The Cyber Hymnal ‎#448

448. Behold the Savior of Mankind

1. Behold the Savior of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that Him inclined
To bleed and die for thee!

2. Though far unequal our low praise
To Thy vast sufferings prove,
O Lamb of God, thus all our days,
Thus will we grieve and love.

3. Hark, how He groans, while nature shakes,
And earth’s strong pillars bend;
The temple’s veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.

4. ’Tis done! The precious ransom’s paid,
Receive My soul, He cries!
See where He bows His sacred head!
He bows His head, and dies!

5. But soon He’ll break death’s envious chain,
And in full glory shine:
O Lamb of God! was ever pain,
Was ever love, like Thine?

6. Thy loss our ruin did repair;
Death by death is slain;
Thou wilt at length exalt us where
Thou dost in glory reign.

Text Information

• First Line: Behold the Savior of mankind
• Title: Behold the Savior of Mankind
• Author: Samuel Wesley, Sr. (1700)
• Meter: CM
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: The manuscript for this hymn barely escaped the flames when Wesley's Epworth rectory burned on February 9, 1709. Samuel's son John was also rescued that day, as a brand plucked out of the burning. John later published this hymn in A Collection of Psalms and Hymns, titled On the Crucifixion. Alternate tunes: ASBURY, in Harmonia Sacra, by Joseph Funk, fifth edition, 1851; WINDSOR, Christopher Tye, 1533; arranged in the Booke of Musicke, by William Daman, 1591

Tune Information

• Name: MARTYRDOM
• Composer: Hugh Wilson (1800)
• Arranger: Ralph E. Hudson (ca. 1885)
• Meter: CM
• Incipit: 51651 23213 53213
• Key: G Major
• Copyright: Public Domain