Psalter Hymnal (Gray) ‎#619

619. Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand

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Hope Publishing: one copy

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You may download one copy of this selection for your own personal use. To make any further copies or to perform the work you must get permission from Hope Publishing Company or belong to and report the copying activity to CCLI, LicenSing or OneLicense.net. By selecting "I Agree" you are verifying that you reside in the U.S. or Canada and will only legally use this selection.

Text Information

• First Line: Ten thousand times ten thousand
• Title: Ten Thousand Times Ten Thousand
• Author: Henry Alford (1867)
• Meter: 76 86 D
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1987
• Scripture:
  Daniel 7:9-10
  ;
  Revelation 5:6-14
  ;
  Revelation 5:14
• Topic: Return of Christ; The New Creation; Advent; Lamb Of God; New Creation; Victory
• Source: Jubilate Hymns, 1982, rev.
• Copyright: Text © 1982, Hope Publishing Co. All rights reserved. Used by permission

Tune Information

• Name: ALFORD
• Composer: John B. Dykes (1875)
• Meter: 76 86 D
• Key: G Major

Text Information:

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Rev. 5:6-14, Dan. 7:9-10

Henry Alford (PHH 527) was Dean of Canterbury Cathedral when he wrote this text. Designating it for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, he published the three-stanza text in the magazine Good Words in March 1867 and later that same year in his Year of Praise. A fourth stanza was added when the hymn was reprinted in The Lord's Prayer Illustrated, prepared by Pickersgill and Alford in 1870. The Psalter Hymnal includes the revised, three-stanza version found in Hymns for Today’s Church (1982).

A noted New Testament scholar, Alford drew his imagery for this text about the church triumphant from John's Revelation. Stanza 1 portrays the "ten thousand times ten thousand" angels who praise the victorious Lamb upon the throne and who are then joined by the "countless voices" of all creatures praising God (see Rev. 5:11-13). The second stanza is an exclamation of joy and comforting anticipation of the final victory of God's saints. Stanza 3 is a "Maranatha" prayer, which urges Christ to come quickly and usher in the consummation of his glorious kingdom ("Desire of Nations" is an Old Testament name for the Messiah; see Hag. 2:7).

Liturgical Use:
Advent; with eschatological preaching; other occasions of worship when a "Maranatha" hymn is appropriate.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

Tune Information:

Henry Alford (PHH 527) was Dean of Canterbury Cathedral when he wrote this text. Designating it for the twenty-first Sunday after Trinity, he published the three-stanza text in the magazine Good Words in March 1867 and later that same year in his Year of Praise. A fourth stanza was added when the hymn was reprinted in The Lord's Prayer Illustrated, prepared by Pickersgill and Alford in 1870. The Psalter Hymnal includes the revised, three-stanza version found in Hymns for Today’s Church (1982).

A noted New Testament scholar, Alford drew his imagery for this text about the church triumphant from John's Revelation. Stanza 1 portrays the "ten thousand times ten thousand" angels who praise the victorious Lamb upon the throne and who are then joined by the "countless voices" of all creatures praising God (see Rev. 5:11-13). The second stanza is an exclamation of joy and comforting anticipation of the final victory of God's saints. Stanza 3 is a "Maranatha" prayer, which urges Christ to come quickly and usher in the consummation of his glorious kingdom ("Desire of Nations" is an Old Testament name for the Messiah; see Hag. 2:7).

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook