Countdown to Cumorah - September 14 - hymns

Next Sunday, in connection with the rededication of Cumorah, every one of the 30,000 plus units in the Church will (or should) sing a hymn about Cumorah. (Or at least in those areas where the hymn is in the hymnbook, which is most of them.) 

The best-known hymn, "An Angel from on High," explicitly corroborates Joseph Smith's explanation that Moroni told him the record was in the hill Cumorah not far from his home. Joseph learned the name of the hill before he ever went to the hill to see the plates.

But this isn't the only hymn that corroborates what Joseph said.

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In July 1830, a revelation given though Joseph Smith, Jr., included this direction to his wife Emma.

11 And it shall be given thee, also, to make a selection of sacred hymns, as it shall be given thee, which is pleasing unto me, to be had in my church.

12 For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads.

(Doctrine and Covenants 25:11–12)

Her 1835 compilation included the text of 90 hymns, 35 of which were written by Latter-day Saints. The hymnal used by Latter-day Saints today contains 26 songs from the original, including “The Spirit of God” and “I Know That My Redeemer Lives.”

Emma's hymnal

Hymn 16 related the account later corroborated by Lucy Mack Smith and Joseph Smith himself (D&C 128:2) that when Moroni first visited Joseph Smith, he told him the record was deposited in the hill Cumorah not far from his house.

Joseph learned directly from Moroni that the name of the hill was Cumorah before he even went to the hill the first time.

HYMN 16. P. M.

 

1 An angel came down from the mansions of glory,

And told that a record was hid in Cumorah,

Containing the fulness of Jesus’s gospel;

And also the cov’nant to gather his people.

https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/collection-of-sacred-hymns-1835/24

[For an explanation of the various Church hymnals, see https://history.churchofjesuschrist.org/training/library/hymns/history-of-hymnals?lang=eng]

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In 1979, then Elder Gordon B. Hinckley spoke in General Conference about another hymn that related the account of Cumorah.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1979/10/an-angel-from-on-high-the-long-long-silence-broke?lang=eng

We often sing in our congregations a favorite hymn—the words were written well over a century ago by Parley P. Pratt (see Hymns, no. 224). They represent his declaration of the miraculous coming forth of a remarkable book. Exactly 150 years ago this fall that book was first being set in type and run on a press in Palmyra, New York.

Permit me to tell you how Parley Pratt came to know of the book about which he wrote these words.

The words of the hymn reiterate Emma's hymn #16 and D&C 128:20; i.e., that Moroni told Joseph that first night they met that the record was deposited in the hill Cumorah.

This hymn, "An Angel from on High," has been translated into the major languages around the world.

At the link below, you can see the hymn and the numerous translations.

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/music/songs/an-angel-from-on-high?lang=eng

This hymn was included in the second hymnbook, the 1840 Manchester Hymnal, and every subsequent hymnal produced by the Church. 

1840 Manchester Hymnal

1.

An angel from on high

The long, long silence broke;

Descending from the sky,

These gracious words he spoke:

Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill

A sacred record lies concealed.

Lo! in Cumorah’s lonely hill

A sacred record lies concealed.

2.

Sealed by Moroni’s hand,

It has for ages lain

To wait the Lord’s command,

From dust to speak again.

It shall again to light come forth

To usher in Christ’s reign on earth.

It shall again to light come forth

To usher in Christ’s reign on earth.

3.

It speaks of Joseph’s seed

And makes the remnant known

Of nations long since dead,

Who once had dwelt alone.

The fulness of the gospel, too,

Its pages will reveal to view.

The fulness of the gospel, too,

Its pages will reveal to view.

4.

The time is now fulfilled,

The long-expected day;

Let earth obedience yield

And darkness flee away.

Remove the seals; be wide unfurled

Its light and glory to the world.

Remove the seals; be wide unfurled

Its light and glory to the world.

5.

Lo! Israel filled with joy

Shall now be gathered home,

Their wealth and means employ

To build Jerusalem,

While Zion shall arise and shine

And fill the earth with truth divine.

While Zion shall arise and shine

And fill the earth with truth divine.

(click to enlarge)