Crown Him with Many Crowns, ELW 855
1 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.
2 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.
3 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 wondering eye
At mysteries so bright!
4 Crown Him the Lord of Life
Who triumphed o'er the grave
And rose victorious in the strife
For those He came to save.
Devotion
“Crown him the Lord of years, the potentate of time...”
If you ask someone how they’re doing, they’ll most likely respond with one word: “Busy.” It’s become a fairly standard response anymore, and is a symptom of a problem that is slowly killing us. We’re filling our lives with an ever-increasing number of activities, obligations, appointments, and distractions. While we may consider our busy-ness to be some weird cultural badge of honor or a sign that we’re on our way to success and prosperity, we are actually having the life sucked right out of us.
The potentate of time calls us to a life whose rhythm includes work and rest. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God...” (Deut. 5:13-14). Rather than being ruled by our schedules, our schedules ought to be shaped and ruled by the one whom we crown as the Lord of years.
Prayer
Lord of years, the busyness and demands of life weigh heavily upon us. May we faithfully respond to your call to Sabbath rest and renewal. Amen.