This beloved hymn written by Major Daniel Webster Whittle, the exact date of his composition is not known, but it was originally published in 1883 in Gospel Hymns No. 4. It is one of about two hundred hymns composed by Major Whittle as he was known. It is one of his most well known hymns, one other popular hymn that he wrote is “There Shall Be Showers of Blessings” If you look at these two hymns for the authorship you may be a bit confused, you will see the name El Nathan on the left hand side indicating that El Nathan wrote the Lyrics, and you will see James McGranahan on the right hand side, indicating that he wrote the music. El Nathan is a pseudonym – a fictitious name used by a person or sometimes a group, which Daniel Webster Whittle used. He also used the pseudonyms Elias Nathan and W.W.D.

Daniel Webster Whittle was born in Chicopee Falls, Massachusetts on November 22, 1840. He was named after the great American politician Daniel Webster who was greatly admired by Whittle’s father. Little is known of his childhood. His father had heard Daniel Webster, the great statesman, make a stirring speech. Daniel Webster in this speech said “It is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God it shall be my dying sentiment — independence now and independence forever!”

This would later inspire his parents to name him after Daniel Webster in hopes that he would become a great leader in the fight for freedom as well. His mother is said to have been a godly woman who instilled in him and his three brothers strong Christian principles.

Daniel Whittle worked as a cashier for Wells Fargo bank as a teenager and into his early twenties. He was not a wicked man at first, on the contrary, he was quiet religious. He surrendered his life to the Lord one night while acting as a night watchman at the Wells Fargo Bank. He went into the vault, got down on his knees and gave his surrendered his life for the Heavenly Father to use as he would. He even became the Sunday School Superintendent at the great Tabernacle in Chicago where he would meet his wife, Miss Abbie Hanson. He would join the army in 1861 and be commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. In the summer of 1862, August as the Civil War began to intensify his unit was called to go South. August 22, 1862, the night before his departure, he and Abbie were married. It would be a year before they would be reunited. In his own words he tells of his departure, “My dear mother was a devout Christian, and parted from me with many a tear, and followed me with many a prayer. She had placed a New Testament in a pocket of the haversack that she’d arranged for me”

This little New Testament would pay a vital part in his rededication. Whittle rose to the rank of Major and while leading a charge, actually filling in, and he was wounded in his sword arm which led to the amputation of his arm and a stay in a prisoner of war camp. It was while he was in this POW camp that out of boredom he began to search for something to read. He found in his personal effects the little New Testament that his Mother had placed there. He read through the New Testament in a matter of days and started through it again. One night the nurse woke him up and told him that one of his men was dying and had been begging for someone to pray for him. The nurse told Major Whittle that he (the nurse) was a wicked man and could not pray. Major Whittle confessed that he too was wicked man with many sins in his own life and could not pray either. The nurse said that he thought Major Whittle was a Christian because he had observed him constantly reading the Scripture and the Major Whittle did not cuss as the other men. The nurse begged Major Whittle to at least accompany him to see the boy as he did not want to return alone. Moved with compassion, Major Whittle reluctantly agreed. Here, in Major Whittle’s own words, is what took place that night: “I dropped on my knees and held the boy’s hand in mine. In a few broken words I confessed my sins and asked Christ to forgive me. I believed right there that He did forgive me. I then prayed earnestly for the boy. He became quiet and pressed my hand as I prayed and pleaded God’s promises. When I arose from my knees, he was dead. A look of peace had come over his troubled face, and I cannot but believe that God who used him to bring me to the Savior, used me to lead him to trust Christ’s precious blood and find pardon. I hope to meet him in heaven.”

Ten years later at the encouragement of his close friend D.L. Moody he would enter into evangelism. Some of his first songs were set to music by Phillip Bliss. Whittle attended and participated in the memorial service for Phillip Bliss. Later he would work closely with the man who would set to music many of his later songs, and who set the music to this song, “I Know Whom I Have Believed”, James McGranahan. Major Whittle died March 4, 1901 after having written over 200 hymns.

