O Sacred Head, Now Wounded

The Crowning With Thorns (Jan Janssens, ca 1647)

And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head, and began to salute him,
Hail, King of the Jews!
And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him. ~ Mark 15:17-19



Though we can hardly comprehend it, the physical agony entailed in Jesus' crucifixion is something of which we've all heard much discussion and seen many depictions. And we've probably often pondered the inconceivable weight of all human sin that Christ took upon Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, so crushing that He sweat blood (Luke 22:44).

But an overlooked dimension of Christ's Passion may be His humiliation. It is somehow especially heartbreaking that the most innocent and loving being ever to walk the earth, the glorious and praiseworthy Creator and Savior of the world, should--alone and helpless--be savagely mocked, ridiculed, and slapped around by the very people for whom He was laying down his life. That humiliation is symbolized by the purple robe and, especially, by the Crown of Thorns that was pressed into His head as the mockers pretended to hail Him King of the Jews. When we see these, we should remember that through OUR sins we were there, heaping scorn upon our Savior with the rest of them.  And yet we know that our souls were saved through that very suffering our sins brought upon Him.

A hymn that conveys this message most movingly is O Sacred Head, Now Wounded.

THE TEXT

Bernard of Clairvaux

This hymn is based on a long medieval Latin poem, Salve mundi salutare, with stanzas addressing the various parts of Christ's body hanging on the Cross. The last part of the poem, on which the hymn is based, focuses on Christ's head. Historically, the poem has been attributed to French Cistercian monk and scholar Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153).  Bernard was a man of exceptional piety and spiritual power, a confidant of Popes and a preacher to the King of France. Martin Luther, 400 years after Bernard's death, called him “the best monk that ever lived, whom I admire beyond all the rest put together.” Nevertheless, Salve mundi salutare is now widely credited to medieval poet Arnulf of Leuven (c.1200–1250), abbot of the Cistercian abbey at Viller-la-Ville, Belgium, about whom little else is known.

Paul Gerhardt

J.W. Alexander

But how did the final part of Salve mundi salutare become a hymn text?  That process began with its translation into German in 1656, by prolific Lutheran hymnist Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676). The German hymn begins, "O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden" ("O Head full of blood and wounds"). The poem was first translated into English in 1752 by John Gambold (1711-1771), an Anglican vicar in Oxfordshire, England. His translation begins, "O Head so full of bruises." In 1830 a new English translation of the hymn was made by an American Presbyterian minister, James Waddel Alexander (1804-1859). This translation, beginning "O sacred head, now wounded," became one of the most widely used in 19th and 20th century hymnals. Another English translation, based on the German, was made in 1861 by English hymnist Sir Henry Williams Baker (1821-1877). Published in Hymns Ancient and Modern, it begins, "O sacred head surrounded by crown of piercing thorn."  In 1899 English poet Robert Bridges (1844-1930) made a fresh translation from the original Latin, beginning "O sacred Head, sore wounded, defiled and put to scorn." This version is used in the Church of England's New English Hymnal (1986) and several other late 20th-century hymn books.

Few modern hymnbooks contain all of the stanzas that have been associated with O Sacred Head in one or another version, though stanzas 1, 4, and 8 below appear in the vast majority. The following are the stanzas set forth in J.W. Alexander's 1830 version:

O sacred head, now wounded,

With grief and shame weighed down,

Now scornfully surrounded

With thorns, Thine only crown;

O sacred head, what glory!

What bliss, till now was Thine!

Yet, though despised and gory,

I joy to call Thee mine.

O noblest brow, and dearest!

In other days the world

All feared, when Thou appeared’st,

What shame on Thee is hurled!

How art Thou pale with anguish,

With sore abuse and scorn;

How does that visage anguish,

When once was bright as morn.

The blushes late residing

Upon that holy cheek,

The roses once abiding

Upon those lips so meek,

Alas! they have departed;

Wan Death has rifled all!

For weak and broken hearted,

I see Thy body fall.

What Thou, my Lord, hast suffered,

Was all for sinners’ gain;

Mine, mine was the transgression,

But Thine the deadly pain.

Lo, here I fall, my Savior!

’Tis I deserve Thy place;

Look on me with Thy favor,

Vouchsafe to me Thy grace.

Receive me, my Redeemer,

My Shepherd, make me Thine;

Of every good the fountain,

Thou art the spring of mine.

Thy lips with love distilling,

And milk of truth sincere,

With Heaven’s bliss are filling

The soul that trembles here.

Beside Thee, Lord, I’ve taken

My place—forbid me not!

Hence will I ne’er be shaken,

Though Thou to death be brought,

If pain’s last paleness hold Thee,

In agony oppressed,

Then, then will I enfold Thee

Within this arm and breast!

