Behold a Host, Arrayed in White
ELH 553
We wish we could see the people who are in heaven, if only for a moment. In Revelation 7:9-17, the Lord allowed St. John to see them and write down what he saw, to share with us. They are “a great multitude that no one could number … standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” John is asked, “Who are these, clothed in white robes?” He does not know and is then told that they made it “out of the great tribulation” by having their robes “washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.” (ESV)
In this hymn we sing about this, to a sweet Norwegian folk melody. It is a hymn that acknowledges life under the cross: “So oft, in troubled days gone by,/In anguish they would weep and sigh … Ye did the joys of earth disdain,/Ye toiled and sowed in tears and pain.” In answer to this, it is a hymn rich in comfort: “At home above the God of love/For aye their tears shall dry.” Yet we still sing the true teaching of justification, directed to Christ and His promises: They “in the flood of Jesus’ blood/Are cleansed from guilt and blame … And praise the Lord, who with the Word/Sustained you on the way.”