The refrain of the hymn is a direct quotation from the King James Bible in II Timothy 1:12 “…for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” From the standpoint of theology and the content of this hymn, there are many things that could be considered, the first two verses clearly fall into the study of Soteriology, the doctrine of Salvation. The third verse could be looked at from two different ways, Pneumatology, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, and Harmitiology, the doctrine of sin. The last verse could be explored using Eschatology, the doctrine of last things. The doctrine of Grace could not be overlooked from the standpoint of the song as a whole, neither could Christology be ignored. We will look briefly at all of these doctrines contained within this great hymn.

First, consider the refrain of the hymn, as already mentioned, it is a direct verbatim quotation (excluding the conjunction “But”, the Scriptures says for) from II Timothy 1:12 from the King James Version of the Scripture. Volumes could be written in defense of the use of the King James Bible, but suffice it to say, that the King James Bible is the Word of God for the English speaking people. It rests upon the Masoretic text of the Old Testament and the Greek Textus Receptus text of the New Testament.

In the first verse, there are two Biblical words that are doctrines within themselves, the word Grace and the word Redeemed. Grace has adequately been defined in an acrostic as God’s Riches At Christ Expense. Grace is God’s unmerited favor toward lost humanity. The word grace appears 170 times in 159 verses of our King James Bible. It first appears in Genesis 6:8 where Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord it comes from the Hebrew word khane and means favor, pleasant and precious. The first time it appears in the New Testament is in Luke 2:40 where Jesus as a child grew in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. They are two different Greek words used for grace in the New Testament, euprepeia, and charis. Euprepeia is used only once, in James 1:11 and it speaks of appearance and beauty. All of the other New Testament appearances of grace is the word charis and it speaks of “the merciful kindness by which God, exerting his holy influence upon souls, turns them to Christ, keeps, strengthens, increases them in Christian faith, knowledge, affection, and kindles them to the exercise of the Christian virtues”

The other Bible word used in the first verse of “I Know Whom I Have Believed” is the word Redeemed and it appears 142 times in 119 verses in some form of redeem, or redeemed. In the New Testament it has the meaning of to buy as in the marketplace. You and I were on the slave market of sin, but the Lord Jesus paid the price for our redemption with his own blood and purchased us, as the verse says “for his own”.

Emery Bancroft defines regeneration as “the communication of the divine nature to man by the operation of the Holy Spirit through the Word.” Major Whittle is saying in these verses what many Christians have declared, “I don’t know how or why he did it, I just know he did it.” You and I may not understand all that God has provided for us through regeneration, but the blind man explained it very well when he said “I was blind, but now I see”

In the lines of the third verse Major Whittle makes it clear that it is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, that convinces man of sin. For man to be converted, he must be convicted of his sin and convinced of his need for Salvation and upon his confession he will be converted. The Bible declares in John 16:8 that when he (the Holy Spirit) is come, “he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness and of judgment:”6 The word “reprove” means to convict and to convince and that is what the Holy Spirit does, he convicts and convinces men of sin.

The lines “Revealing Jesus through his Word” and “Creating faith in Him” takes us to the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 13 where the Bible says “so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.7 Adam Clarke in his commentary on this verse said: “Preaching the Gospel is the ordinary means of salvation; faith in Christ is the result of hearing the word, the doctrine of God preached. Preaching, God sends; if heard attentively, faith will be produced; and if they believe the report, the arm of the Lord will be revealed in their salvation.”