The joy can ne’er be spoken,

Above all joys beside;

When in Thy body broken

I thus with safety hide.

My Lord of life, desiring

Thy glory now to see,

Beside the cross expiring,

I’d breathe my soul to Thee.

What language shall I borrow,

To thank Thee, dearest friend,

For this, Thy dying sorrow,

Thy pity without end?

Oh! make me Thine forever,

And should I fainting be,

Lord, let me never, never

Outlive my love to Thee.

And when I am departing,

Oh! part not Thou from me;

When mortal pangs are darting,

Come, Lord, and set me free;

And when my heart must languish

Amidst the final throe,

Release me from mine anguish,

By Thine own pain and woe!

Be near me when I am dying,

Oh! show Thy cross to me;

And for my succor flying,

Come, Lord, and set me free!

These eyes new faith receiving,

From Jesus shall not move,

For he who dies believing,

Dies safely through Thy love.

THE MUSIC

Hans Leo Hassler

Johann Crüger

The music universally accompanying both German and English versions of O Sacred Head was composed around 1600 by German composer and organist Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612) for a secular love song, "Mein G'müt ist mir verwirret" ("My heart is distracted by a gentle maid"), and first appeared in print in 1601. The tune was adapted and simplified for Gerhardt's hymn in 1656 by German composer Johann Crüger (1598-1662), who published it that year in his Praxis Pietatis Melica. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) later arranged the melody and used five stanzas of the hymn in his St. Matthew Passion, which was first performed on Good Friday (April 11) 1727. Bach used the melody with different words in his Christmas Oratorio, both in the first choral and the triumphant final chorus.

LEGACY OF, AND REFLECTIONS ON, THE HYMN

Christ’s Head with Crown of Thorns
(Cranach the Elder, c.1520-25)

O Sacred Head has enjoyed great popularity since 1656. The hymn appears in all modern hymnals, in many languages and translations, and with various numbers of stanzas. Owing to its origins with Bernard of Clairvaux (or Arnulf of Leuven), it is closely associated with the Cistercian order.

An intensely personal hymn, O Sacred Head describes vividly the pain and shame that Jesus endured when He paid the terrible price for our sin on the Cross. The poet acknowledges our guilt for that suffering, prostrating himself in remorse yet celebrating the miraculous grace that washes us clean in Christ's blood. The later stanzas express our fervent desire always to be close and faithful to our Savior, in this life and the blessed one to come. Despite the stately pace and mournful key of the music, the message is ultimately one of boundless gratitude and joyful devotion.


HEAR IT PERFORMED

There are many fine choral arrangements of O Sacred Head available for enjoyment.  Here is a lovely traditional one performed by the Altar of Praise Chorale:



Another, very heartfelt solo performance is this one by American Christian singer-songwriter Michael Card, accompanied by moving images of our Lord's passion:



Here are four chorale settings in German of O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden from Bach's St. Matthew Passion, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe:

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Every day and in all we say and do, we should be deeply mindful of what our Savior endured to purchase our souls from death and earn for us eternal life, while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8). The Crown of Thorns, made to be an instrument of pain and humiliation, has been replaced with the
Crown of Glory. Let this be a symbol, too, of our passage from degradation to glory with Christ and our Heavenly Father.

And when the chief Shepherd shall appear,

ye shall receive a crown of glory

that fadeth not away. ~ 1 Peter 5:4

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Christ on the Cross, Eugene Delacroix (1853)

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. 

 ~ 1 Corinthians 1:18     

Christ's atonement on the Cross for the sins of mankind, fulfilled with His resurrection from the dead and ascension into Heaven, is the central and most decisive moment in all history.  Beside it pale any human accomplishment, no matter how great and glorious. In that one event justice and mercy were fully and eternally satisfied, and all creation was reconciled to its Creator. We can never fully comprehend, in this life, the magnitude of Christ's burden and suffering, or of the love it took to endure and overcome it for our sakes.

Isaac Watts

The great English theologian and hymnist Isaac Watts (1674-1748) must have been reflecting along these lines when, in preparation for a communion service, he wrote the text that later became the immortal hymn When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. The work was originally called "Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ," following the practice of the day to summarize a hymn's theme in the title. It was first published in 1707 in Watts' collection Hymns and Spiritual Songs, and was inspired by Galatians 6:14: "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

This hymn is significant as an innovative departure from the prevailing English practice of the day to sing only paraphrased biblical texts and metrical psalms. It was also one of the first English-language hymns to use the personal pronoun "I", and thus to focus on personal religious experience rather than abstract doctrine. In Isaac Watts' time these were called "hymns of human composure," and were very controversial. Thus, When I Survey holds an important place in the history of sacred music, and went far to establish Watts' reputation as "the Father of English Hymnody."

