Crown Him with Many Crowns

lyrics by matthew bridges and godfrey thring, music by george j. elvey

Crown Him with Many Crowns Lyrics

 

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.

Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own.

Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,

And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

 

Crown Him the Lord of life, who triumphed over the grave,

And rose victorious in the strife for those He came to save.

His glories now we sing, who died, and rose on high,

Who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die.

 

Crown Him the Lord of peace, whose power a scepter sways

From pole to pole, that wars may cease, and all be prayer and praise.

His reign shall know no end, and round His piercèd feet

Fair flowers of paradise extend their fragrance ever sweet.

 

Crown Him the Lord of love, behold His hands and side,

Those wounds, yet visible above, in beauty glorified.

All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me;

Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity.

 

Original Lyrics (Bridges):

 

Crown Him with many crowns, The Lamb upon His throne;
Hark! how the heavenly anthems drowns All music but its own:
Awake, my soul, and sing Of Him who died for thee,
And hail Him as thy matchless King Through all eternity.

 

Crown Him the Virgin’s Son! The God Incarnate born,—
Whose arm those crimson trophies won Which now His brow adorn!
Fruit of the mystic Rose As of that Rose the Stem:
The Root, whence mercy ever flows,—The Babe of Bethlehem!

 

Crown Him the Lord of peace! Whose power a scepter sways,
From pole to pole,—that wars may cease, Absorbed in prayer and praise:
His reign shall know no end, And round His pierced feet
Fair flowers of paradise extend Their fragrance ever sweet.

 

Crown Him the Lord of love! Behold His hands and side,—
Rich wounds, yet visible above, In beauty glorified:
No angel in the sky Can fully bear that sight,
But downward bends his burning eye At mysteries so bright!

 

Crown Him the Lord of years! The Potentate of time,—
Creator of the rolling spheres, Ineffably sublime!
Glassed in a sea of light, Where everlasting waves
Reflect His throne,—the Infinite! Who lives,—and loves—and saves.

 

Crown Him the Lord of heaven! One with the Father known,—
And the blest Spirit, through Him given From yonder triune throne!
All hail! Redeemer,—Hail! For Thou hast died for me;
Thy praise shall never, never fail Throughout eternity!

 

Original Lyrics (Thring):

Crown Him with crowns of gold, All nations great and small,
Crown Him, ye martyred saints of old, The Lamb once slain for all;
The Lamb once slain for them Who bring their praises now,
As jewels for the diadem That girds His sacred brow.

Crown Him the Son of God Before the worlds began,
And ye, who tread where He hath trod, Crown Him the Son of man;
Who every grief hath known That wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for His own, That all in Him may rest.

Crown Him the Lord of light, Who o’er a darkened world
In robes of glory infinite His fiery flag unfurled.
And bore it raised on high, In heaven-in earth-beneath,
To all the sign of victory O’er Satan, sin, and death.

Crown Him the Lord of life Who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife For those He came to save;
His glories now we sing Who died, and rose on high.
Who died, eternal life to bring And lives that death may die.

Crown Him of lords the Lord, Who over all doth reign
Who once on earth, the incarnate Word, For ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light, Where saints with angels sing
Their songs before Him day and night, Their God, Redeemer, King.

Crown Him the Lord of heaven, Enthroned in worlds above;
Crown Him the King, to whom is given The wondrous name of Love,
Crown Him with many crowns, As thrones before Him fall.
Crown Him, ye kings, with many crowns, For He is King of all.

 

 

Crown Him with Many Crowns Guitar Chords

 

D              Bm   G           D    G A7 D   A             

Crown Him with many crowns, the Lamb upon His throne.

A     D   A   Bm    D  E      A      E7  A D   E7sus E7 A     

Hark! How the heavenly anthem drowns all music but its own!

A D       A     D   G    B7 E       D    E   A         

Awake, my soul, and sing of Him who died for thee,

A   D        G  D   Em7  A    D    D       G   D   A A7 D   

And hail Him as thy matchless King through all eternity.

 

Scripture References

  • Revelation 19:12 - His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns.
  • Psalm 57:8 - Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.

The Story

 

Crown Him with Many Crowns is one of those hymns that seem to appear slightly different in every hymnal. There's a good reason for this. The original version was written by Matthew Bridges in 1851. Bridges considered this hymn a "sermon in song" and titled it "The Song of the Seraphs," basing the lyrics on Revelation 19:12. While Bridges at one time was a devout Anglican who even had written a book condemning Roman Catholic theology, several years prior to writing the lyrics to this hymn he had actually converted to Catholicism, leaving the Church of England along with John Henry Newman.

 

More than 20 years later, the hymn gained huge popularity. Godfrey Thring, a devout Anglican clergyman, was concerned that this new-popular hymn's lyrics was perhaps too heavy in Catholic theology (particularly his second verse). He ended up writing six completely new verses for the hymn. Even though Bridges was alive at the time, there was no record of him commenting on these changes, nor of the two men even meeting.

 

Interestingly, over the years, this hymn has remained immensely popular. But instead of people choosing Bridges' version over Thring's or vice-versa, hymnal editors and singers began to intersperse the two sets of lyrics. Today, most hymnals tend to use a combination of three verses by Bridges and one verse by Thring. Although in three different hymnals I checked, there were three completely different arrangements using combinations of both men's lyrics. It's funny how things work out, but the resulting hymn often ends up being one that Catholics, Anglicans, and singers of every Christian denomination can sing with fervor and without controversy.

 

YouTube Videos

 

 

Your Comments