Hosannas for the Weary: Five Hymns of Hope When Your Heart Feels Heavyഉദാഹരണം

For All the Saints

Erik Routley, British hymnologist, calls "For All the Saints" the most profound hymn on saints of the church. He explains it is because “at its very beginning, it draws attention to the quality essential to sainthood—faith. ‘Who thee by faith before the world confessed.’—that is the most important line in the hymn; the rest is background and scenery.”

In Hebrews 11, in the list of renowned biblical heroes, you read over and over “by faith, he ...,” “by faith, she . . . ” Routley goes on to say, “The Bible is the most morally daring and shocking book in the world.” It is because on that list are imperfect and sinful people. But they are “saints” through their faith in and obedience to God when He called them. What encouragement! Anyone who has faith in Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice is a “saint.”

Intended as a processional to be used on All Saints Day, this hymn was written by William Walsham How, a bishop in the Church of England. He was called “the poor man’s bishop” and “the children’s bishop” because of his work among the poor. He wrote 111 hymns, including “Nearer, O God, to Thee” and “We Give Thee but Thine Own.”

Ralph Vaughn Williams wrote sine nomine (meaning “without a name”) for The English Hymnal of 1906. It is considered one of the finest hymn tunes ever written. Vaughn Williams wrote for orchestra, chamber groups, choirs, and soloists. He wanted to make good music accessible to everyone; he wrote much for students and amateurs. His two most well-known orchestral works are The Lark Ascending and Fantasia on Greensleeves.

As you sing this hymn. . . think about the saints in your life. This portion of the hymnal, dedicated to our pilgrimage to Heaven, includes hymns that are about our journey, our struggles, our hope. Here we are focusing on those “saints” who are no longer pilgrims; they have “fought the good fight, . . . finished the race, . . . kept the faith” (2 Tim. 4:7). We are looking at their journey to gain courage and direction for our own. And in so doing, each stanza ends with “Alleluia!” The saints we look to are those who have influenced us—grandparents, parents, teachers, friends, pastors, fellow church members. This hymn is often chosen for funeral services as a joyful tribute honoring the saint whose life we celebrate.

Perhaps the most difficult application of this hymn is: Can we apply the word saint to ourselves? Consider the “saints” in the New Testament: “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:2). If we have called upon the name of Jesus Christ to save us, we are, indeed, saints. (See also Eph. 2:19; Col. 1:12.)