Hymn of the Week: All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

This hymn highlights in many ways our proper response to the lordship of Jesus Christ:

• The first and the next-to-last verses remind us that we ought to fall "prostrate" at his feet. Our pride is not comfortable with such a suggestion, but if our spirit is where God wants it to be, this will be a natural response.
  
• HE is to be "lord of all." Not you, not me, nor any other person—Jesus Christ is King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. We are but servants.
• HE is to be crowned, an indication that we are to place the crown of authority upon Him...a figurative picture of yielding submission to Him.

I wrote in an earlier blog entry a number of truths about the "name of Jesus." It is interesting to me that one of the Ten Commandments is not to take His name (for He is our God) in vain (Ex. 20:7). His name is above all names; it is powerful. Our responsibility is to "hail" it, to glorify it, to share it with others, telling of the One to Whom that name belongs.

All of the verses except the last were written by Edward Perronet in the late 1700's; the final verse was added a few years later by John Rippon. As with many hymns, it contains more verses than "fit" into a hymnal, so please enjoy and meditate on the unfamiliar stanzas as well as the familiar ones.

All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name

All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fall
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, who fixed this floating ball;
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, whom David Lord did call,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,
The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.

Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.

Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fall
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.

O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,
Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!