It is unusual to think about a major worship service on a Thursday (other than Maundy Thursday in “Holy Week”). But Ascension Day is always on a Thursday, forty days after Jesus’ Easter Sunday resurrection, and ten days before Pentecost Sunday. If we take note of those other special days in our evangelical worship (not to mention Christmas!), should we not also be celebrating this glorious climax of Jesus’ earthly ministry? His work of redemption didn’t end at the cross. Nor did it end at the open tomb. Although He said “It is finished” from the cross, referring to the atoning payment for our redemption, in a real sense his mission wasn’t completely finished until He returned to His heavenly throne at the Ascension. And it will come to the fullest completion at His bodily return to gather all the elect and to create the long-awaited new heavens and new earth we read about in the latter chapters of Isaiah.
Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise,” is not about Jesus’ rising from the dead. The next phrase makes it clear this is His rising to heaven at the Ascension, as the next words are that He has risen “To His throne above the skies.” Wesley penned this text specifically for Ascension Day and it was published in 1739 in “Hymns and Sacred Poems” under the title, “Hymn for Ascension-Day.” The date is significant as it was the very previous year, on May 21, 1738, that he was converted out of a formal professional religion to the warmth of a new heart, born again in love for and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. That experience defined the rest of his life, along with his brother, John, as they travelled a quarter of a million miles on horseback preaching the gospel. Most of that was out-of-doors in streets and fields, since bishops of the Church of England barred them from parish pulpits, having labeled them as enthusiasts!”
He and his brother were powerfully effective evangelists during those years of the Great Awakening, which impacted England and also the colonies of America. Here in America, it was the preaching of men like George Whitefield that saw so many converted, and through the common religious experience of so many new believers, was a primary cause of the uniting of the colonies into a single nation. The preaching of the Wesleys and others led in the next generation to the founding of the historically evangelically solid Methodist church. Charles Wesley (1707-1788), known as “The Bard of Methodism,” was incredibly gifted as a lyricist in his composing perhaps as many as 7500 hymns. In the opinion of many, he was the greatest hymnwriter the church has ever known. Every hymnal today will contain as many as a dozen and more of his hymns. Among them are “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today,” “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” “And Can It Be,” and “Rejoice, the Lord is King.”
In John Julian’s 1902 “Dictionary of Hymnology,” he wrote those words about Wesley’s hymns.
As a hymn-writer Charles Wesley was unique. He is said to have written no less than 6500 hymns, and though, of course, in so vast a number some are of unequal merit, it is perfectly marvellous how many there are which rise to the highest degree of excellence. His feelings on every occasion of importance, whether private or public, found their best expression in a hymn. His own conversion, his own marriage, the earthquake panic, the rumours of an invasion from France, the defeat of Prince Charles Edward at Culloden, the Gordon riots, every Festival of the Christian Church, every doctrine of the Christian Faith, striking scenes in Scripture history, striking scenes which came within his own view, the deaths of friends as they passed away, one by one, before him, all furnished occasions for the exercise of his divine gift. Nor must we forget his hymns for little children, a branch of sacred poetry in which the mantle of Dr. Watts seems to have fallen upon him. It would be simply impossible within our space to enumerate even those of the hymns which have become really classical. The saying that a really good hymn is as rare an appearance as that of a comet is falsified by the work of Charles Wesley; for hymns, which are really good in every respect, flowed from his pen in quick succession, and death alone stopped the course of the perennial stream.
In 1735 he went with his brother John to Georgia, as secretary to General Oglethorpe. His stay in Georgia was very short. He returned to England in 1736, and in 1737 came under the influence of Count Zinzendorf and the Moravians. On Whitsunday, 1738, he “found rest to his soul,” and became curate to his friend, Mr. Stonehouse, Vicar of Islington. But the opposition of the churchwardens was so great that the Vicar consented that he “should preach in his church no more.” Henceforth his work was identified with that of his brother John, and he became an indefatigable itinerant and field preacher. On April 8, 1749, he married Miss Sarah Gwynne. His marriage, unlike that of his brother John, was a most happy one. His wife was accustomed to accompany him on his evangelistic journeys, which were as frequent as ever until the year 1756, when he ceased to itinerate, and mainly devoted himself to the care of the Societies in London and Bristol.