The Lord Jesus is revealed through the preaching of the Scriptures. Creation Conscience and the Cross are the three great witnesses of the Lord Jesus. Rom 1:19 “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. Rom 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:”
Man’s Conscience testifies to the fact that there is good and evil and that there is a God “…that which may be known of God is manifest in them…”. God has put in the conscience of every man the fact that there is a higher power, and this knowledge of the conscience, this light, this witness, testifies to the fact that there is a God – but this alone will not save a man. Creation itself testifies to the fact that there is a higher deity, there is a God. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen…” Anyone with a rational mind knows that this earth, the universe, this cosmos did not just happen, this creation testifies to that fact. But yea, again, this testimony, this light, this witness will not save a man. It is only by the testimony and witness of the Cross that a man or woman may be saved, and that testimony is revealed in the Word of God. Some have said in disbelief “how could a loving God send someone in Africa to Hell who has never heard the Gospel?” The answer could be that if that person rejects the testimony of conscience and rejects the testimony of creation, why do you think he would respond any differently to the testimony of the cross. If however they were to accept the testimony of the conscience and creation, God can and often does send a missionary thousands of miles with the message of the witness of the cross so that man may hear the Word, believe and be saved.

Verse four is a testimony of Daniel Whittle of his faith in the Lord Jesus, that no matter what the days may hold, that he will see the face of God.

In verse five we see hints of eschatology, “I know not when my Lord may come” this is a direct reference to Matthew 24:36 and Mark 13:32, of that day and hour knoweth no man. We do not know when he is coming, but we can rest assured that he is coming.

The main subject of the song is assurance. Salvation is not something that you hope for, Salvation is not something that you try for, it is not something that you work for, the work is already done and you can know that you are saved. The Bible declares in 1Jn 5:13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. I’m glad I can say along with Paul and with Major Daniel Webster Whittle “I KNOW whom I have believed”!

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Probably, one of the greatest hymns written by the greatest man of the greatest period of German history is the song “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God”. It has been called “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation”. This song was written by the great German reformer Martin Luther. Let us look briefly at the man, Martin Luther. Martin Luther was born November 10, 1483 to Hans and Margaretha Luder in Eisleben Germany. Hans, Martin’s father, owned a copper mine in Mansfield. Having the finances to do so, and having come from a very modest peasantry himself, Martin’s father Hans was determined that Martin would be raised with dignity and have a future in civil servitude. Martin attended schools in Mansfield, Magdeburg and Eisenach Germany. When Martin Luther was seventeen he enrolled in the University of Erfurt in the year 1501. He received his Bachelor’s degree in only one year and his Master’s degree three years later. As soon as a completed his Master’s degree, he enrolled in the law school of the University of Erfurt.

One day in the year 1505 while walking in the woods, Martin Luther got caught in a terrible thunderstorm and he began to run to seek shelter at the school but before he reached the safety of the school lightening struck near where he was running. It was so close to him in fact that he cried out to St. Anne “Help, St. Anne! I’ll become a monk!” (according to catholic tradition St. Anne is the mother of the Virgin Mary). Martin Luther survived the near death experience and true to his word, he dropped out of law school and entered the monastery.

Young Martin Luther dedicated himself fully to the life of a monk. He put forth every effort to please God and to do good works. He devoted his life to religious fast and flagellations (A beating or whipping; a flogging; the discipline of the scourge) long pilgrimages and many hours in prayer as well as constant confession. The closer he tried to get to God and the more he did to do to gain God’s favor, the more aware he became of his sinfulness.

Martin Luther’s superior, Johann Von Staupitz thought that he needed more work to distract him and occupy his mind. He ordered young Luther to pursue a career in academics. In 1507, at the age of 24, Martin Luther was ordained and in 1508 he began to teach theology at the University of Wittenberg. March 9, 1508 Martin Luther earned his Bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies and in 1509 he earned a Bachelor’s degree in the Sentences (the main textbook of theology in the Middle Ages) The University of Wittenberg conferred upon him the Doctor of Theology on October 19, 1509.

