Scripture Verse

The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matthew 27:51–53

Introduction

Words: C. C. Daw­son, in Hymns Writ­ten and Adapt­ed to the Week­ly Church Ser­vice of the Year, by Re­gi­nald He­ber (Lon­don: J. Mur­ray, 1827), pag­es 60–62.

Music: Vail, 16th Cen­tu­ry Ger­man (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Daw­son’s full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Cleft are the rocks, the earth doth quake,
The slum­ber­ers of the grave awake;
The tem­ple’s veil is rent in twain;
For Christ our sac­ri­fice is slain,
And bears of sin and death the pain.

Lo, na­ture’s face of beam­ing light
She veils in dark­ness at the sight
Of Him, her God, the Cru­ci­fied!
’Tis man alone that dares de­ride
The Sav­ior who for him hath died.

Despisèd is the Man of Grief,
Rejected, and de­nied be­lief,
By them whose sor­rows He hath borne,
For whose trans­gress­ions He is torn,
Whose mor­tal weak­ness He hath worn.

The Migh­ty One, the Son of God,
Hath hum­bly kissed af­flict­ion’s rod,
That by His stripes we might be healed,
Our par­don by His blood be sealed,
And bound­less mercy stand re­vealed.

We all, like sheep, have gone as­tray,
And turned aside from wis­dom’s way,
But He hath saved us from our sin;
Our God the ran­som-Lamb hath been,
Our God hath saved us from our sin!

Oh let us cast each vice away,
Which thus the Son of God would slay!
With con­trite heart and weep­ing eye
Behold the Sav­ior’s cross on high
And ev­ery sin and fol­ly fly!

So may we join the song of love
Which saints and an­gels sing above;
All hon­or, glo­ry, praise to Thee,
Which wert and art and art to be,
The Lamb slain from eter­ni­ty!

illustration
The Dead Appear in the Temple
James Tissot (1836–1902)