Bristol was his headquarters until 1771, when he removed with his family to London, and, besides attending to the Societies, devoted himself much, as he had done in his youth, to the spiritual care of prisoners in Newgate. He died in London, March 29, 1788, and was buried in Marylebone churchyard. His brother John was deeply grieved because he would not consent to be interred in the burial-ground of the City Road Chapel, where he had prepared a grave for himself, but Charles said, “I have lived, and I die, in the Communion of the Church of England, and I will be buried in the yard of my parish church.” Eight clergymen of the Church of England bore his pall. He had a large family, four of whom survived him; three sons, who all became distinguished in the musical world, and one daughter, who inherited some of her father’s poetical genius. The widow and orphans were treated with the greatest kindness and generosity by John Wesley.
One of the outstanding things about “Hail the Day That Sees Him Rise” is the repetition of “Alleluia” in each stanza. But in the original ten stanza version, Wesley didn’t include the word at all! And only four or five of those original stanzas are typically included today, and only stanza five of the original has remained unchanged, and is today usually the third stanza. The Anglican clergyman Thomas Cotterill (1779-1823) took the first axe to the original by removing what he regarded as some of the more ecstatic and emotional language. It was in 1852 that the word “Alleluia” started to appear. The version commonly used today is that which was first published in the 1861 “Hymns Ancient and Modern.”
It is not uncommon today to find that older hymns that are no longer under copyright restrictions have been altered by more recent writers and / or editors. Such is the case in this instance. In the first stanza, the original “Ravish’d from our wishful Eyes” is altered to “To his throne above the skies,” avoiding the uncomfortable implications of “ravish’d.” Similarly, in the second stanza, the word “pompous” is replaced with “glorious,” again avoiding a negative meaning, but sadly spoiling the true meaning of the text, in the minds of some.
One of the most careless corrections is the replacement of “Wide unfold the radiant scene” with “He hath conquered death and sin.” Not only is the meaning of the line entirely changed, but the masterfully crafted apostrophe to the heavenly gates is abruptly broken. Moreover, one can detect no reasonable motivation for this change, as the original text poses little concern on grounds of theology or accessibility.
While there have been many variations since it came from Wesley’s pen, here are, as best we can determine – and with a few minor alterations – his original ten stanzas. Let’s hope that the hymn receives new life to be sung at this Ascension time of year.
Stanza 1 calls for celebration of this wonderful event. His throne at the right hand of the Father must have welcomed Him with even greater joy, based on Philippians 2, as the Father has highly exalted Him and given Him a name above every name. What a powerful contrast in the 3rd and 4th lines, from His having been given “awhile to mortals,” to the opposite as He “reascends His native heaven.”
Hail the day that sees Him rise, Alleluia!
To His throne above the skies, Alleluia!
Christ, awhile to mortals given, Alleluia!
Reascends His native heaven, Alleluia!
Stanza 2 directs our attention to what must have occurred as Jesus was welcomed into the courts of heaven in “glorious triumph.” The hymn language is drawn from Psalm 24 as heads are lifted up and as the gates are opened that “the King of glory” might come in. We sometimes use this Psalm on Palm Sunday, but it is really a Psalm about Jesus’ ascension to heaven and the fact that “Christ hath conquered death and sin.”
There the glorious triumph waits, Alleluia!
Lift your heads, eternal gates, Alleluia!
Christ hath conquered death and sin, Alleluia!
Take the King of glory in, Alleluia!
Stanza 3 continues to propose a vision of that amazing day, remembering that it was not an event that we missed by not being there. We can celebrate it each day since it has continual benefits for us. On that day, as Jesus returned to His place of highest honor, He would have been “circled round with angel powers. How impressive that angels celebrated not only “their triumphant Lord,” but also find joy that He is ours as well, having conquered :death and sin” that had held us captive!
Circled round with angel powers, Alleluia!
Their triumphant Lord, and ours, Alleluia!
Conqueror over death and sin, Alleluia!
“Take the King of glory in! Alleluia!”
