122. Hail, Thou once despisèd Jesus!
John Bakewell, 1721-1819
A worshipful and strongly doctrinal hymn, bringing out plainly the doctrine of the atonement as well as the Saviour’s enthronement and glorification.
The authorship is traditionally assigned to John Bakewell, one of John Wesley’s lay preachers. But it is not clear that he wrote all of it. It appeared in 1760 in a collection by M. Madan, and later, in 1776, it was included in Psalms and Hymns by Augustus M. Toplady. Both editors apparently made some changes and omissions in the hymn, resulting in our present version.
MUSIC. IN BABILONE is a Dutch traditional melody, its present arrangement having been made by Professor Julius Röntgen, 1855-1933, of Amsterdam. It appeared in The English Hymnal in 1906 and has since won its way into many American hymn books. It is a joyous, robust melody well suited to carry this hymn.