Songs Of Thankfulness And Praise
Songs of Thankfulness and Praise
Songs of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to Thee we raise,
Manifested by the star
To the sages from afar;
Branch of royal David’s stem
In Thy birth at Bethlehem;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in man made manifest.
Manifest at Jordan’s stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
And at Cana, wedding guest,
In Thy Godhead manifest;
Manifest in power divine,
Changing water into wine;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in man made manifest.
Manifest in making whole
Palsied limbs and fainting soul;
Manifest in valiant fight,
Quelling all the devil’s might;
Manifest in gracious will,
Ever bringing good from ill;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in man made manifest.
CHRISTOPHER WORDSWORTH took after his father, a scholar, and his uncle, the famous poet William Wordsworth. Christopher became a school headmaster, church vicar, and eventually a bishop in the Church of England. As a Greek scholar, he wrote a commentary on the Bible. But his uncle’s poetic spark was in him too, and he wrote more than a hundred hymns for church use.
Wordsworth tried to combine teaching and poetry in his hymns. He wanted his hymns to teach about Jesus and to call those who sang them to praise Him. This hymn, for instance, succinctly surveys Christ’s early ministry, from birth to baptism, from first miracle to temptation. But as it teaches about the person of Christ, it also calls us to praise Him.
The key word in this hymn is manifest. God made Himself manifest—He revealed Himself—in Jesus. For this He deserves our constant praise.
Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith: Christ was revealed in a human body and vindicated by the Spirit. He was seen by angels and announced to the nations. He was believed in throughout the world and taken to heaven in glory.
1 Timothy 3:16
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