In Christ Alone

Don Moen's version keeps Keith Getty and Stuart Townend's lyric almost entirely intact, and the hymn earns its length by refusing to stop at comfort. "What heights of love, what depths of peace" gives way almost immediately to "'til on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied" — the song doesn't separate love from cost.

The third verse turns from crucifixion to resurrection in four lines: "there in the ground His body lay... then bursting forth in glorious Day, up from the grave He rose again." That pivot is the hinge the whole hymn depends on — "sin's curse has lost its grip on me" only follows because the grave didn't hold.

The closing verse borrows its confidence almost word for word from Jesus' own promise that no one can pluck his sheep out of his hand — "no power of hell, no scheme of man can ever pluck me from His hand." Paul's language about Christ as the one foundation, and peace with God through him, sit underneath the opening line's claim that Christ alone is where hope is found, not added onto it as decoration.