In 1757, the famous English evangelist George Whitefield (1714-1770) included When I Survey in the Supplement to his popular Collection of Hymns for Social Worship.The next year, When I Survey first appeared in a hymnal published in the United States,The Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs of the Old and New Testament (1758). Since then, it has been found in the hymnals of American denominations as varied as traditional Protestants, Roman Catholics, Mormons, Unitarians and the Assemblies of God.

THE TEXT

In its first publication in 1707, When I Survey had five stanzas, as below, but in an enlarged edition of Hymns and Spiritual Songs in 1709, Watts bracketed the fourth stanza for optional use.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God,
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down,
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o'er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

 THE MUSIC

Edward Miller

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross has been set to several different tunes over the years. The hymn's inclusion in the milestone English hymnal Hymns Ancient and Modern (1861) sealed its association in British usage to the tune ROCKINGHAM, which was arranged by English organist and composer Edward Miller (1735-1807) and first published in 1790. As a young man Miller was apprenticed to his father, a layer of paving stones, but ran away to study music. At one time he was a flutist in Georg F. Handel’s orchestra. Miller named ROCKINGHAM for his friend, patron, and twice-British Prime Minister Charles Watson-Wentworth, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham. ROCKINGHAM has been called "one of the finest long-meter tunes in the history of church music."

Lowelll Mason

In American hymnals, When I Survey is generally set to an arrangement of HAMBURG, a tune composed by the prominent 19th-century American music director, choirmaster, and organist Lowell Mason (1792-1872), and first published in the Boston Handel and Haydn Society Collection of Church Music (3d ed.) in 1825. Mason was largely responsible for introducing music into American public schools, and is considered to be the first important music educator in the United States. He also radically transformed American church music from a practice of having professional choirs and accompaniment to congregational singing accompanied by organ music. Mason stated that he arranged HAMBURG from an ancient Gregorian chant. The entire melody encompasses only a five-note range.

Another oft-heard tune associated with When I Survey is MORTE CHRISTE, attributed to Welshman Emrys Jones. This tune is especially popular with male voice choirs in the United Kingdom, and particularly Wales. Unfortunately, this writer hasn't been able to locate sheet music for this tune.

RENDITIONS

The following rendition of When I Survey is by the Choir of King's College, Cambridge to Edward Miller's tune ROCKINGHAM.



This rendition is to Lowell Mason's tune HAMBURG (though at a slower pace than originally composed), by the contemporary Christian artist Fernando Ortega:



Click here for another fine rendition to the tune HAMBURG, as arranged by Gilbert M. Martin, by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

In the following rendition, the Welsh choir Cantorion Colin Jones sings When I Survey to Emrys Jones' tune MORTE CHRISTE:



And now for something completely different:  A performance of When I Survey set to the old folk tune The Water is Wide (also called "O Waly,Waly") and performed by Christian songwriter and worship leader Kathryn Scott. In this writer's humble opinion, this tune is at least as effective in conveying the message of Watts' text as the more traditional settings, if not more so!



LEGACY AND REFLECTION

Is Isaac Watts' When I Survey the Wondrous Cross the greatest hymn ever written? Many believe that distinction belongs to Charles Wesley's Jesus, Lover of My Soul, the subject of our last post. But Wesley himself stated that he preferred When I Survey over all of the hymns he himself had written. The great Victorian essayist and poet Matthew Arnold considered it the “finest hymn in the English church.”  As the story goes, Arnold heard the hymn sung at a Presbyterian church in Liverpool, England on the last Sunday of his life, and was overheard repeating the third verse shortly before his sudden death a few days later.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross remains one of the most popular hymns in English-speaking Christendom. It placed among the top five in the United Kingdom in surveys of the public taken in the 1990s.  (Ian Bradley, Abide With Me: The World of Victorian Hymns (GIA Publications, 1997), p. 231). It was one of the first hymns sung at Billy Graham’s first crusade in Los Angeles, California, in 1949. Tedd Smith, one of the pianists with the Graham Crusades, said about this hymn:

It seems to me that Isaac Watts wrote this text as if he were standing at the foot of Christ’s cross, together with the disciple John, the faithful women, Jesus’ mother, the Roman soldiers and the excited mob. When I play or sing the hymn, I try to make Watts’ ideas and words my own. With him, I cannot help but marvel at the incredulity of the scene—the “Prince of heaven” nailed to a tree by sinful men. Jesus, dying for me! For it was my sins which He bore on that terrible day.

