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SDAH 408
Lord, enthroned in heav’nly splendor,
First begotten from the dead,
You alone, our strong defender,
Lifting up Your people’s head.
Alleluia, Jesus, true and living Bread!
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For Worship Leaders
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Hymn Spotlight: Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor
First published in 1874 as one of seven post-Communion hymns, this text exalts Christ as the risen, reigning Savior whose sacrifice is remembered at His table. George Hugh Bourne’s words call worshipers to lift their eyes from the symbols of bread and wine to the living Lord, now enthroned in glory yet still present with His people. Set to the noble tune KINGLEY VALE, the hymn blends reverence with triumph—reminding us, as Seventh-day Adventists, that Communion is both a memorial of the cross and a foretaste of the marriage supper of the Lamb when Christ returns.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
In 1874 George Hugh Bourne printed Seven Post Communion Hymns, a pamphlet for the use of St. Edmunds College, Salisbury, England. It contained this hymn of 10 stanzas under the heading, “The Memorial of Thine Abundant Kindness Shall be Shewed.” Its first use in a standard hymnal was in the 1889 Supplement to Hymns Ancient and Modern.
George Hugh Bourne was born November 8, 1840, at St. Paul’s, Cray, Kent, England. He was educated at Eton and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, earning a D.C.L. degree in 1871. Ordained a deacon in 1863 and a priest of the Anglican Church in 1864, he held the following positions: assistant curate of Sandford-on-Thames; headmaster and warden of St. Andrew’s, Chardstock (later moved to St. Edmund’s, Salisbury); chaplain to the bishop of Bloemfontein; and subdean, treasurer, and prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral. He wrote many hymns and translated others, but this is the only one that survives. He died at Salisbury on December 1, 1925.
KINGLEY VALE was written for this text to be used in the B.B.C. Hymn Book, 1951, for which the composer was committee chairman.
Hugh Percy Allen was born at Reading, England, on December 23, 1869. At the age of 11 he was already playing well enough to be organist at St. Savior’s Church, and became assistant music master at Wellington College and assistant organist for Chichester Cathedral at age 18. In 1892 he was elected an organ scholar at Cambridge, and earned the D. Mus. at Oxford in 1898. After organ posts at St. Asaph’s and Ely cathedrals, he went to New College, Oxford, as organist, and spent the rest of his life in building up music program there. In addition, he directed the London Bach Choir for 13 years, served as director of the Royal College of Music for a time, and conducted popular hymn-singing festivals. For his distinguished services to music, he was knighted in 1920. A street accident in Oxford took his life in his seventy-seventh year on February 20, 1946.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Lord, enthroned in heav’nly splendor,
First begotten from the dead,
You alone, our strong defender,
Lifting up Your people’s head.
Alleluia, Jesus, true and living Bread!
2
Tho’ the lowliest form now veil You
As of old in Bethlehem,
Here as there Your angels hail You
Branch and flow’r of Jesse’s stem.
Alleluia, We in worship join with them.
3
Paschal Lamb, Your off’ring finished
Once for all when You were slain,
In its fullness undiminished
Shall forever more remain.
Alleluia, Cleansing souls from every stain.
4
Life imparting heav’nly manna,
Stricken rock with streaming side,
Heav’n and earth with loud hosanna
Worship You the Lamb who died.
Alleluia, Ris’n, ascended, glorified!
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Rev 1:5; Ps 3:3; John 6:51 (c) Luke 2:13; Rom 15:12 (d) Heb 9:28; Rev 1:5
Author
George Hugh Bourne (1840-1925)
Performance Suggestions
Unison
Hymn Tune
KINGLY VALE
Metrical Number
8.7.8.7.4.7.
Composer
Hugh Percy Allen (1869-1946)
