Featured Hymn: "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise"

Featured Hymn: "Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise" by Charles Wesley (1739)

Bulletin Blurb

This hymn elaborates on the royalty and sovereignty of the ascended Christ, to which Mark alluded in his gospel: “So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19 ESV). The second stanza refers to one of the royal psalms: “Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” (Psalm 24L9 ESV).

Worship Notes

Text:

Charles Wesley wrote this text in ten stanzas with the title “Hymn for Ascension Day.” He and his brother John published it in Hymns and Sacred Poems in 1739. Over the years, many substantial alterations have been made to the text. Thomas Cotterill significantly changed the text for publication in his Selection of Psalms and Hymns of 1820. The “alleluias” were added over a century after the hymn was written – in 1852 in G. C. White's Hymns and Introits.

Another substantial change is the omission of certain stanzas. Wesley's third and ninth stanzas are never used in modern hymnals, and his seventh and eighth are rarely included. The most common text includes the original stanzas 1, 2, 4, and 5 – “Hail the day that sees him rise,” “There the glorious triumph waits,” “See, the heav'n its Lord receives,” and “See, he lifts His hands above.” (The first line of Wesley's stanza 4 originally read “Him though highest heaven receives.” This line is often altered in modern hymnals to read “Highest heaven its Lord receives,” or more commonly, “See, the heav'n its Lord receives.”)

Tune:

This hymn is usually sung to the Welsh tune LLANFAIR, which is often attributed to the blind singer Robert Williams, though scholars have some doubts about his authorship. It was first published in 1837 by John Parry in Peroriaeth Hyfryd (Sweet Music). LLANFAIR was first paired with “Hail the Day” in the English Hymnal of 1906. The tune name comes from a village on the island of Anglesey.

Three of the four phrases are identical; they rise melodically during the words of the stanzas and fall for the “alleluia.” The third phrase is different; it falls, then rises. Overall, the tune is easy to sing, partly due to its repetition, and partly because it is built on the pitches of the tonic triad.

When/Why/How:

This hymn was written for Ascension Day, but it is also suitable for any service with a theme of Christ's royalty or sovereignty. It could be combined with “Crown Him with Many Crowns,” which has a similar theme. The tone of both the words and the melody call for joyful instrumental settings. These can, of course, be for instruments alone, as the handbell arrangement in the reproducible collection “From the Cross to the Crown” or the organ postlude in “Sacrifice and Splendor,” or for congregational or choral accompaniment, as in the regal, uncomplicated setting for organ (or piano) and optional brass, “Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise.”