A little Easter tender mercy

I had an unusual experience in our ward sacrament meeting yesterday.  For Easter, the hymns had all been selected from among the Easter or sacramental hymns from our current hymnal.  The intermediate hymn sung just before the main speaker, was the George Careless setting of an old Eliza R. Snow poem from the sacrament section, “Behold the Great Redeemer Die.”

Our Bishop West has this preference for singing all of the verses of hymns, and he announced that we would sing the full six verses.  He has said that he doesn’t know anything about music, but he thinks we should get the full spiritual benefits of the words of the hymns. 

I was singing away, in my usual manner, doing different parts, and had just finished delivering the bass part on verse four, when we came to verse five:

          He died, and at the awful sight
          The sun in shame withdrew its light!
          Earth trembled, and all nature sighed
          In dread response, “A God had died!”

Suddenly I got a clog in my throat, tears welled up in my eyes, and I could not sing a note.  I just had to sit there dumb and overwhelmed, pondering the enormity of the sacrifice made by our Savior.

When verse six started, I could sing again.