(Crusade Hymn Stories, edited by Cliff Barrows, Hope Publishing Co., Chicago, 1967)

Here is an excellent video review of the history and significance of Watts' signature hymn:

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The simplest expressions, when moved by truth and passion, are always the most powerful. In its 16 brief lines, When I Survey the Wondrous Cross  "paints a soul-stirring picture of the Saviour's death on the cross coupled with the whole-hearted response of the believer to such amazing love."  Watts' eloquent words reflect the awe of knowledge that nothing within the accomplishment of any man can even begin to compare to what Christ did for each and all of us, the perfectly innocent for the utterly guilty, on the Cross. We can hardly understand the depth and magnitude of the love it took to accomplish our salvation; we can only give ceaseless thanks for it, and try to emulate it in our own lives. Truly, as was said to the Galatians (Gal. 6:14), the only just cause for glory is in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How Deep the Father's Love for Us

The Crucifixion (1622) by Simon Vouet

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. ~ Isaiah 53:4-5

     
Holy Week, beginning with Palm Sunday and culminating in Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, is the climax of the Christian year.  In this one short period are celebrated (among other events) Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem; the Last Supper; the Agony in the Garden of Gethsemane; Christ's arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death in atonement for our sins; and His resurrection from the dead on the third day thereafter. These events fulfilled divine promises and the visions of prophets declared many centuries before they actually happened. Nothing else written or imagined by man is so compelling a story; no other event in history is as important. It fixed the purpose of life and the destiny of man, the Earth, and all Creation.

The atonement, death, and resurrection of Jesus have inspired countless works of art, poetry, and music down through the centuries. The vastness of the subject might seem to make futile any attempt to capture it in a single work. But its essence, for man, is breathtakingly simple. As summed up in one popular hymn published in 1891, "I need no other argument, I need no other plea; It is enough that Jesus died, and that He died for me." (My Faith Has Found a Resting Place, by Eliza E. Hewitt).

And composers continue celebrating that simple, powerful message today.  Among the best examples is a song by Stuart Townend, an English Christian worship leader and writer of hymns and contemporary worship music. It's called How Deep the Father's Love for Us. This simple, three-stanza work embraces the salient events and greatest truths of Christ's passion, death on the Cross, and resurrection--especially, our redemption through them. The tune is likewise simple and graceful, and easy to sing--very much as with Christendom's most beloved traditional hymns.

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss -
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.

Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life -
I know that it is finished.

I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart -
His wounds have paid my ransom.

How Deep the Father's Love for Us is very similar in theme and approach to My Song is Love Unknown, which was featured here a few weeks ago. Both hymns reflect the singer's sense of unworthiness and remorse, and of personal responsibility for the sin that brought about Jesus' suffering and death ("My sin upon His shoulders" . . . ", "It was my sin that held Him there"). The line referring to the singer's hearing his own "mocking voice/call out among the scoffers" brings powerfully home our own guilt, and brings stark immediacy to that awful scene of mob vengeance in Jerusalem almost 2000 years ago.

Another telling theme in this hymn is the unfathomable love of a Father who would sacrifice His only son to save someone who in no way deserved or had earned such a blessing, and the unutterable loneliness that Jesus must have endured as His Father "turned His face away" as His wounds earned salvation for all of us.

The third stanza of Townend's hymn testifies movingly to the redemptive, transforming power of Christ's sacrifice: "this I know with all my heart--His wounds have paid my ransom". It is a very anthem of that "blessed assurance" that the believer knows!  The precious work that secured it for us, and the glory rightfully attending it, are Christ's alone.

The Scripture student may notice is how this hymn echoes the main themes of Isaiah 53, in which Jesus' suffering and death in atonement for our sins was prophesied more than 700 years before it occurred.

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

. . . [By] his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It's rare indeed to be able to hear from a composer's own lips how he came to write a hymn, but here is a short interview with Stuart Townend himself about the spiritual and musical processes behind How Deep the Father's Love for Us:

[NOTE: If you subscribe to these posts by email, the videos may not appear; in that case you can see them at the Songs of Praises web site.]

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Although How Deep the Father's Love for Us has now been published in at least eight hymnals, including the Baptist Hymnal and the hymnal used by the Church of Ireland, there seem to be no videos currently available featuring the hymn being such in a congregational setting. But there are several good solo and small group renditions, especially this one by Stuart Townend himself. Be sure to see how the lyrics echo passages from both the Old and New Testaments concerning the sacrifice of our Lord and its meaning:



Another fine solo performance is rendered by Christian artist and worship leader Fernando Ortega.

Here is a fine small group performance by contemporary Christian music trio Phillips, Craig and Dean (warning: the video contains some scenes from the film The Passion of the Christ, which may be as violent and hard to watch as they are accurate in depicting Jesus' terrible suffering):

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 May you come to know and embrace the miraculous salvation that Jesus Christ
purchased for YOU with His precious blood on the Cross!
God bless you and your family abundantly.

For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things,
in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings. ~ Hebrews 2:10