Go to Dark Gethsemane

Here is a song we’ll be introducing at church just a little bit later today. Written by James Montgomery, it is titled “Go to Dark Gethsemane.”

What I love about this hymn is the progression from Gethsemane all the way to the resurrection, from watching Christ be tempted in the Garden all the way to watching him rise. In just four short verses, the hymnwriter has managed to capture the gospel. With Good Friday and Easter fast approaching, the words especially relevant.

Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see, watch with Him one bitter hour,
Turn not from His griefs away; learn of Jesus Christ to pray.

See Him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;
O the wormwood and the gall! O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn of Christ to bear the cross.

Calvary’s mournful mountain climb; there, adoring at His feet,
Mark that miracle of time, God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear Him cry; learn of Jesus Christ to die.

Early hasten to the tomb where they laid His breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom. Who has taken Him away?
Christ is risen! He meets our eyes; Savior, teach us so to rise.

We’ll be singing it to the tune written by Indelible Grace’s Kevin Twit.

If you’re interested in giving it a listen, take a look at Wake Thy Slumbering Children:Indelible Grace V.