A Hymn for Both Life and Death

A dear man in our church passed away recently. He was a friend and a deacon and knew how to give a strong handshake! The hymns he chose ahead of time for his funeral were The Love of God (his favorite), Amazing Grace and Victory in Jesus.

That last one caught me by surprise. I had never thought of it as a good "funeral" hymn before but it certainly is.

While I've typically thought of it as a victorious living kind of hymn, this time while singing, I tearfully rejoiced in Art's ultimate victory celebration in Heaven.

Read the hymn below and see for yourself!

Victory in Jesus

by E.M. Bartlett

I heard an old, old story how a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning, of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins and won the victory

Chorus
O victory in Jesus, my Savior, forever!
He sought me and bought me with His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him, and all my love is due Him.
He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood

I heard about His healing, of His cleansing pow’r revealing
How he made the lame to walk again and caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus, come and heal my broken spirit,”
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.

I heard about a mansion he has built for me in glory,
And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing and the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory.