We sang a number of songs that we had sung while attending various churches over the years that used a contemporary liturgy. Towards the end of the concert though, we sang a very nice rendition of "Crown Him with Many Crowns." Chris Tomlin pointed out the depth of the lyrics, especially the 2nd line of the first verse.
Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.
Crown Him the virgin’s Son, the God incarnate born,
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.
Whose arm those crimson trophies won which now His brow adorn;
Fruit of the mystic rose, as of that rose the stem;
The root whence mercy ever flows, the Babe of Bethlehem.
Crown Him the Son of God, before the worlds began,
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.
And ye who tread where He hath trod, crown Him the Son of Man;
Who every grief hath known that wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, that all in Him may rest.
Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.
His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,
Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.
Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His pierced feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.
From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.
His reign shall know no end, and round His pierced feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.
Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time,
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity
Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime.
All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;
Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity
A few thoughts on the truths expressed in these verses:
- What are the sorts of "music" that we allow govern our lives? What sorts of "music" are exalted in this world that are of thought of as being of highest value? Are we more likely to neglect the "heavenly anthem" when things are going well or when things are going poorly?
- When is the "heavenly anthem" happening? Is it only after we die and go to heaven, or is this anthem being sung right now? What does God's Sovereignty mean?
- "Ineffably Sublime"
- Ineffable = incapable of being expressed in words
- Sublime = to elevate or exalt especially in dignity or honor
I looked in my Hymnal and the scripture associated with this Hymn is Revelation 19, verse 12. Verses 11-19 in my NASB translation are labeled "The Coming of Christ".
- I listened to a sermon series a few years ago that provided insightful perspective on Revelation. In a nutshell, the book of Revelation was written to the early Church that was under severe persecution in the Roman Empire. I think this passage is the climax (or one of them) of this book. John intended for his readers to have this sort of vision while in the midst of difficult times. We are called to take comfort in the fact, the historical fact in space and time, that Christ is going to come and reign.. and that he reigns even right now.
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The gospel was presented by Louie Giglio who was touring with the band. He used the parable of the Prodigal Son in his presentation and made many of the same points made by Tim Keller in his book, The Prodigal God. One point made though that I thought was insightful was that "sin does not make us bad, it makes us dead." I think that understanding is crucial for understanding the value of the grace that God has given us. If God's grace merely turns us from bad to good, then it's "cheap", but if His grace turns us from dead to alive, then it's "costly" (to use the terminology from Deitrick Bonhoeffer's The Cost of Discipleship).
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An open-ended thought to close this post. One of Chris Tomlin's songs has a line that goes something like "...if our God is for us, then who can ever stop us, and if our God is for us, then who can stand against us." It's obviously a line derived from Romans 8:31, which does really talk about victory in Christ, but the focus of the passage is that our victory in Christ is found in God choosing us. My struggle is with how the song is worded. It's almost as though we're on some mission in and of ourselves and, by this passage, we can thus claim that God is on our side. Therefore, I can claim God to be on the side of my political leanings, professional aspirations, sports teams, etc. when really, what I am called to do is (1) find what God's will is in the situations he has placed me in and (2) align my thoughts, words and actions with His will. He's the driver, not me. I'll give Chris Tomlin the benefit of the doubt, but those are my two cents for what it's worth.
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