Man of Sorrows What a Name!
Philip P. Bliss was a brilliant singer and hymnwriter whose life came to a tragic end shortly after writing this classic hymn about Christ the Man of sorrows. Hear the story, and a deep look at his lyrics, on today's episode.
Welcome to Friday Classic Hymns! Being a lover of hymns, I'm sure when you hear the phrase "Man of Sorrows" you think of this hymn. For me it was never the case. I always thought of the Hillsong song because I grew up singing that type of music. Hillsong's "Man of Sorrows" is a fantastic song as well—powerful song about Jesus' death and resurrection. But one day I discovered that the Gaither Vocal Band had "Man of Sorrows" on one of their albums, so I thought, "Oh, let me go listen to their version." It was not the song that I knew. It was "Man of Sorrows what a name, for the Son of God who came," and I just loved the song. Turns out it's one of the classics.
Do you know it? Do you have any memories of singing the song at a particular church, or has the song impacted you on your faith journey? I'd love if you would share that below in the comments so that we can share in your joy.
By the way, if you love classic hymns, I do one of these pretty much every Friday. You can find the whole playlist in the description below. If you love godly music, I do a lot of different God-focussed music on my channel. I hope you'll consider subscribing and being blessed by what I release here.
So let's talk about "Man of Sorrows."
The Story Behind "Man of Sorrows What a Name!"
The author of both the tune and the words of this song is none other than Philip P. Bliss, one of the great hymn writers of the 1800s. He wrote many hymns and was born in 1838, growing up in Pennsylvania in a musical family. He used to watch his parents sing hymns and was really inspired by them.
The story is told of him as a young man, 10 years old, hearing music in the village that he lived in. He followed it and found that the door to the house where it was coming from was open, so he walked in and saw a young lady playing the piano. He watched, mesmerised. When she finished, he spoke up and said, "Oh, please play something else!" She chased him out, but his love for music remained.
At the age of 18, he started to study music and voice. Soon he was doing very well for himself. In fact, a teacher of his said this: "Mr Bliss was constantly composing, and I soon saw that there was a man who had a call both as a poet and a melodist. His songs have been a wonderful power for good."
In 1869, Bliss met D.L. Moody, the famous evangelist, and began to sing at some of Moody's meetings. His own songs started to get noticed, and he had a real gift for singing these songs in a tender way that would draw people in to God. He sang everywhere he went—at college functions, in people's private homes as he went visiting and spreading the gospel. He sang quite famously at a prison gathering once, and all the men's hearts in this prison were said to have melted like wax when he sang "Man of Sorrows what a name, for the Son of God who came." It had that powerful effect on everybody who listened to it.
Very sadly, Bliss and his wife passed away shortly after this event at the prison. It was December 29th, 1876, and the two of them were on their way to another one of Moody's meetings to sing. The train that they were travelling on had an accident—drove straight into a bridge, caught fire, and almost everybody died. A tragedy, because this man had such potential. He had written many famous hymns, and the whole community mourned their loss deeply.
Ira Sankey, who was also one of the great musicians of that time, spoke about how "Man of Sorrows" was the last song that he heard Bliss sing. A man named F.W. Root said these stirring words about Bliss: "If ever a man seemed fashioned by the Divine hand for special and exalted work, that man was P.P. Bliss. His gospel hymns contain no pointless verses, awkward rhythms, or feeble rhymes, but on the contrary, they glow with all that gives life to such composition. He also had a natural instinct for melody. Mr Bliss's voice was always a marvel to me."
What a talented man, and how sad that his life was cut short. But he lives on in his music, doesn't he? As I always say about these songwriters, this song keeps going. People love singing the song, so let's have a look at these wonderful lyrics that he wrote.
What Do the Lyrics of "Man of Sorrows What a Name!" Mean?
Verse 1
"Man of Sorrows what a name, for the Son of God who came."
That comes straight out of Isaiah 53. Modern translations tend to say "man of suffering," but if you read the King James or even the English Standard Version, you see the phrase "Man of Sorrows": "He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not."
Man of Sorrows—what a name! I love saying that. What a name! What an incredible thing for the God of the universe to become a man, first of all, but to be a Man of Sorrows, to understand what it means to have human sorrow and grief.
Think about this for a moment: that Jesus was not high and exalted and mighty in His human form, but He was a man who knew grief, who knew suffering, who knew sorrow. When you know sorrow and suffering, Christ understands. Know that.
