Thine Be the Glory, Risen Conquering Son
A classic hymn about the victory risen Christ, written by a Swiss man who had lost his wife, translated by an Englishman shortly after and set to a famous piece written by Handel. Learning it for my uncle's memorial service made me truly appreciate the message of Christ's victory over death!
It's a new year and I'm back with some Friday Classic Hymns videos for you. If you're new to the channel, I release one of these every couple of weeks on a Friday, looking at a hymn, its background and history, taking a close look at the lyrics, and then singing it together. I've already done 70 or 80 of these, so please go back and check out some of the episodes. If you like what you see, please subscribe to the channel and maybe share these videos with some of your circle.
Today I'm doing a hymn that I learnt this week for the memorial service of a very special man. My Uncle Howard died a short time ago, and he was always an inspiration to me. He was a great man of God. He and Auntie Pam spent years as missionaries in the Congo, and their stories of their life over there are something else. When they came back to South Africa, they did all sorts of wonderful work for God here. Uncle Howard served as a pastor at Crystal Park Baptist Church for a time, and they did such wonderful work. You can read about it in his book Living Parables, which is on Amazon. Also, check out the audio devotions I recorded with him a few years back, with him telling some of the stories from his missionary days. They are something to listen to.
Auntie Pam requested "Thine Be the Glory" for his service, and to be honest, I'd never heard of this. I thought, does she mean "To God Be the Glory"? That's the one I know. But she didn't, so I went and learnt this song this week, and I really love it. It's a beautiful and powerful song. What memories do you have of this song? What connection does it have to your life and your Christian journey? Please share those thoughts in the comments below, and let me tell you the story of this classic hymn.
The Story Behind "Thine Be the Glory"
It all begins with none other than Handel, the great composer who is, of course, famous for his work Messiah and many other pieces. This tune that we sing for the song is one of his compositions. In 1746, his oratorio Judas Maccabeus came out, and it had this piece of music which is called "See the Conquering Hero". But it was 150-odd years later that a Swiss man named Edmond Budry had an idea to write some words of praise to this beautiful tune.
Budry was a minister in the Free Church of Switzerland, which was a breakaway from the national Reformed Church of Switzerland in the 1800s. In the 1890s, he wrote his Swiss version, which was published in a YMCA hymnal in 1904. Now, according to one source, Budry wrote this song after his wife died. If you look at the words, which we will in a few moments, the theme of Christ's victory over death is so strong that I can imagine him writing this as a reminder to himself that he could be assured of where she was spending eternity. Maybe that's why my Auntie Pam also chose this for Uncle Howard's service, because it's a wonderful statement of eternal life, as we shall see.
It was then in 1923 that an Englishman decided to write his version. Richard Birch Hoyle was a British Baptist minister who had grown up as a Methodist, and he was a very gifted linguist. He could speak many languages, so he decided to translate this into English. Because of his capability with languages, his translation is very accurate - very close to Budry's Swiss version.
In 1928, at the famous Jerusalem conference, missionaries from around the world gathered to discuss what mission work could look like in the years going forward. Hoyle's version was sung at this conference, and it became a hit. Everybody loved it. They all took it back with them wherever they went, and soon the song had spread around the world.
I've really come to love the song as I've got to know it, although to be honest, I only knew the tune - sadly to say - from Boney M. Boney M used this tune in their Christmas album for a song called "Zion's Daughter", so the moment I heard this tune, I got it, but it was a little different from the original.
How does this song fit into your journey? Is it something you've sung at a particular church, or does your church still sing the song? I'd love to know if any churches still have this one on their books. Share those in the comments below, and let me take you through the words that Hoyle wrote.
What Do the Lyrics of "Thine Be the Glory" Mean?
Verse 1
The song begins, Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son.
It's a great statement of praise - all glory belongs to You, Jesus. You have risen, You've risen from the dead, and You've conquered death. Let's remember that Jesus is the Conquering Son. When He was risen from the grave, death was defeated, and so we need no longer be afraid because He is in control.
Endless is the victory Thou o'er death hast won.
Yes, the Christian age will go on forever. Isn't that a wonderful thought? We don't need to be afraid of the devil taking over the world. We don't need to be afraid. Although, of course, there is still evil around us, Jesus has won the victory over death, and so we will go on and the Christian age will go on forever. Interestingly, this was prophesied before Jesus was even born in Isaiah's great prophecy about how His kingdom would have no end.
