Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#219

219. As Moses Raised the Serpent Up

Text Information

• First Line: As Moses raised the serpent up
• Title: As Moses Raised the Serpent Up
• Versifier: Marie J. Post (1985)
• Meter: LM
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  John 3:14-17
  ;
  John 3:17
• Topic: Biblical Names & Places: Moses; Suffering of Christ; Songs for Children: Bible Songs; Eternal Life; Redemption
• Copyright: Text © 1987, CRC Publications

Tune Information

• Name: GIFT OF LOVE
• Arranger: Hal Hopson (1972)
• Meter: LM
• Key: G Major
• Source: English
• Copyright: Arrangement © 1972, Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permisson.

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 1 = John 3:14-15
st. 2 =John 3:16
st. 3 = John 3:17
st. 4 = John 3:16

John 3:14-17, part of Jesus' nighttime discourse with Nicodemus, forms the basis of this song and includes that famous profession of faith "God so loved the world. . . ," one of the best-known and most frequently memorized verses in the entire Bible. In this setting that profession is used virtually as a refrain but is numbered as stanzas 2 and 4 for emphasis. Marie J. Post (PHH 5) prepared the versification in 1985 for use with the tune O WALY WALY in the Psalter Hymnal. She said this versification was one of her easiest assignments: “The lines simply fell into the music!”

Liturgical Use:
During the Lord's Supper; as a response to the preached Word; as a communal confession of faith, possibly in an evangelistic setting.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

O WALY WALY is a traditional English melody associated with the song "O Waly, Waly, gin love be bony," the words of which date back at least to Ramsay's Tea Table Miscellany (1724-1732), and as the setting for a folk ballad about Jamie Douglas. It is also well known in the Appalachian region of the United States.

Hal H. Hopson (b. White Mound, TX, 1933) adapted and arranged O WALY WALY as an anthem in 1971 for his setting of 1 Corinthians 13, "Gift of Love"; his version become known as GIFT OF LOVE. That copyrighted version of the tune can be sung in canon after one measure, especially on the "refrain" stanzas (2 and 4) and ideally by the choir or by a small part of the congregation, somewhat in the manner of a descant. Keep the phrases moving to help create four lines instead of eight choppy phrases. In fact, the tune has a difficult time when not sung in canon; more recent hymnals have begun publishing this tune in triple meter, contrary to the publisher's request, in order to avoid the long-held notes. (The Companion to the United Methodist Hymnal noted that their committee's request for permission to use triple meter was denied, but that "in an assertion of free will over predestination, The Presbyterian Hymnal, 1990, included the text with a triple-meter form of the tune," p. 636.)

Hopson was educated at Baylor University, Waco, Texas, and Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He served various churches in the Nashville area as organist and choir director. He has also taught at Westminster Choir College, Princeton, New Jersey, and Scarritt Graduate School, Nashville, Tennessee. Over eight hundred of Hopson's hymn tunes and keyboard and choral compositions have been published. He takes an active role in many conferences and music clinics and was a major contributor to the Presbyterian Psalter (1994).

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook