The Institution

Representative Text

1 That doleful night before His death,
The Lamb for sinners slain,
Did almost with His dying breath,
This solemn feast ordain.

2 To keep the feast, Lord, we have met,
And to remember Thee;
Help each poor trembler to repeat,
“For me, He died for me!”

3 Thy sufferings, Lord, each sacred sign
To our remembrance brings;
We eat the bread, and drink the wine,
But think on nobler things.

4 O tune our tongues, and set in frame
Each heart that pants for Thee,
To sing, “Hosanna to the Lamb,
The Lamb that died for me!"

Amen.

Source: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #539

Author: Joseph Hart

Hart, Joseph, was born in London in 1712. His early life is involved in obscurity. His education was fairly good; and from the testimony of his brother-in-law, and successor in the ministry in Jewin Street, the Rev. John Hughes, "his civil calling was" for some time "that of a teacher of the learned languages." His early life, according to his own Experience which he prefaced to his Hymns, was a curious mixture of loose conduct, serious conviction of sin, and endeavours after amendment of life, and not until Whitsuntide, 1757, did he realize a permanent change, which was brought about mainly through his attending divine service at the Moravian Chapel, in Fetter Lane, London, and hearing a sermon on Rev. iii. 10. During the next two years ma… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: That doleful night before His death
Title: The Institution
Author: Joseph Hart
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

ARLINGTON (Arne)


MANOAH (Greatorex)

MANOAH was first published in Henry W. Greatorex's Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1851). This anthology (later editions had alternate titles) contained one of the best tune collections of its era and included thirty-seven original compositions and arrangements by compiler Greatorex as well as m…

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MARTYRDOM (Wilson)

MARTYRDOM was originally an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad "Helen of Kirkconnel." Hugh Wilson (b. Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, c. 1766; d. Duntocher, Scotland, 1824) adapted MARTYRDOM into a hymn tune in duple meter around 1800. A triple-meter version of the tune was fir…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 7 of 7)

Church Gospel Songs and Hymns #485

Church Gospel Songs and Hymns #493

Sacred Selections for the Church #288

TextPage Scan

The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #335

TextPage Scan

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #539

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #615

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #372

Include 154 pre-1979 instances
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