Surely the best hymns are those which focus not so much on ourselves (our feelings, our wants, our needs, even our joys), as on Christ in His royal personage, His blessed saving work, His reigning majesty, and His glorious return, and in this instance by extension on the church, His bride. Such a hymn is “Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation.” Coupled with the tune WESTMINSTER ABBEY, it is a grandiose presentation of Jesus’ resplendent kingly grandeur as Head of the church. The hymn combines three stellar names. There is the author (translator) of the lyrics: John Mason Neale. There is the composer of the music: Henry Purcell. And there is the location: London’s world famous Westminster Abbey, the site since 1066 for the coronation of British monarchs. We must take note of each of those three in the history of this great hymn.
The text of the hymn originated as the second part of the 6th or 7th century Latin monastic hymn, “Urbs beata Jerusalem,” written for the dedication of a church. The text referred to the church as the bride of Christ, built of living stones. It was, in its earliest form, an unaccompanied unmetered plainsong melody. Today the text is most often sung to either the WESTMINSTER ABBEY tune, adapted from the final section of Henry Purcell’s anthem “O God, Thou Art My God,” or to the tune REGENT SQUARE, composed by Henry Smart, a tune matched to the Christmas hymn, “Angels from the Realms of Glory.”
The text of the hymn is usually found in our hymnals in the section of hymns about the church. It is certainly about Christ Jesus, but specifically in His role is the head and foundation and cornerstone of the church. The church, the body of Christ, is built upon Him as He has been proclaimed by the apostles and prophets. Jesus and the church are inseparable, something we need to remember when we hear of people who claim to like Jesus, but are not interested in the church. As the phrase goes, “you can’t have one without the other!”
“Christ Is Made the Sure Foundation,” with the WESTMINSTER ABBEY tune, has been a favorite of British royalty. It was sung during the marriage ceremonies of Princess Margaret and Antony Armstrong-Jones in 1960, and Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981, as well as being the opening hymn of Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee service in St. Paul’s Cathedral on June 3, 2022. And it was sung, at her pre-arranged request, during the funeral proceedings of Queen Elizabeth II at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on September 19, 2022.
The original text was, of course, in Latin. And when it comes to translating hymns from Latin or Greek into English, none has done it better than John Mason Neale (1818 – 1866), sometimes called the “prince of translators.” This is one of his many translations which are found in all hymnals. They include “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” “Good Christian Men, Rejoice,” and “All Glory, Laud, and Honor.” He was the son of an Anglican clergyman, and intended to follow in his footsteps. But his evangelical perspective was replaced with an Anglo-Catholic one during his studies at Trinity College, Cambridge. Fascinated by the tracts of the Oxford Movement, he became intensely interested in the medieval church. The result was an interest in “high church” convictions that influenced developments in Anglican liturgy and architecture as well as hymn singing.
Neale became vicar of Crawley, West Sussex, in 1841, but his career as a clergyman was constantly marred by those opposed to his high church principles. His bishop forced Neale out in 1846 and he became Warden of Sackville College, an East Grinstead retirement home for poor men. He continued to be dogged by allegations of Roman Catholic sympathy, and was more than once physically assaulted for it. Yet his relatively quiet life at Sackville College allowed him to indulge in private study, including the many hymn translations for which he is best remembered. Laboring in relative obscurity, the prodigious Neale turned out an impressive number of books and articles on liturgy and church history, as well as his hymn translations.
As for the music for the WESTMINSTER ABBEY tune, this is the work of Henry Purcell (1659-1695). While he did not write the music as a hymn tune, Ernest Hawkins took the final “Alleluia” section of Purcell’s 1692 anthem, “O God, Thou Art My God,” and re-cast it in 1843 in the form we now sing. It was Purcell who perfected the British form of Baroque music. He showed great musical skill from childhood, evident in compositions from the age of 11. He went on to have a major role in composition, including works for opera and plays as well as church music that won him the spot of being the greatest English composer until Elgar and Vaughan-Williams in the late 19th century. He became organist at Westminster Abbey in 1679, and soon after his marriage to Frances in 1682, with whom he had six children, he also became simultaneously organist of the Chapel Royal.
