Featured Hymn: September 17, 2012

The strife is o'er, the battle done

It's appropriate to think about this hymn as we transition from summer into the fall when many of us return to school and/or work. We thank God for the blessings he has bestowed upon us this summer, and as we move into our regular routines and activities we ask that God would be continually with us and bless us.

Hymnologist Austin Lovelace describes this as “a poor hymn which has ridden to success on the coattails of a fine tune” (The Anatomy of Hymnody, 52). To be sure, the melody and harmonization are beautiful, but there is also something very profound and triumphant about the text which Lovelace seems to miss. There is, in this text, a sense of finality. This, in a very real sense, is it. “It is finished.” Albert Bailey writes, “The words present the theological statement that the Crucifixion was a contest between Christ and the devil’s legions, in which Christ won. This is proved by the fact that Christ did not stay dead” (The Gospel in Hymns, 278). Christ rose and brought new life, and in so doing, through his declaration, “It is finished,” was also saying, “It has all just begun!” The finality of this text is the finality of newness. It is the realization that we are continually being made new, that Creation in continually being restored, and that every day we are called to life anew with Christ. Alleluia. What a song of victory that is!

View this Featured Hymn at Hymnary.org.