures, incense and gold and solemn myrrh; welcoming one too young to question how came these gifts, and what they were. Gift beyond price of gold or gem, make among us your Bethlehem. Topics: Epiphany Season Scripture: Daniel 2:21 Languages: English Tune Title: WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT
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Wise Men, They Came to Look for Wisdom

Author: Christopher Idle, 1938- Hymnal: Worship and Rejoice #234 (2003) Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8 Lyrics: 1 Wise men, they came to look for wisdom, finding one wiser than they knew; rich men, they met with one yet richer-- King of the kings, they knelt to you: Jesus, our wisdom from above, wealth and redemption, life and love. 2 Pilgrims they were, from unknown countries, searching for one who knows the world; lost are their names, and strange their journeys, famed is their zeal to find the child: Jesus, in you the lost are claimed, aliens are found and known and named. 3 Magi, they stooped to see your splendor, led by a star to light supreme; promised Messiah, Lord eternal, glory and peace are in your name: Joy of each day, our song by night, shine on our path your holy light. 4 Guests of their God, they opened treasures, incense and gold and solemn myrrh; welcoming one too young to question how came these gifts, and what they were: Gift beyond price of gold or gem, make among us your Bethlehem. Scripture: Revelation 19:16 Languages: English Tune Title: NEUMARK

People

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Authors, composers, editors, etc.

Erik Routley

1917 - 1982 Person Name: E. R. Routley (1917-1982) Arranger of "NEUMARK" in Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.)

Christopher M. Idle

b. 1938 Person Name: Christopher Idle Author of "Wise Men, They Came to Look" in The Worshiping Church Christopher Martin Idle (b. Bromley, Kent, England, 1938) was educated at Elthan College, St. Peter's College, Oxford, and Clifton Theological College in Bristol, and was ordained in the Church of England. He served churches in Barrow-in-­Furness, Cumbria; London; and Oakley, Suffolk; and recently returned to London, where he is involved in various hymnal projects. A prolific author of articles on the Christian's public responsibilities, Idle has also published The Lion Book of Favorite Hymns (1980) and at least one hundred of his own hymns and biblical paraphrases. Some of his texts first appeared in hymnals published by the Jubilate Group, with which he is associated. He was also editor of Anglican Praise (1987). In 1998 Hope Publishing released Light Upon the River, a collection of 279 of his psalm and hymn texts, along with suggested tunes, scripture references, and commentary. Bert Polman

John L. Bell

b. 1949 Person Name: John L. Bell (b. 1949) Harmonizer of "NEUMARK" in Church Hymnary (4th ed.) John Bell (b. 1949) was born in the Scottish town of Kilmarnock in Ayrshire, intending to be a music teacher when he felt the call to the ministry. But in frustration with his classes, he did volunteer work in a deprived neighborhood in London for a time and also served for two years as an associate pastor at the English Reformed Church in Amsterdam. After graduating he worked for five years as a youth pastor for the Church of Scotland, serving a large region that included about 500 churches. He then took a similar position with the Iona Community, and with his colleague Graham Maule, began to broaden the youth ministry to focus on renewal of the church’s worship. His approach soon turned to composing songs within the identifiable traditions of hymnody that began to address concerns missing from the current Scottish hymnal: "I discovered that seldom did our hymns represent the plight of poor people to God. There was nothing that dealt with unemployment, nothing that dealt with living in a multicultural society and feeling disenfranchised. There was nothing about child abuse…,that reflected concern for the developing world, nothing that helped see ourselves as brothers and sisters to those who are suffering from poverty or persecution." [from an interview in Reformed Worship (March 1993)] That concern not only led to writing many songs, but increasingly to introducing them internationally in many conferences, while also gathering songs from around the world. He was convener for the fourth edition of the Church of Scotland’s Church Hymnary (2005), a very different collection from the previous 1973 edition. His books, The Singing Thing and The Singing Thing Too, as well as the many collections of songs and worship resources produced by John Bell—some together with other members of the Iona Community’s “Wild Goose Resource Group,” —are available in North America from GIA Publications. Emily Brink
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