Throned Upon the Awful Tree

Throned Upon the Awful Tree

Text written in 1875 by John Ellerton (1826-1893)

Sung to ARFON, a traditional melody from France & Wales, adapted c. 1906 by Hugh Davies (1844-1907)

Matthew 27:45 From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land. 

V. 1 Throned upon the awful tree,

Lamb of God, Your grief we see.

Darkness veils Your anguished face;

None its lines of woe can trace.

None can tell what pangs unknown

Hold You silent and alone.

Matthew 27:46 About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).

V. 2 Silent through those three dread hours,

Wrestling with the evil powers,

Left alone with human sin,

Gloom around You and within,

Till th'appointed time is nigh,

Till the Lamb of God may die.

V. 3 Hark, that cry that peals aloud

Upward through the whelming cloud!

You, the Father's only Son,

You, His own anointed one,

You are asking--can it be?

"Why have you forsaken Me?"

V. 4 Lord, should fear and anguish roll

Darkly o'er our sinful soul,

You, who once were thus bereft

That Your own might ne'er be left,

Teach us by that bitter cry

In the gloom to know You nigh.