Worship Arts Notes ♫♫

The worshipful text of the hymn “Crown Him With Many Crowns” is the combined effort of two distinguished Anglican clergymen, each of whom desired to write a hymn of exaltation to our suffering but now victorious Lord.
 
Matthew Bridges’ version first appeared in 1851 with six stanzas. Twenty-three years later Godfrey Thring wrote six additional stanzas, which appeared in his collection Hymns and Sacred Lyrics. The hymn’s present form includes stanzas one, two, and four by Bridges and the third verse by Thring.
Each crown in this hymn text exalts Christ for some specific aspect of His person or ministry
(1) Stanza one for His eternal Kingship;
(2) stanza two for His love demonstrated in redemptive suffering;
(3) stanza three for His victorious resurrection and ascension, and
(4) stanza four as a member of the Triune Godhead ever worthy of worship and praise.
The tune, Diadernata (the Greek word for crowns), was composed especially for this text by George Elvey, a noted organist at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor, England, where British royalty often attend.