Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! How the heav’nly 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 with Many Crowns (1852)
By: Matthew Bridges, v. 3 by Godfrey Thring, pub.1874
Listen to this modern arrangement as you prepare to ponder this old hymn. Please make certain to enjoy the video below.
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Transcript may be found below, at the end of the blog.
We begin our journey to the old rugged cross this week as we consider this heavenly anthem. Will you commit to offer al that you are to sing and live this great anthem of praise? Let’s tune our hearts.
Crown Jesus
Let us be clear from these opening words. The Him we are referring to here is Jesus. Unequivocally Jesus! Only ever Jesus.
Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne;
If you have come to know Jesus, this seems like a very reasonable thing to do, not only in the throne room of heaven, but here on earth as well. In our praises, in our thoughts, in our convictions, to esteem or laud Him above all others. Most believers would offer a hearty “Amen!”
Consider any number of the accounts of who He is in the Scriptures, even just the book of Revelation. The Lamb upon His Throne [Revelation 7:17]. The Alpha and the Omega [Revelation 22:13]. The faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, and he ruler of the kings of earth [Revelation 1:5]. Consider how He is described in the this passage.
His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. Revelation 19:12 ESV
The larger context of this passage describes Jesus, called Faithful and True and The Word if God, riding His white Horse. This is the One we are admonishing one another to crown. Before we do that, though, we must be willing to do it ourselves. But it is sometimes not as easy as it may seem when reading these passages. Let us provide a little context.
You watch the news. You see the realities of this pandemic broadcast near and far. Most of the stories told create a bleak picture. You have a conversation with family members, maybe through Zoom or some other forum, and they are visibly worried and shaken by the startling realties of COVID-19.
Now, crown Him with many crowns. Before you exhort them to do so, you must have made the choice to do so yourself. Ready?
RESONATE!
If you have clicked through to this post, watched the video, or at least read this far, I am certain you are ready to crown Him. I applaud you for that commitment. You can not do it in your own strength, but here is the good news, you do not have to. Ask the One, whose eyes are like a flame of fire, to help you, and do so with the confidence that He will. He wants you to welcome others into crowning Him King of the corona virus and EVERYTHING else, and He will certainly help you to crown Him King of your own life on a continuing basis if you simply ask. “Jesus, help me crown You King of my life!”
But First, Listen
Yes, listen. That is what “hark” means. What a great example of a word from our hymns that we do not readily use today, which has a clear and compelling meaning and usage.
You probably are most familiar singing this word in the Christmas carol, “Hark! The Hearld Angels Sing”. Interesting to note, both in that title and in this line, “hark” is followed by an exclamation point! Listen!
Hark! How the heav’nly anthem drowns All music but its own!
How often do we fail to do that, though? We sing that word, and then do not do it. I like to take words literally, so at times when leading worship, I have had people stop singing and do what we have just instructed each other to so. Some examples include kneeling down, lifting hands, or being silent. I do not recall ever doing something like that with “hark”, but that is exactly what I am going to invite you to do.
First, I want you to read this passage which includes a quote of some of that “heavenly anthem”. Pay special attention to those words and prepare to listen.
Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” Revelation 5:11-12 ESV
So here is your exercise. Before you can resonate, you have to let the song come to you. Resonance is a passive activity in some ways, but we can take an active part in it by getting quiet and still enough to let it happen. In this unusual season, I pray you can find some time to…listen.
RESONATE!
I want to ask you to get as quiet as you can. I want to encourage you to listen with your heart. You know there is praise being offered to Jesus around His throne right now. Ask Him to help you hear that. Will you hear it with your ears? Probably not. But I pray you will be able to hear it with your heart. He is worthy!
Jesus, thank You for living a life that made You worthy of being crowned with every crown we could ever bring. Even now that is happening. Give us the ability in our hearts to listen to that praise, and enable us to join it. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
Attentive Tuning!
Keep coming back, and we will work to help you remove the things that may hinder your longing for His return by cultivating an awareness of God’s presence. We will help you tune your heart to live out your worship by providing resources like this to help you acknowledge the greatness of God as you become more Resonant, 7 days a week.
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Video 38.1 Transcript, 16.1 Reframed
Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.
Crown Him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! How the heav’nly 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.
Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords, so He is worthy of every crown we could give Him. Here we begin by crowning Him as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. An appropriate place for us to start, declaring His forgiveness. Thank Him for being the Lamb.
Jesus, thank you for being the Lamb.
I am a lover of music. It is such a powerful tool God has given us to declare His praise. Here we are invited to consider how the anthem of heaven, offered to the Lamb, drowns out all other music. Oh that we would have ears to hear the praises being offered even now. Listen.
Father, help me hear the heavenly anthem.
And not just listen, but once you can make it out, join it. Our heart cries to our soul to wake up from its slumber and sing to the One who has died for us. What a wonderful reminder to not only be alert to hear the praise but enter into it. Are you awake? Sing from your soul.
Spirit, help me awaken and sing from my soul.
And not just sing but declare Him with your lips and your life as Your matchless King now and throughout all eternity. There is truly no one like Jesus. Will you commit again today to give Him the praise that only He deserves? Crown Him with all the praise you can muster.
Jesus, help me crown You with all the praise I can muster.
Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.
Sing.
Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond. Until next time, be Resonant.
The post Can I Hear the Heavenly Anthem? REPOST appeared first on Resonant 7.
Image Attributions
Many Crowns – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/seamless-tile-repeat-pattern-1082986/
Heavenly Anthem – https://pixabay.com/photos/figure-art-angel-sculpture-metal-749713/
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