Throned upon the Awe-full Tree
Throned upon the awe-full tree
Throned upon the Awe-full Tree is a hymn text by Unknown (1800) in L.M. meter. Found in h82 98, tlh 174.
The hymn meditates on Christ's cry of dereliction from the cross, emphasizing the depth of Christ's substitutionary suffering and abandonment. It reflects Lutheran emphasis on Christ's vicarious atonement and the paradox of divine power expressed through weakness.
History & Background
This hymn appears in The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) as hymn 174, representing 19th-century English hymnody reflecting on Christ's passion. Its authorship remains uncertain, typical of many anonymous hymn texts from this period.
Hymnal Appearances
- The Hymnal 1982 — 98
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 174
Bulletin Note
This early 19th-century hymn of unknown authorship meditates on Christ's cry of dereliction, emphasizing substitutionary atonement. Its stark theology of divine abandonment reflects Lutheran catechetical depths often overlooked in modern worship.
Preaching Connection
This hymn embodies the Lutheran paradox of Law and Gospel: the Law's condemnation reaches its crescendo in Christ's dereliction, while the Gospel's deepest promise emerges from that very abandonment, where substitutionary love conquers sin and death.
Overview
John Ellerton's meditation on the Fourth Word, 'My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?' The singer keeps watch with the 'King of grief' enthroned on the cross, his face veiled in darkness (st. 1); through the three hours of darkness he wrestles with evil, left alone with human sin (st. 2); then the cry of dereliction rises through the cloud (st. 3). The last stanza is the payoff: Christ was 'thus bereft / That Thine own might ne'er be left' — so in my own darkness, teach me by that cry that you are near (st. 4).
Central theme: Christ forsaken in our place so that his own are never forsaken
Structure
Four six-line stanzas (7.7.7.7.7.7). Watching (1) — the three hours (2) — the cry (3) — application (4).
Law & Gospel Shape
Law: 'Left alone with human sin'; the forsakenness; 'fear and anguish… o'er my sinful soul' (2, 4). Gospel: 'bereft / That Thine own might ne'er be left' (4).
Confessional Connections
Mark 15:34 (TLH's text). The dereliction is the substitution at its deepest: Christ, 'made sin' (2 Cor 5:21) and 'a curse for us' (Gal 3:13), bore God's wrath and abandonment (Ap IV; FC III). He remains the Father's 'only Son' and 'Anointed' even as he cries (st. 3) — the Trinity is not divided; the forsakenness is borne by the God-man in his office (FC VIII). St. 4: the comfort for Anfechtung — when God seems absent, faith clings to the Christ who was truly forsaken so that we never will be (Heb 13:5; theology of the cross). 'Throned upon the… tree' — the cross as Christ's throne (John 19:19).
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Good Friday (Tre Ore, Fourth Word); Holy Week; Lent.
Historical Notes
Ellerton (1826-1893), Anglican hymnologist (also 'The Day Thou Gavest'), wrote it in 1875 for the Good Friday Three Hours.
About the Tune
GETHSEMANE (Richard Redhead, 1853) — the 'Go to Dark Gethsemane' tune.
Scripture References
Mark 15:33-34 Matt 27:45-46 Ps 22:1 John 19:2-3 Isa 53:3 Isa 53:6 2 Cor 5:21 Gal 3:13 Luke 22:53 Col 2:15 John 1:29 Heb 13:5 Ps 139:11-12 Isa 50:10
Stanza by Stanza
Enthroned on the dreadful tree, King of grief, I keep watch with you. Darkness hides your anguished face; no one can trace its lines of sorrow, no one can tell what unknown pains hold you silent and alone.
The cross as throne ('King of the Jews,' John 19:19). 'A man of sorrows' (Isa 53:3). 'Could you not watch with me one hour?' (Matt 26:40). Darkness over the land (Mark 15:33).
- Scripture
- John 19:19, Isa 53:3, Matt 26:40, Mark 15:33
- Imagery & language
- Throne; King of grief; veiled face.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — unfathomable suffering.
- Connection to previous
- Watching.
Silent through those three terrible hours, wrestling with the powers of evil, left alone with human sin, gloom around you and within you, until the appointed time comes when the Lamb of God may die.
'From the sixth hour there was darkness… until the ninth hour' (Matt 27:45). 'The power of darkness' (Luke 22:53); he disarmed them (Col 2:15). 'The LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all' (Isa 53:6).
- Scripture
- Matt 27:45, Luke 22:53, Col 2:15, Isa 53:6, John 1:29
- Imagery & language
- Three hours; evil powers; alone with sin.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — sin borne alone.
- Connection to previous
- Three hours.
Listen to the cry that rings out upward through the overwhelming cloud! You, the Father's only Son, his own Anointed, ask him — can it be? — 'Why have you forsaken me?'
Ps 22:1 on Jesus' lips (Mark 15:34). The Son remains Son even in dereliction — the cry is still 'My God.' 'Made a curse for us' (Gal 3:13).
- Scripture
- Mark 15:34, Ps 22:1, Gal 3:13, 2 Cor 5:21
- Imagery & language
- Cry; whelming cloud; forsaken.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — God's wrath borne; Gospel — for us.
- Connection to previous
- The cry.
Lord, if fear and anguish should roll darkly over my sinful soul, you who were once so abandoned so that your own might never be left, teach me by that bitter cry to know you are near in the darkness.
'I will never leave you nor forsake you' (Heb 13:5). 'Even the darkness is not dark to you' (Ps 139:12). 'Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD' (Isa 50:10).
- Scripture
- Heb 13:5, Ps 139:11-12, Isa 50:10
- Imagery & language
- Fear and anguish; bereft; nigh in the gloom.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — never forsaken.
- Connection to previous
- Never left.
Themes
Christ's Passion Crucifixion Redemption through suffering Abandonment and trust