Sometimes I think my favorite moments of praise are ones where I do not say a thing. This morning in church, after the sermon while everyone was singing a song of response, I so badly wanted to just run somewhere quiet and be alone with God, just to bask in His presence. That was probably wrong of me, to wish that I was somewhere other than at the worship service. It is difficult to have time alone with little children who constantly need me, and even more difficult on an Easter Sunday that is pretty well booked from beginning to end with church and family celebrations.
So instead I came downstairs to my office, something I do very seldom on the weekends (especially in cold weather when I turn off the heat down here over the weekend and it gets perishingly cold), and cranked up Hymns Trimphant. These two albums are so stirringly beautiful that it is almost beyond words to describe. Rather than singing along, I merely sat and drank in the beauty of the words. A personal favorite, that seemed especially appropriate today, is “Christ, the Lord, is risen today.”
Christ, the Lord, is risen today, Alleluia!
Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!
Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia!
Sing, ye heavens, and earth, reply, Alleluia!
Love’s redeeming work is done, Alleluia!
Fought the fight, the battle won, Alleluia!
Lo! the Sun’s eclipse is over, Alleluia!
Lo! He sets in blood no more, Alleluia!
Vain the stone, the watch, the seal, Alleluia!
Christ hath burst the gates of hell, Alleluia!
Death in vain forbids His rise, Alleluia!
Christ hath opened paradise, Alleluia!
Christ has risen! He has risen indeed. Through the work of Christ that we remember today, and celebrate every Lord’s Day, He has burst the gates of hell and opened the way to the Father. Praise be to our Redeemer.
Christ has risen!
