JESUS CHRIST >> RESURRECTION & ASCENSION
SDAH 168
And have the bright immensities
Received our risen Lord,
Where light years frame the Pleiades
And point Orion’s sword?
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For Worship Leaders
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Hymn Spotlight: And Have the Bright Immensities
Howard Robbins’ text opens our eyes to the cosmic significance of Christ’s ascension. Written in lofty poetic language, it pictures Jesus tracing His path through “corridors sublime,” with even the constellations witnessing His return to heaven. The reference to Orion echoes Ellen White’s vision in Early Writings of the Holy City descending through the open space in Orion. The folk tune FOREST GREEN, arranged by Ralph Vaughan Williams, adds a pastoral elegance to the text. It evokes both wonder and stillness—a perfect frame for contemplating the majesty of Christ beyond our world. This hymn lifts our hearts to heaven, reminding us that our Redeemer reigns in glory.
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Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
This two-stanza hymn employs exalted language to tell how the vastness of stellar space received our Lord when He ascended to heaven after the Resurrection. Robbins names two of the best-known constellations, the Pleiades and Orion, and uses the phrase “His footsteps trace thro’ corridors sublime.” in this connection, the following words from Early Writings, by Ellen G. White, page 41,are interesting: “December 16, 1848,the Lord gave me a view of the shaking of the powers of the heavens….The atmosphere parted and rolled back; then we could look up through the open space in Orion, whence came the voice of God. The Holy City will come down through that open space.”
Born in Philadelphia on December 11, 1876, Howard Robbins received his B.D. degree from Episcopal Theological Seminary in 1903.He served as curate (associate pastor) in Morristown and Englewood, New Jersey. From 1917 to 1929 he was dean of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and from 1929 to 1941 professor at the General Theological Seminary. He retired in 1941, and died in Washington, D.C., on March 20, 1952. He contributed eight hymn texts to The Hymnal 1940, and one hymn tune, CHELSEA SQUARE.
FOREST GREEN is named after the small English village in Surrey where Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958; see Biographies) heard a variation of the folk melody. He first used it as a hymn tune in The English Hymnal, 1906, and it appears in Oxford Book of Carols, 1928, with “Come, All You Worthy Christian Men.” Benjamin Britten arranged it in one of his song collections with the Irish words “The Star of County Down.” This tune has found a place in most modern hymnals. SDAH uses it again at No.90, “Eternal God, Whose Power Upholds.”
Stanza:
1 – Job 9:7, 9
2 – Matthew 18:20
Text
1
And have the bright immensities
Received our risen Lord,
Where light years frame the Pleiades
And point Orion’s sword?
Do flaming suns His footsteps trace
Thro’ corridors sublime,
The Lord of inter stellar space
And conqueror of time?
2
The heav’n that hides Him from our sight
Knows neither near nor far;
A little candle sheds its light
As surely as a star.
And where His loving people meet
To share the gift divine,
There stands He with unhurrying feet;
There heav’nly splendors shine.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Job 9:7, 9 (b) Matt 18:20
Author
Howard C. Robbins (1876-1952)
Copyright
Words reprinted by permission of Morehouse-Barlow Co., Inc. Music from The English Hymnal by permision of Oxford University Press
Hymn Tune
FOREST GREEN
Metrical Number
C.M.D.
Arranged
Ralph Vaughan Williams, 1906
Tune Source
Traditional English melody
