Friday, April 2, 2010

“We Sing The Praise of Him Who Died”



Day 2  Good Friday
We sing the praise of Him Who died,
Of Him Who died upon the cross;
The sinner’s hope let men deride,
For this we count the world but loss.

Inscribed upon the cross we see
In shining letters, “God is Love”;
He bears our sins upon the tree;
He brings us mercy from above.

We love Thee most at Thy dear cross,
There will we ever, Lord, abide,
Make Thou that cross our only hope,
O Jesus, Jesus crucified.

Jesus, Thy feast we celebrate,
We show thy death, we sing thy Name,
Till Thou return, and we shall eat
The marriage supper of the Lamb.

“We Sing The Praise of Him Who Died”
Thomas Kelly, vs. 1, 2
Isaac Watts, vs. 3, 4
Music by John C. Hallett (1964)



Who do you cheer for? Here in Springfield it would be the “Cards” or the “Hornets” or “Chiefs” or “Rams,” the “Bears” or “Lady Bears.” When basketball season rolls around you can hear me in the Arnold Activity Center cheering on the Spartans!

Who do you praise? Who do you commend…value…merit? Who do you worship?

On this Good Friday we join with men and women around the world in singing “the praise of Him who died…upon the cross.”
John Hallett chose verses from several sources for this choral rendition by Thomas Kelly and Isaac Watts. For Hallett, the reason we sing praise is because the cross of Jesus Christ is the hope of the sinner and the expression of God’s love.

Yes, the cross was a place of suffering and shame, but for us it becomes our only hope for establishing a relationship with God Who created us.

Hallett’s purpose in putting this hymn together was for it to be sung at the Communion Service. The last verse anticipates the consummation of the ages when all who have put their faith in Jesus Christ gather at the great feast in heaven.

Jesus, Thy feast we celebrate,
We show thy death, we sing thy Name,
Till Thou return, and we shall eat
The marriage supper of the Lamb.

On this Good Friday let the text of this hymn encourage you and me to lift up our praises to God the Father for the love gift He sent to us in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let’s hear those praises rising up!

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