These Hands

"These Hands":

The nail-pierced hands of the Saviour,
Hung firm to a rugged cross.
Bled to offer man forgiveness.
Gave His life to pay sin's cost.

The lifeless hands of the Saviour.
Taken down from Calv'ry's tree.
The buried body of Jesus would rise again,
Setting man free.

These hands, kind and loving,
Held out to set free.
Reaching the week and lowly,
Healing at Calvary.

These hands, offered forgiveness,
To a debt none could pay,
To all who call upon Him,
To the hands reached out in faith,
These hands.

The scarred hands of the Saviour,
Reached out in love for each soul.
Comforts the hearts of the doubting.

By His wounds, one can be whole.
The open hands of the Saviour,
Accepts repentant, sinful hearts.
Grace and mercy underserving.
Offers new life with a new start.

These hands, kind and loving,
Held out to set free.
Reaching the week and lowly,
Healing at Calvary.

These hands, offered forgiveness,
To a debt none could pay,
To all who call upon Him,
To the hands reached out in faith,
These hands.

These hands, true and faithful,
Secured a Heav'n'ly home,
To all who trust in Him,
He claims them as His own.

These hands of lovingkindness,
To receive believing hearts,
To all who call upon Him,
To the hands reached out in faith.
These hands.


THESE HANDS
Duration: 4:00 minutes

Written for SATB choir, piano, strings (two violins, viola, cello),
concert snare drum, and concert drum.

"These Hands" tells the story of Christ's working hands through His ministry. Musically the ministry of Christ- the saving of the broken, the sacrifice of death, and the supreme power of the resurrection- is shown through the timbre in the voices and instrumentation, the theme and variations throughout, and the detailed dynamics and articulations. With an emphasis on the hands of the Saviour, the instrumentation surrounds the vocal parts picturing these comforting hands.

The text shares the progression of Christ's hands- nail-pierced, lifeless, kind, loving, scarred, open, true, and faithful. "These Hands" was written in honour of my father, whose hands bore the scars of his hard work. The comfort, care, and character of Christ is shown through the use of ternary form, as the instrumentation creates book ends to the piece.

Scripture references: John 20:25 (nail-pierced), John 19:30, 40 (lifeless), Luke 6:35 (kind), loving (Matthew 14:14), scarred (John 20:27), Matthew 7:7 (opened hands), true (John 14:6), faithful (Hebrews 10:3).