Though he lived the life of a monk without reproach, Martin felt that he was a sinner before God with an extremely disturbed conscience. After meditating on the “In it the righteousness of God is revealed, as it is written, ‘He who through faith is righteous shall live.’” he began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith and Martin Luther was saved by the grace of God.
It was in the year 1517, to be more precise, it was Halloween of 1517 that Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door at Wittenberg. In his Theses he accused the Roman Catholic organization of many heresies, particularly the Dominican priest Johann Tetzel and the selling of indulgences. Johann Tetzel died two years after Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg church door. According to Martin Luther’s own testimony, it was after the death of Tetzel that he himself was saved.

Martin Luther was the first to translate and publish the Bible in the common language of the German people. He used Erasmus’ 1516 critical Greek edition text, which later came to be know as the Textus Receptus (the received text) from which our King James Bible was translated. Luther published his German New Testament translation in 1522 and completed the Old Testament resulting in an entire German language Bible in 1534. About this same time, Martin Luther became a friend and confidant of William Tyndale who translated the Textus Receptus into English.
It was in 1529 that Martin Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” and it has been called “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation. This hymn presents an exception in its tune in the fact that it is sung pretty much as Luther wrote it. There are some different variations as far as the rhythm is concerned.
The words are a paraphrase of Psalm 46. We will examine the verses, which of course have been translated from German to English, for their doctrinal content. We will use the version by Frederick Henry Hedge translated in 1853, this is the most popular English version although it has been translated into English at least seventy times.
Let us compare the first verse with Psalm 46.
A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and pow’r are great,
And armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

As you examine these lines and compare it to Psalm 46 verse 1, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” You can easily see where his thought came from. Another English translation of this hymn, by Thomas Carlyle, opens with the line, “A safe stronghold our God is still” but I personally prefer “A mighty fortress is our God”. Keeping in mind that this hymn was written between 1527 and 1529, this was during the period of exile and during the time he was translating the Old Testament.

In 1520 Luther had been condemned for his Protestant views by Pope Leo X and commanded to renounce or reaffirm his 95 Theses. He was given 24 hours to consider his choice. He did apologize for his harsh tone, but reaffirmed his belief in his Theses. After knowing all of these circumstances, understanding that he was now in hiding in exile, you can understand the verse much better. He talks about in the latter part of the verse how “the ancient foe doth seek to us woe” and his pow’r and hate, it is clear to see that he equates the Roman Papacy with the Devil. He writes about how that “on earth is not his equal” most likely referring to the fact that at this time, this was the height of the power of the Roman Papacy and there was no power on earth that could equal them, but his confidence was not in any earthly protection, or fortress, he was looking to God.

Again, we refer back to Psalm 46 “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:2 Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;” consider the second line “amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing” in light of Psalm 46:2. The word “refuge” in verse 1 is from a verb that means to flee, and then to flee to, or to take shelter in, it, according to Albert Barnes, “denotes a place to which one would flee in time of danger – as a lofty wall; a high tower; a fort; a fortress.”

The theological doctrine found in the lines of Martin Luther’s song is the that of faithfulness, God’s faithfulness, this reminds us of Hebrews 6:18, “That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:” It is a comfort to know that you can flee to God for refuge, you can trust him. It is interesting to note, that even though Luther was condemned to death, he escaped martyrdom and died of natural causes.

Look briefly at verse two:
Did we in our own strength confide,
our striving would be losing,
were not the right man on our side,
the man of God’s own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is he;
Lord Sabaoth, his name,
from age to age the same,
and he must win the battle.

The first lines remind me of Philippians 3:3 “…and have no confidence in the flesh.” Our flesh is weak, warped and wicked and cannot be trusted. Luther had it right in the third line, the right man on our side. The man of God’s own choosing, Revelation 13:8 declares that Jesus was “…the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” God did not have to search through heaven or come up with a secondary plan when Adam fell in the garden, Calvary was in the mind of God when he created the heavens and the earth. When God took Adam up in his arms and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul, God had already determined that Jesus would die to redeem fallen man.