Stanza 4 presents a stunning contrast. He surely loved returning home “to His throne,” as He almost described His feelings as homesickness in John 17. But He also “loves the earth He leaves,” and “calls the world his own.” And how much greater is His love for those whom He redeemed to become His own, and for whom He will create a new home here on this same earth.
See! the heaven its Lord receives, Alleluia!
Yet He loves the earth He leaves, Alleluia!
Though returning to His throne, Alleluia!
Still He calls the world His own, Alleluia!
Stanza 5 is a beautiful picture of Jesus’ present position in heaven. Though seated at the right hand of the Father, having completed the mission of our salvation, in Wesley’s legitimate imagination we see Him lifting His hands for all to see the marks of the cost He paid to redeem us, as “His gracious lips bestow blessings on His church below.”
See! He lifts His hands above, Alleluia!
See! He shows the prints of love, Alleluia!
Hark! His gracious lips bestow, Alleluia!
Blessings on His church below, Alleluia!
Stanza 6 proceeds with that intercession work in which He is now engaged. We are so encouraged when a friend, especially one of significance and position, promises to pray for us. But how thrilling is it that we have a Savior who is praying for us, whose death is pleading for us. And based on His words in John 14, He is now preparing a place for us “near Himself.” A “harbinger” is someone who announces the approach of another, and so Jesus is announcing our approach to heaven!
Still for us His death He pleads, Alleluia!
Prevalent He intercedes, Alleluia!
Near Himself prepares our place, Alleluia!
Harbinger of human race, Alleluia!
Stanza 7 now comes back to earth to the Gospels’ description of the disciples as they watched Jesus ascend, “gazing up to Thee.” And that describes us, too, as we look by faih toward the heavens, longing for His promised return. He has been taken from us for a time, but though present with the Father, He is still with us, just as He promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Master, (will we ever say), Alleluia!
Taken from our head to day, Alleluia!
See Thy faithful servants, see, Alleluia!
Ever gazing up to Thee, Alleluia!
Stanza 8 carries us farther along in speaking about us as we face the reality of a Savior who has now ascended and is no longer on earth in the way that He had been with the disciples. Like the disciples that day, He has been “parted from our sight, far above yon azure height.” But rather than first praying that He would return, Wesley has us sing that “our hearts may thither rise,” as we live each day “seeking Thee beyond the skies.”
Lord, though parted from our sight, Alleluia!
Far above yon azure height, Alleluia!
Grant our hearts may thither rise, Alleluia!
Seeking Thee beyond the skies, Alleluia!
Stanza 9 continues to deal with our longing for His return. While it is an active longing that involves our moving upward in our love for Him, it is still an intense, earnest desire that He would soon come again, leaving us for now “longing, gasping after home.” We see that in friends who know death is approaching and face it not with fear but with welcome, knowing that this world is not their home.
Ever upward let us move, Alleluia!
Wafted on the wings of love, Alleluia!
Looking when our Lord shall come, Alleluia!
Longing, gasping after home, Alleluia!
Stanza 10 is the climax of all these longings, knowing that one day we will be with Him, never to be separated again, but will eternally see His “face unclouded,” no longer through a goass darkly, but then face to face, as Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13. Not only will we remain with Him, we will reign with Him! And so we look into those heavens now, as He is with us today, so that we can now “find our heaven of heavens in Thee.”
There we shall with Thee remain, Alleluia!
Partners of Thine endless reign, Alleluia!
There Thy face unclouded see, Alleluia!
Find our heaven of heavens in Thee, Alleluia!
The tune LLANFAIR was composed by Welshman Robert Williams (1782-1818). A native of Anglesey, he was blind from birth. Although a very reputable musician, he earned his living as a basket weaver. It is not clear when the tune was joined to this text of Wesley’s. LLANFAIR first appeared in John Parry’s collection “Peroriaeth Hyfryd” (“Sweet Music”) in 1837. The tune name is an anglicized abbreviation of Williams’ hometown in Wales, and must assuredly be the longest town name in history! Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllandtysiliogogogoch. In English, the name means “church of St. Mary in the hollow of white hazel near the rapid whirlpool of the Church of St. Tysillio by the red cave.” Now that’s a mouthful!
Here is a joyful singing of this wonderful Ascension Day hymn.