Hoyle goes on to say, Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away, kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
This is just a picture of the day Jesus rose. Remember how when the ladies arrived there at the tomb, the stone had been rolled away, and there were grave clothes folded neatly there. The angels told them not to be afraid.
Verse 2
Verse two continues the story, because remember, the ladies ran away in fear, and then Jesus met them and greeted them. This is what the song goes on to say:
Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb. Lovingly He greets us and scatters fear and gloom.
That's what He did. He met those ladies as they were running in terror because of this angelic appearance, and He greeted them and said, "Don't be afraid. Just go and tell the disciples what has happened, and I'll meet them in Galilee."
I guess this is a picture of our lives as well. Jesus, the Risen Christ, comes to meet us, and in our scared and godless mindset, He comes and says, "Don't be afraid. I'm risen. There's no need to fear. I am alive."
The song goes on: Let His church with gladness hymns of triumph sing.
Yes, when you worship at your church, it is a triumphant thing where you're declaring that Christ is alive and well, and He is the Conquering King. That is what worship is about. It's not so much about listening to good musicians - it's about declaring that He's risen and that He's conquering. I've got some special memories in my mind of our church singing with great triumph, and that is what we're called to do for the Lord.
Now liveth death hath lost its sting.
There we've got some words from 1 Corinthians about how Christ conquered death, and so death no longer has a sting. Christians don't need to be afraid of death. Thinking about Budry, the Swiss man originally writing this after the death of his wife, that must have been a powerful thought for him - that death has no sting. Of course, he would have still grieved, but in the end, his grief was not like the grief of the world, to use another New Testament lesson. His grief would end when he met her again.
Death has lost its sting for the Christian. Do you know this? Have you received the assurance that death is not the end for you because your faith is in Christ, the Risen One?
Verse 3
Verse three is also beautiful, and it takes us to another appearance of Jesus to the disciples.
No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of Life.
Thomas, of course, doubted, and I think he sometimes gets a bit of a bad rap for that. I think many of us would have doubted too. But this is a great statement of faith: "No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of Life." We know that He's risen. He has revealed Himself to us, and so we now know that He is risen. He's the Glorious Prince of Life.
Life is nought without Thee; aid us in our strife.
I love that - without Him, life is nothing. The fullness of life here is empty if God is not involved in it. In fact, it all comes to nothing. But when He's in our hearts, life takes on a whole new feeling, a whole new character. Living in the kingdom of God brings true life, even while we're here on Earth, and it aids us in our strife. Our difficulties are still going to come our way while we live on Earth, but He aids us.
Make us more than conquerors through Thy deathless love.
Here are some more words from Paul in Romans 8. He spoke about how we are more than conquerors through Christ. I actually preached on this at Easter in 2023, I remember. I'll post the link to the sermon. I hope you'll check that out, because I remember saying the resurrection of Christ gives us victory. That's the message of Easter - that we can live victorious lives. Yes, we're going to struggle. It's not going to be easy. But we can be victorious over evil and bring His reign to Earth as His faithful followers.
Make us more than conquerors through Thy deathless love, as we receive His love, which won't die. Even though He died on the cross, He rose again. His love is eternal.
Bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.
Classic Christian imagery of crossing the River Jordan to get to heaven. Just as the Israelites crossed Jordan to the Promised Land, many Christians see our Promised Land as heaven, and so we believe that He will bring us safely across the Jordan and home above to heaven.
Conclusion
What an upbeat and uplifting song. What a way to start the year with Friday Classics - with a song like this that reminds us of the victory in Christ. This was powerful to sing at Uncle Howard's memorial.
As always, a big thank you to those who support the online work I do on my Patreon or on PayPal. Thank you very much for being so kind. I deeply appreciate your generosity. But please remember, this is all free - there's no expectations. Just enjoy these videos, and I hope that this year the Friday Classics and the Encounter worship sessions I do will bless you. Please hang along with me, and let's go into the year assured of Christ's victory over death.
References
McLelland, J. 1994. The Ambassador Book of Great Hymn Stories. Ambassador Productions Ltd: Belfast
Bradley, I. 1989. The Penguin Book of Hymns. Penguin Group: London
Colquhoun, F. 1988. Sing to the Lord: A Fresh Look at Great Hymns on Praise. Hodder & Stoughton: London