The Lord Sabaoth is Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of Hosts. According to Amos 4:13 “For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name” The “God of hosts” is Jehovah Sabaoth. Amos gives us a clear and concise description of God’s attributes of sovereignty, omniscience and omnipotence. We also find another accurate description of Jehovah Sabaoth in Isaiah 6:3 “And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Our first introduction to the Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord Sabaoth, that Martin Luther refers to in his second verse, is in I Samuel 1, the very familiar story of Hannah. Hannah was barren, she was one of two wives of Elkanah, and she had the natural desire of a woman, to be a mother. She made a promise to the Lord, Jehovah Sabaoth, Jehovah of Host, the mighty tower that she would give her child back to God. The Lord of host opened her womb and Samuel was born, she did just what she had promised, she gave him back to God and God greatly used Samuel. The Lord Sabaoth is the Lord of hosts of I Samuel 1:3. No doubt, in his personal study, Martin Luther was aware of this, and he himself, in his exile, had fled to the mighty fortress, Lord Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts.

There are two more occasions in the book of I Samuel where we find Jehovah Sabaoth. The first of these two encounters is another very familiar story, it is the story of David and Goliath. David is facing the giant and tells him “…thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts…” This can easily be seen in the opening lines of Martin Luther’s second verse “Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;” Martin Luther could relate to David in his own battle against the giant Roman papacy.

Both Hannah and David had fled to and called upon the name of Jehovah Sabaoth, the Lord of hosts, and had experienced deliverance. Martin Luther had experienced this deliverance himself and it is comforting to know that we too can call upon Jehovah Sabaoth, but there is an instance in I Samuel 4 when Israel is defeated and the ark of the covenant is stolen by the Philistines. Upon careful study of the context of this defeat, you will see that Israel was trusting in the Ark of God rather than the God of the Ark. They were using the Ark and looking to the Ark as a lucky charm so to speak. But David later corrected this and restored the Ark to its rightful place by trusting in the God of the host, the Lord of host, Jehovah Sabaoth. We can learn the lesson from this to trust in the Lord. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing. Martin Luther knew from experience what he was writing about in those lines.

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There are in the Church Hymnal (the Red back Church of God Hymnal) Three versions of Alas And Did My Savior Bleed. They are 264, At the Cross, 355 He Loves Me, and 291, Oh How I Love Jesus, though all of these songs contain the hymn originally composed by Isaac Watts, his original hymn did not contain a refrain. All three of these songs are identical in their verses, but in every case, a different tune is used and a refrain has been added. Isaac Watts original composition was entitled “Godly Sorrow Arising From the Sufferings of Christ.” Isaac Watts wrote over 500 hymns in his life and has been called the father of the English hymn. His poetic gift was revealed at a young age. As a child during family prayers he penned one of his first poems, it was simply:
“There was a mouse for want of stairs,
Ran up a rope to say his prayers”

Many years later he write such great words as:
“See from His head, His hands His feet,
Sorrow and love flowed mingled down.
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown.”

From his birth his father would read the Word of God to him and pray for him. His father was a godly preacher and a Nonconformist to the Church of England. His father was sent to prison twice because of his convictions. His family were Dissenters or Non- conformists. The Dissenters were Protestants who did not think that the Church of England had separated enough from the doctrines of the Roman Catholics and refused to conform to the Church of England.

Isaac was born in 1674 and was the oldest of nine children. At the age of eleven his father addressed a letter to all of his children encouraging them to “frequently to read the Scriptures – get your hearts to delight in them – above all books and writings account the Bible the best and read it most – lay up the truth of it in your hearts”.

