Thomas Kelly’s hymn “Stricken, smitten, and afflicted” beautifully portrays the suffering of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross. In this brief analysis, I consider the hymnist, hymn tune, and text.
Born in Dublin on July 13, 1769, Thomas Kelly was educated at Dublin’s Trinity College. He served as a judge for the Irish Court of Common Pleas. According to John Julian, Kelly “was designed for the Bar, and entered the Temple, London, with that intention, but having undergone a very marked spiritual change he took Holy Orders in 1792” (A Dictionary of Hymnody [1892 edition], 614). After seceding from the established church, Kelly “erected places of worship . . . where he conducted divine worship and preached “ (ibid.). On May 14, 1854, Kelly breathed his last.
Penning 765 hymns, Kelly was a successful hymnographer. Of his hymnody, Julian writes,
As a hymn-writer, Kelly was most successful. As a rule his strength appears in hymns of Praise and in metres not generally adopted by the older hymn-writers.
A Dictionary of Hymnody [1892 edition], 614.
This crucifixion hymn often is sung to the tune O MEIN JESU, ICH MUSS STERBEN. The aforementioned tune was first published in the 1850 Geistliche Volkslieder. One may listen to the tune by clicking on the following link, https://hymnary.org/media/fetch/181301.
Since I have succinctly considered the hymnist and the tune, I now turn to the text.
Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,
see him dying on the tree!
‘Tis the Christ by man rejected;
yes, my soul, ’tis he, ’tis he!
‘Tis the long-expected Prophet,
David’s Son, yet David’s Lord;
by his Son God now has spoken:
’tis the true and faithful Word.
Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
was there ever grief like his?
Friends thro’ fear his cause disowning,
foes insulting his distress;
many hands were raised to wound him,
none would interpose to save;
but the deepest stroke that pierced him
was the stroke that Justice gave.
Ye who think of sin but lightly
nor suppose the evil great
here may view its nature rightly,
here its guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed,
see who bears the awful load;
’tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed,
Son of Man and Son of God.
Here we have a firm foundation,
here the refuge of the lost;
Christ’s the Rock of our salvation,
his the name of which we boast.
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded,
sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
who on him their hope have built.
The first stanza portrays the prophesied Messiah, the faithful Word, being beaten and crucified, and it expresses that Christ was rejected by men. The second stanza further describes the derision and bruising suffered by the Lord Jesus Christ. The third stanza points the sinner to the sacrificial lamb that bears the load of sin and wrath of God. The fourth stanza proclaims that Christ is the firm foundation in which sinners can hope. Christ is the rock of salvation, and sinners that trust in him find atonement for their transgressions, atonement that comes only through the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Dear reader, to better understand the deep doctrine found in this beautiful hymn, I beseech you to seriously ponder the following passages of Scripture.
He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
Isaiah 53:3-7 (KJV)
He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief corner stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:11-12 (NASB)
But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
Romans 4:24-25 (KJV)
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.
Hebrews 1:1-2 (NASB)
For further information on “Stricken, smitten, and afflicted,” search https://hymnary.org/text/stricken_smitten_and_afflicted_see_him_d.