One summer night in 1934, at the Keswick Conference in England, a celebration of the Lord’s Supper was observed. Four thousand people were seated, and countless others observed it standing outside the huge tent. This was said to be the largest gathering ever for such a purpose. The service was conducted in a quiet, reverent manner as the elements were passed among the believers. The service was closed with the triumphant singing of “Crown Him with Many Crowns” as that group of thousands remembered the sacrifice that Christ had made on the cross.
This hymn was written in 1851 by Matthew Bridges and first appeared in his “Hymns of the Heart.” Twenty-three years later, Godfrey Thring wrote additional stanzas with Bridge’s approval. The hymn then had ten stanzas, but most hymnals today include only four stanzas that combine both authors’ texts. The tune “Diademata,” a Greek word meaning “crowns,” was written specifically for this hymn by Dr. George J. Elvery. Elvery held the Doctorate of Music Degree from New College in Oxford and was organist for St. Georges Chapel, which the royal family attended. He taught some of the family members and composed and played music for royal weddings and other state events.
“Crown Him with Many Crowns” is based on Revelation 19, which describes John’s vision of seeing Christ with many crowns on His head and being worshiped as the “King of kings, and Lord of lords.” Christ is praised in these stanzas for the various aspects of His person and ministry: His incarnate birth, sacrificial suffering and death, and glorious resurrection and ascension to His heavenly throne. This hymn glorifies the Lord’s acts, titles, and attributes, moving the believer to “hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.” Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (I Timothy 1:17).
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Crown him with many crowns, The Lamb upon his throne:
Hark how the heav’nly anthem drowns All musick 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!
He came forth as the Branch, A rod of Jesse’s 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 ev’ry grief hath known That wrings the sorr’wing breast,
And takes and bears them for his own, That all in him may rest.
- Crown him the Lord of life, Who triumphed o’er 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.
- Crown him the Lord of love! Behold his hands and side,-
Rich wounds, yet visible above In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye At mysteries so bright!
- Crown him the Lord of heav’n! One with the Father known,-
And the blest Spirit through him giv’n From yonder triune throne!
All hail! Redeemer,- Hail! For thou hast died for me:
Thy praise shall never, never fail Throughout eternity.
- Crown him the Lord of lords, Who over all doth reign,
Who, once on earth, th’incarnate Word For ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, Where saints with angels sing
Their songs before him day and night, Their God- Redeemer,- King.
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Crown him the Lord of heav’n, Enthroned in worlds above,
Crown him the King to whom is giv’n, The wondrous name of love.
Crown him with many crowns, As thrones before him fall;
Crown him, ye kings, with many crowns, For he is King of all.
- Crown him the Lord of peace! Whose pow’r a sceptre sways
From pole to pole, that wars may cease Absorbed in prayer and praise:
His reign shall know no end, And round his piercéd feet
Fair flow’rs of paradise extend Their fragrance ever sweet.
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Crown him the Lord of years! The potentate of time,-
Creator of the rolling spheres, Ineffably sublime!
Glassed in the sea of light, Whose everlasting waves
Reflect his form,- the infinite! Who lives,- and loves,- and saves.
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