Isaac Watts was saved at the age of fifteen and by the age of sixteen he had mastered Latin, Greek, Hebrew and French. When Isaac was about twenty he became dissatisfied with the singing of the Nonconformist Congregation. At that time it was viewed as sinful to sing songs that were not taken from the Scriptures the majority of which were Psalms or metrical Psalters. His major complaint was the quality of the writing, his father challenged him if he did not like what was being sung to do something better. Over the next two years, from the age of Twenty until he was Twenty two, he wrote the majority of his hymns. He was greatly criticized by both the Roman Catholics and the nonconformist who called his hymns “uninspired” because they were not direct quotations from Scripture. His reply to this was “…if we can pray to God in sentences that we have made up ourselves (instead of confining ourselves to the Our Father and other prayers taken directly from the Scriptures), then surely we can sing to God in sentences that we have made up ourselves”.

Isaac Watts wrote Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed in 1707, it originally had six stanzas and no refrain. The original tune as intended by Isaac Watts is not known, but in 1800 Hugh Wilson began using his original music composition entitled Martyrdom. In 1885 Ralph F. Hudson added the refrain and the tune that we know use and know as “At The Cross”.

It is interesting to note before we explore the doctrinal content of Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed, the in the Fall of 1850 at the age of thirty, Fanny J. Crosby went to the altar at the Thirtieth Street Methodist Church in New York City. She had been to the altar twice before by had not received the peace she sought. While at the altar the congregation was singing the hymn “Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed”, according to her own testimony and in her own words she says:
“…it seemed to me that the light must indeed come then or never; and so I arose and went to the altar alone. After a prayer was offered, they began to sing the grand old consecration hymn, ‘Alas, and did my Saviour bleed, And did my Sovereign die?’ And when they reached the third line of the fourth stanza, ‘Here Lord, I give myself away,’ my very soul was flooded with a celestial light. I sprang to my feet, shouting ‘hallelujah,’ and then for the first time I realized that I had been trying to hold the world in one hand and the Lord in the other.”

Isaac Watts was a brilliant young man and because of his intellectual acumen and proclivity to study he was encouraged by his friends and a prominent Southampton physician to go to one of the Universities, at their expense, in hopes that he would eventually be ordained into the Church of England. Because of his background and being raised as a Dissenting Nonconformist, he refused and rather chose a nonconformist academy. He started preaching at the age of twenty-four and pastored his became pastor of a well-know independent congregation in 1702, he died on November 25, 1748.

The doctrinal content of “Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed” could be examined from a plethora of Christian Theology, Justification, Propitiation, Christology, Anthropology, Harmitiology, Soteriology just to name a few, for all of these are contained within the lines of this hymn. We will however, briefly explore the doctrine of propitiation as found in the lines of “Alas and Did My Saviour Bleed”.

The word propitiation appears 3 times in our King James Bible, Romans 3:5, I John 2:2 and I John 4:10. In both instances in I John the Greek word for propitiation is hilasmos, In Romans the word is hilaste?rion. The word is “used of the cover of the ark of the covenant in the Holy of Holies, which was sprinkled with the blood of the expiatory victim on the annual day of atonement (this rite signifying that the life of the people, the loss of which they had merited by their sins, was offered to God in the blood as the life of the victim, and that God by this ceremony was appeased and their sins expiated); hence the lid of expiation, the propitiatory”. The word hilasterion is actually translated as mercy seat in Hebrews 9:5
“And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly”.

The Lord Jesus Christ became our propitiation. A good definition of the word is that Jesus Christ satisfied the holiness of an offended God and a broken law. There are two other occasions that you find the word meaning propitiation, it is translated from the Greek word hilaskomai which means to make propitiation, and it is translated as “be merciful” in Luke 18:13 “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” and “make reconciliation” in Hebrews 2:17 “Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.” This propitiation, no doubt is what Isaac Watts had in mind as he penned the words “Alas, and did my Saviour bleed and did my Sovereign die”

Isaac Watts may have taken the thought for his line “for such a worm as I” from Psalm 22:6 “But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people.” Since Psalm 22 is prophetic and descriptive of the events of the crucifixion, it is enlightening to the mind of Watts as to the play on words. To the world, as they crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, he was a worm, but in reality, it is sinful man who is the worm. David no doubt referred to this in Psalm 22 and it is likely that Watts was making reference to this as well.

