My Eternal King

My God, I love Thee;

not because I hope for heav'n thereby,

Nor yet because who love Thee not

Must die eternally,

Thou, O my Jesus, Thou didst me

Upon the cross embrace;

For me didst bear the nails, the nails and spear,

And manifold disgrace.

Why, then why, O blessed Jesus Christ,

Should I not love Thee well?

Not for the hope of winning heav'n,

Or of escaping hell;

Not with the hope of gaining aught,

Not seeking a reward;

But as Thyself hast loved me,

O ever-loving Lord!

E'en so I love Thee, and will love,

And in Thy praise will sing;

Solely because Thou art my God,

And my Eternal King.

Jane Marshall
b. 1924

 The first time I ever heard  Jane Marshall’s My Eternal King, was while attending Blue Mountain College whose music degree program required participation in the College Choral.  As could be expected, the music in a college choir full of music majors was often beyond challenging.  I was introduced to styles, settings, and texts I never imagined existed.  While all of the styles and selections were extremely educational and useful in a collegiate setting not all would have been desirable in every church setting.  My Eternal King, however, stood out as an incredible sacred piece any theologically sound church would embrace but, due to its wondrous complexities, few would be able to experience.

Before going further, I must take a brief moment to brag on our choir.  I have had the privilege to serve in both music and pastoral leadership duties in a number of churches for over 30 years.  In all that time, the only choir I have ever had privilege to work with who had the technical proficiency to rehearse and present a piece as challenging as My Eternal King is our own adult choir here at Main Street Presbyterian Church.  The evidence of that proficiency and ability long precedes my involvement with this special group and its extensive history.  They continue to amaze me week after week.  They are the reason our church will have the opportunity to experience My Eternal King on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2013.  Though I do not mean to state this is the most difficult piece our choir has ever presented, it does rank very high on the list.

Rev. Edward Caswell
(1814-1878)

You may wonder what makes this choir piece by Jane Marshall (b. 1924) so special.  Although it will sound somewhat silly, I’d have to say, “Everything!” The text of the piece is based on a 17^th century Latin prayer/poem of response to the work of Christ on the cross translated into English by Rev.Edward Caswell (1814-1878).  The music, while maintaining a very classical style utilizes a wide range of modern music composition elements.  The time signature, tempo, and chord structures seem to be in constant shift and change as the piece progresses through a minefield of accidentals and dynamic changes.  A cappella sections are used to highlight the text as well as intensify the emotive elements throughout the piece.  This is not a piece of music for the novice choir.  There are a multitude of details to not only work out in preparation but remain mindful of through the duration of the piece.

Accompanied best with organ, the piece opens with a fairly simple sounding introduction that builds and grows to the first of many climaxes, and then the first surprise. In a cappella the voices in awe barely whisper the thesis of the text, “My God I love thee.”

So in awe of God and overwhelmed by the need to make this declaration, the music and text quickly move forward, almost apologetically clarifying that this declaration is not an attempt at gaining special favor from God, or dodging any impending judgment.  Then a near heartbeat-like pulse of the organ is set in motion.  The male voices, who begin to paint the picture of Christ upon the cross, are then joined by the female voices, all enraptured at the image of Christ embracing our sinful nature while hanging in disgrace.

Without any sort of transition the pulse of the accompaniment changes in texture and is augmented with the voices of the choir and the text to simulate the sound of a hammer declaring, “For me didst bear the nails and spear and manifold disgrace.”

In response to the image of Christ paying for our sins on the cross, in an a cappella section the choir whispers, this time asking a rhetorical question, “Why, O blessed Jesus”, should I not love thee?”  The text further clarifies that the love being expressed has nothing to do with gaining or loosing heaven or hell or with some vile attempt at obligating God to us.  The one and only foundation of this pronouncement of love for God is simply because He first loved us and gave himself on the cross.  The final declaration of the text states, “Solely because Thou art my God, and my Eternal King!”

For those of you who will be with us Sunday Morning, I hope you experience as much joy in worshipping our Lord and expressing love to him as we will as we share this piece.  May God bless you and your family as we worship God in awe and wonder.