One of the greatest hymns ever written, and a popular
staple of most hymnals, is What Wondrous Love Is This.
The stirring lyrics tell the story of the greatest love
of all-time, God’s love to undeserving, sinful human
beings. Though it’s a folk hymn, the truths
contained within it—Christ’s bearing the curse of
sin for us at the cross, God’s eternality as
epitomized in His name “I Am!”, our freedom from
death thanks to Christ’s sacrifice—could not have
been put better were a t...(+)
One of the greatest hymns ever written, and a popular
staple of most hymnals, is What Wondrous Love Is This.
The stirring lyrics tell the story of the greatest love
of all-time, God’s love to undeserving, sinful human
beings. Though it’s a folk hymn, the truths
contained within it—Christ’s bearing the curse of
sin for us at the cross, God’s eternality as
epitomized in His name “I Am!”, our freedom from
death thanks to Christ’s sacrifice—could not have
been put better were a team of PhDs to give it their
best shot. The words are great—the tune, on the
other hand, is lousy. Music theorists will tell you
it’s an excellent example of the Dorian mode, but
careful listeners will note that its dour strains
don’t match up well with the awesome wonder of
God’s love, with the song of praise to God, with the
Christian’s elation at being free from death. Great
words desperately in need of a new tune—and that’s
what I’ve attempted to do with this one. I don’t
know if this’ll eventually be the tune associated
with these words, or if it’ll be a forgotten footnote
of history, like Wallingford Davies’s setting of O
Little Town of Bethlehem, but I do know this—and that
is, if I were a music director, I’d take this over
that trashy Dorian melody any day. If you are looking
for a tune that better expresses the joy of God’s
wondrous love, then this may be exactly what you’re
waiting for!
