"Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all."

Hymn: “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” – Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Tune: HAMBURG

This final phrase from one of the best-loved Christian hymns – especially during Lent – pulls together all the previous stanzas to state the proper response to our giving attention to the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died.

We have been called upon to count our richest gain as loss – or to consider all that we’ve amassed in this life as nothing. Instructed to have contempt for – to hate – our prideful nature, we’ve promised God that we would never boast in anything except the death of his Son. We have committed to turn instruments of vanity into a sacrifice for our blood-bought redemption.

We have looked with reverence upon the head, hands and feet of the Crucified One from whom sorrow and love become a confluence flowing slowly downward. Have ever love and sorrow intertwined in such a way? Has ever a rich crown been formed from bramble-bush thorns?

Then we come to the end of the hymn, admitting that nothing created could possibly be gift enough for all this suffering. Instead, our total surveillance of the wondrous cross demands total commitment… a sacrifice of soul, life, and all that we are.

Thank you, Isaac Watts, for walking us through the crucifixion event with such beautiful language… language to sing together as a great congregation of those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb... language which at once communicates our sorrow and our love.

Hear Gilbert Martin’s Setting of This Hymn

"Our praise and prayer and anthems before thee we present."

Hymn: “All Glory, Laud, and Honor”
Theodulph of Orleans (760-821)
Tune: ST. THEODULPH

"Triumphantes" - Byzantine Period

From one of the oldest texts in most any hymnal, today’s hymnline is from the Palm Sunday hymn that will be represented in more worship services this week than any other hosanna-related song. There are lots of allusions to the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem the weekend prior to his death: the children form “hosanna” on their lips; the Hebrew folk welcome him with palms; he is called “David’s royal Son” and “the King and blessed One.” It’s one of those hymns that paints a pretty clear picture of a biblical event.

I am one of those who still believes in the return of Christ – the parousia. For years, I’ve said that I hope he will make his second entrance on Palm Sunday, because congregations all over the world are primed and ready to welcome him with “praise and prayer and anthems” geared toward the arrival of a triumphant king – THE triumphant King. The hymns will be “Hosanna, Loud Hosanna,” “The King of Glory Comes,” and “Ride On, Ride On in Majesty.” Choirs will sing settings of “Lift Up Your Heads, O Ye Gates” and variations on the hosanna theme. Some mature soloist will dust off “The Holy City” to sing one more time.

In other words, if ever during the church year we are poised to greet the returning Redeemer, it is on Palm Sunday!

May we come to our various places of worship this Sunday with a real sense of anticipation. Let’s raise our hands in worship, grasping palm branches or fern fronds, waving them with more vigor than in past years. Let’s sing louder than usual so as not to be under-heard as the King of Glory approaches from the distance.

Christ promised he would return at a time when we least expected him. Just in case it’s this Sunday, let’s be ready… because one way or the other, he will be present with us and will accept the praise and prayer and anthems we present before him.

Maranatha! Even so, King Jesus, come!


A lengthy processional of choirs from Edenton Street Methodist Church in Raleigh, NC

A simpler version for singing along

"In the cross of Christ I glory, tow'ring o'er the wrecks of time."

"Cross of Rubble" - Ray Tapajna

"In the cross of Christ I glory, tow'ring o'er the wrecks of time." 

Hymn: “In the Cross of Christ I Glory” – John Bowring (1792-1872)
Typical Tune: RATHBUN (also OXFORD/STAINER)

What does this word “glory” mean as it opens this hymn? At the time Bowring wrote these words, it meant “to boast.” Now, I know we are told since the Cradle Roll class that we should never boast or brag, but this bold statement has a precedent.

In Paul’s letter to the church at Galatia, he said, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me.” (6:14) Newer versions actually use the word “brag”!

Some grandparents carry with them what they refer to as their “brag book.” It’s nothing more than a photo album of their grandchildren looking all bright, clever and achieving! We’re fine with that… we’ve come to expect it! Most of my friends are doing this via their i-phones!