"Man of Sorrows what a name, for the Son of God who came, ruined sinners to reclaim."
One of the early sheet music copies that I saw said "rebel sinners to reclaim." This is why He came—to reclaim the sinners who are separated from God. You and I in our natural state drift from God, and Jesus came to reclaim us and to pull us out of that state of ruin and give us new life.
"Oh, hallelujah, what a Saviour!"
As the last line says, I love this. The end of every verse says "Hallelujah, what a Saviour!" I think that's powerful. In fact, some hymnals title the song "Hallelujah, What a Saviour!" We always tend to call hymns by their first line—"Man of Sorrows What a Name" is what the song is known as—but the probably correct title would be "Hallelujah, What a Saviour!" because that line repeats with every verse. That's the focus of every verse: that He is who He is, and so we sing hallelujah. We praise Him, for He is such an amazing Saviour.
Verse 2
Verse two continues this theme of Jesus' death:
"Bearing shame and scoffing rude, in my place condemned He stood, sealed my pardon with His blood. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!"
He stood in our place and took on the shame and the rude scoffing of the world. Each of us deserves that for our sins. We're ruined sinners, remember, from verse one, and a holy God should punish our sins. But instead of punishing us, He said, "I will place that punishment on My Son." He stood there and endured that scoffing and that shame in our place.
Take that in: He stood there in our place, in your place, to take on your sin so that you could be forgiven.
"Sealed your pardon with His blood."
Do you recognise this today, that Christ's blood was shed so that you could be pardoned, so that instead of facing the punishment of God, you could go free? Oh, hallelujah, what a Saviour!
Verse 3
Verse three carries on:
"Guilty, helpless, lost were we; blameless Lamb of God was He, sacrificed to set us free. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!"
Again, this theme of Jesus' death as the Lamb of God. It's a great New Testament picture of Jesus, the Lamb who was slain. We see it at the beginning in the gospels—He is the Lamb of God. That's how John recognised Him or identified Him. We see it in Revelation—He is the Lamb who was slain.
This is, of course, a throwback to the Jewish tradition of the Passover, where a lamb was sacrificed as an atoning sacrifice for sin. Jesus, once for all, said, "I am the Lamb, the Lamb of God, and My sacrifice will cover the sins of all who believe."
Thank God for this, because we were guilty and we were helpless and we were lost. But He made a way through the shedding of His blood. Hallelujah, what a Saviour! What a God that He would go through this in order to bring us back to Him.
Verse 4
Verse four continues to talk about His death but then also includes something about His resurrection. Have a look:
"He was lifted up to die."
Jesus spoke about this in the gospels. In John 3:14 we see Him saying, "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness"—do you remember that story?—"so the Son of Man must be lifted up." Jesus was lifted up to provide salvation. Hanging on the cross was a lifting up, putting Him up there as our Saviour.
He said it again in John 8:28: "Jesus said, 'When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He.'"
Then in John 12:32, Jesus said, "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself."
He was lifted up to die. He was lifted onto the cross, and it was on that cross that He bought our salvation.
"'It is finished' was His cry."
Yes, that is how it ended, with Jesus crying "It is finished" in victory.
"Now in heaven exalted high."
Suddenly the perspective shifts. Instead of us looking at Jesus on the cross, we are seeing Him ascended into heaven, exalted high. Lifted high on the cross, but then exalted even higher into heaven when He rose from the grave and then ascended.
"Hallelujah, what a Saviour!"
He didn't stay on the cross. He didn't stay dead. He wasn't just a martyr, but He sacrificed Himself and rose again so that we could be free forever.
Verse 5
Then verse five talks about His coming again. I love this—full circle:
"When He comes, our glorious King, all His ransomed home to bring, then anew this song we'll sing: Hallelujah, what a Saviour!"
I love how he focuses on this at the end. He's coming back, and when He comes back, He's going to bring all the ransomed ones with Him—all those who are saved. Together we're going to sing "Hallelujah, what a Saviour!" as we see Him. Oh wow!
Conclusion
Isn't this an amazing song? I love it, and I hope you do too. Any words there that particularly mean something to you or that have touched your heart today? Share it below in the comments, please.
References
https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/man-of-sorrows-what-a-name
J.H. Hall, Biography of Gospel Song and Hymn Writers (New York: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1914)