We see a glimpse of propitiation in the lines “Was it for crimes that I had done”. Yes it was for my sins, yea, and the sins of the whole world that Jesus Christ willingly laid his life down.

From the lines “And love beyond degree” Watts no doubt had the words of Jesus himself in mind for in John 15:13 the Lord Jesus declared that “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” One thing that is amazing about the love of Jesus and his “laying his life down” is that we were not friends, we were enemies as is declared in Romans 5:10.

When the Lord Jesus died, darkness was upon the whole earth. This darkness is referenced in Watts original fourth verse and is found in Luke 23:44. The Bible says that this darkness was from the sixth hour until the ninth hour. The Jewish day started at six A.M. not midnight as our days start, so this was mid day, the whole earth was dark. What was the significance of this darkness and what caused it. The liberals and agnostics try to explain this miracle away by saying that it was an eclipse of the sun, but this could not be the case. Jesus was crucified during the Feast of Passover, this always happened at the time of a full moon and an eclipse cannot happen during a full moon, also, an eclipse would not last for three hours so this cannot be the case. This was of a divine origin. Darkness is a sign of punishment. When God punished Pharaoh there was darkness. These three hours was the time that God was punishing the Lord Jesus for our sins and no doubt, he did not want the world to see this. This is what Watts was referencing and it is why Watts declared in his last verse and that we as well can proclaim, “Here, Lord, I give myself away ‘Tis all that I can do.

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The hymn, “All Hail The Power of Jesus Name”, is often called “The National Anthem of Christendom” . The lyrics were written by Edward Perronet. Edward was a missionary to India and the hymn first appeared in the November 1779 issue of the Gospel Magazine published by the writer of “Rock of Ages”, Augustus Toplady. The lyrics to “All Hail” has been translated into almost every (if not every) language in which Christianity is known.

The lyrics of this hymn, originally eight verses, were written by Edward Perronet in 1779. The original title was “On the Resurrection, the Lord is King”. The first verse was originally published in the Gospel Magazine in November 1779 anonymously. All eight verses were published in the April 1780 issue and were accompanied by an acrostic poem that spelled out Edward Perronet. Edward Perronet was ordained into the Anglican Church but eventually deferred to the evangelical movement of John and Charles Wesley. He was in many meetings with John Wesley and even though he was a great preacher in his own right, He would never preach in the presence of John Wesley. “Wesley was not one to take no for an answer and one day in the middle of a meeting he [John Wesley] simply announced to the large crowd that Brother Perronet will now speak. Thinking quickly, Perronet declared, ‘I will now deliver the greatest sermon ever preached on earth’ (you can imagine he got everyone’s attention) he then read the Sermon on the Mount, and sat down.” This was the kind of man that Edward Perronet was, he preferred his brother before himself. Though the Lyrics were written by Edward Perronet, there was no music, no tune written for this hymn. Congregations would choose a tune that would fit the meter of the hymn and sing it to that tune. The first music that was applied to the lyrics was a song written by William Shrubsole called “Miles Lane”. In 1838 James Ellor penned a tune he called “Diadem” and used the lyrics. The verse
Oh that, with yonder sacred throng, we at his feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all.
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!

was written in 1787 by John Rippon.

Before we briefly examine some of the doctrinal content of this great hymn, let me relay two stories of this great hymn. “One of the most dramatic instances of its use was found in the experience of the Rev. E. P. Scott in India” Scott was greatly burdened for a very barbarous tribe that his friends had strongly advised him to avoid. He journeyed to where they were putting his trust in God to protect him. Before he reached their tribe he was accosted and surrounded by them. He had no weapon of offense or defense with him, he had only his violin. He closed his eyes and began to play and sing “All Hail The Power of Jesus Name” fully anticipating that he would open his eyes in Heaven. After a few minutes he opened his eyes to steal a look and much to his surprise they had dropped their spears and were looking at him in awe and curiosity. Later, after welcoming him in, he shared with them the glorious story of the Gospel and led many of them to the Lord.