We have only one area of life in which we can boast without shame: the redeeming act of Christ on the cross. Outside that, we become braggarts or annoyingly self-centered!

The ravages of sin-filled time have left wreckage in their path. Dismantled lives, dysfunctional families, dismembered countries, disoriented cultures… and the dis-es go on! Yet, high above all this carnage stands the Old Rugged Cross. And in that cross, it’s okay to take some pride… to rejoice in the victory… even to boast or brag. So have at it!

Hear this hymn played at the piano

"I know a fount..."

Hymn: “I Know a Fount” – Words & Music Oliver Cooke (1873-1945)
Tune: I KNOW A FOUNT


I bet I am doing a trifecta today as the hymnline, the hymn name, and the hymn tune are the same! I know nothing of horse-racing or betting thereon, but I like the word “trifecta”!

While only the refrain of this 1923 hymn appears in most hymnals and songbooks, the stanzas that precede ask questions like: Are you weary, heavy-laden? Burdened, weighted down with care? Are you doubting, in bondage? Do you want deliverance? To answer those questions, Cooke begins the refrain with “I know a fount…” – he implies, “Let me direct you to this source.”

This is such a simple, easily-sung tune, and the benefits available at the fount are also simply-stated, but profoundly relevant. Here are the appropriations he lists:
- Sins are washed away.
- Night is turned to day.
- Burdens are lifted.
- Blind eyes are made to see.

The brief chorus concludes with “There’s a wonder-working power in the blood of Calvary.”

I love this snippet of redemptive theology. Nothing draws me in quite like simple profundity… and this is a fine example. Yet every time I sing it, I am struck by that verb “know.” Does it mean I am merely aware of the fount, or do I KNOW that fount by experience? I grew up in the church; I’ve been in Sunday school since the first Sunday after my birth date. I know a whole lot about God/Jesus, the heroes of the faith, the gospel – even salvation. [I still remember Campus Crusade’s “Four Spiritual Laws”!] But unless I truly “get” the cross-experience, I will still be weary, heavy-laden, in bondage, etc.

During this Lenten season, I hope we can all get beyond the questions to the answer… and approach Easter with a new spirit of knowledge of the power of the blood of Calvary.

Listen to This Hymn
(Don’t watch the screen because the words are badly presented… grammatically and otherwise!)

"He bore the burden to Calv'ry and suffered and died alone."

Pen & Ink Drawing by Viv Walden

Hymn: “I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus” – Words & Music: Charles Gabriel (1856-1932)
Tune: MY SAVIOR’S LOVE

To get to the “burden” of this hymnline, we have to go back a line:
       “He took my sins and my sorrows; he made them his very own.”
My sins and my sorrows were taken upon himself as if they were originally his… he who was without sin – original or otherwise!

This is one of those theologically-charged concepts that we don’t necessarily fully grasp… yet we believe that our sin was embodied in the sinless body of Christ and carried to Calvary to be exchanged for an everlasting relationship with the Father of all life. It is sometimes called “The Great Exchange”: my sin for his righteousness.

I remember an old black-and-white Saturday morning cartoon based on the story of Aladdin in which a man is pushing a card, repeating the phrase, “New lamps for old. New lamps for old.” (I have no idea why I still remember that!) This notion of God through Christ exchanging tarnished lives for renewed ones resurrects that childhood memory. It is as if Christ walks among us, almost as a barker crying out “New lives for old.” Some of us believe his “sales pitch” and take him up on his offer.

In that process, we hand over the worst of us for the best of him. He takes our sins and our sorrows and makes them his very own, bears them to Calvary where he suffers and dies alone – the ultimate expression of his marvelous, wonderful love… that Savior’s love which shall ever by the subject of my song.

An intergenerational singing of this hymn – you’ll want to sing along for sure!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sgSowQ1rzY