He died at a young age, perhaps of tuberculosis. Purcell is buried adjacent to the organ in Westminster Abbey. The music that he had earlier composed for Queen Mary’s funeral was performed during his funeral. Purcell was universally mourned as “a very great master of music.” Following his death, the officials at Westminster honored him by unanimously voting that he be buried with no expense spared in the north aisle of the Abbey. His epitaph reads: “Here lyes Henry Purcell Esq., who left this life and is gone to that Blessed Place where only His harmony can be exceeded.” He is well known to organists who frequently use one of his ceremonial trumpet tunes for processionals and recessionals at church weddings.
Construction of Westminster Abbey began under Henry III in 1245 and was completed by 1260. Later renovations included the two iconic twin towers at the entrance. It is the place of royal coronations and funerals as well as occasional royal weddings. Many of the famous names in British history are found on stone tablets marking the interment sites of such men as Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Darwin, and George Frideric Handel, as well as thirty kings and queens. It holds a special place in the heart for Presbyterians as it is the building in which is located the Jerusalem Chamber, in which 330 “divines” met frequently from 1643 to 1648 to produce the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms.
The language of the hymn is closely connected with Ephesians 2:20-22, where the church is described as being “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God the Spirit.” 1 Peter 2:4-7 adds even more context for the hymn: “Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, ‘Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.’”
In stanza 1, we are virtually singing that passage in 1 Peter. Christ is central to the existence, work, and glory of the church. There is an impressive list of descriptions of His connection to the church. Each would merit a single study devoted to just that one. He is the church’s foundation, head, and cornerstone, and is such by the sovereign choice (“chosen”) of the Lord, precious to the Father as He is the one who binds us all into one body, and in doing so is forever our sole and sufficient help and confidence.
Christ is made the sure foundation, Christ, the head and cornerstone,
Chosen of the Lord and precious, binding all the Church in one;
Holy Zion’s help forever and our confidence alone.
In stanza 2, the church is described as a city, indeed “the holy city” of Revelation 21 as well as the “city set on a hill” in the Sermon on the Mount, one which is dedicated to God for the specific purpose of pouring out “perpetual melody” “in exultant jubilation,” adoring “God the One in Three” “in glad hymns eternally.” We know this from the first answer in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Our “chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”
All this dedicated city, dearly loved of God on high,
In exultant jubilation pours perpetual melody;
God the One in Three adoring in glad hymns eternally.
In stanza 3, we are each drawn into the scene as we come to worship to enter into “this temple” in corporate worship of our Lord. It is our great privilege, as well as responsibility, to come into His presence. We call on Him not only to meet our needs, but primarily to receive our worship. But since He taught us to pray for our daily bread, we can do so with confidence that He hears us and will answer according to His wonted (customary) lovingkindness. We think of the benediction as a concluding prayer in worship, but it really means blessing. And so in our worship we pray for His “fullest benediction” to be shed within the walls of His church.
To this temple, where we call Thee, come, O Lord of hosts, today;
With Thy wonted lovingkindness, hear Thy people as they pray;
And Thy fullest benediction shed within its walls alway.
In stanza 4, we ask that He would “vouchsafe” to all of us, His servants, what we ask. To vouchsafe is to condescendingly make a special gift from one who is superior to those who are beneath him in an inferior, dependent position. And what is it that we ask of Him “to gain?” It is that we might be permitted to spend eternity in His glory, reigning with Him. And since He has promised that to us, we can be bold to bring that petition repeatedly with us in our prayers.
Here vouchsafe to all Thy servants what they ask of Thee to gain,
What they gain from Thee forever with the blessed to retain;
And hereafter in Thy glory evermore with Thee to reign.
In stanza 5, we find , as is so often the case in British choral music, a version of the Gloria Patri, bringing praise to the Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And what a fine summary of the doctrine: these are “ever Three and ever One.” A similar expression is found in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, describing the three persons as “the same in substance, equal in power and glory.” While there is an ontological order in the Trinity, there is complete equality in their deity and attributes. As Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.”
Laud and honor to the Father, laud and honor to the Son,
Laud and honor to the Spirit; ever Three and ever One:
One in might and One in glory while unending ages run!
Here is a glorious singing of the hymn from St. Paul’s Cathedral in celebration of the Queen’s platinum anniversary