I also heard the story of an Elderly woman who was nearing death. Her family was gathered around her bed and they heard her whispering “bring… bring.” They immediately thought she was thirsty and brought her some water. She just shook her head and simply said “bring… bring.” One of the family members remembered seeing her shout and wave a handkerchief in her younger years and they brought that to her and she still shook her head and said “bring… bring.” Still not knowing what she wanted they brought her Bible to her and laid it at her bed and the Old woman still shook her head and said “bring… bring.” Exasperated they looked at her and asked, “what is it you want us to bring?” With her last bit of strength she pushed herself up in the bed and raised her hands and with her dying breath she sang “Bring forth the Royal Diadem and Crown Him Lord of All!”

As we examine “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name” the opening line is the perfect place to start, the power of Jesus Name. Acts 4:12 declares “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” There is power in the name of Jesus to Save, this is in fact, the only way to be saved, to call upon the name of the Lord. The word name in Acts 4:12 is the Greek word onoma and it is used to denote the person himself. Albert Barnes describes it “As we would say, there is no one who can save but Jesus Christ.”

The name of Jesus also has power to Secure. The Bible says in I Timothy 2:5 that Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and man. The word “mediator” is the Greek word mesitēs (pronounced mes-ee’-tace) and it means a go between a reconciler, one who intervenes. It is through Jesus, not Mary that we have an advocate, a mediator.

There is power in the name of Jesus to sustain us. It is Jesus that saves us and Jesus that keeps us saved. I am reminded of the story of D.L. Moody who boarded a train. The conductor of the train was a devout Mormon. The conductor spent the evening and on up into the night trying to convert Moody to Mormonism. After a lengthy discussion, Mr. Moody told the conductor, “there is only two letters difference between my religion and yours, you spell yours D-O, Do, I spell my D-O-N-E, Done.”

There is power in the name of Jesus to succor us as declared in Hebrews 2:18. The word succour is the Greek word boētheō and it means to help, to bring aid. It is comforting to know that Jesus is standing ready to run to our aid when we call for him.

The doctrinal content of the original eight verses written by Edward Perronet is Eschatological, the final day when “every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” Thank God there will come a day when “every tribe and every tongue” will fall prostrate before Him. Albert Barnes said “To bow the knee” is an act expressing homage, submission, or adoration. It means that every person shall acknowledge him as God, and admit his right to universal dominion. God is all powerful, he is all knowing, and he is all present, this is the omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence of God. He is the creator of the universe and everything in the universe. As such, he deserves all glory and honor. This world at this time does not recognize God as the one and only God, but there will come a day when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess. Philippians 2:10 says that every knee should bow, but Romans 14:11 says that every knee shall bow. This will no doubt occur at the White Throne Judgment described in Revelation 20:11

The word diadem, is actually found in Scriptures four times, Job 29:14, Isaiah 28:5 and 62:3 and Ezekiel 21:26 and there are 3 different Hebrew words used in these passages. All of three of these words have basically the same meaning, a crown, the royal attire of the head which the king wore daily or the headdress of the high priest. It also has reference to the wreathen crown that was given to the winners of sporting events. This is a far cry from the caricature of a royal crown that was platted out of thorns. This phrase no doubt has reference to Revelation 4, when the four and twenty elders are falling down before the Lamb and casting their crowns, their diadems at his feet. These crowns that you see in Revelation 4 are different than the crowns that you see in Revelation 19:12. The crowns in Revelation 4 are stephanos which is the badge of royalty, the prize in the public games, but the crown in Revelation 19:12 is diadēma, this is the royal crown, the crown of kings, and Jesus is wearing many crowns because he is the King of kings.

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