In the first verse, the end of the line "They [choirs of saints] watch Him now descending" is sung to a descending phrase, musically illustrating the text:
The first verse ends with the lines "The Lord of Life unending / Brings dying hope new birth!" "The Lord of Life unending" is sung to this musical phrase:
"Unending" is sung with a melisma (E F# G A), musically giving a sense of duration.
Similar to the descending "descending," in the second verse, the end of the line "Our God stoops low to heal" descends, musically giving a sense of that "stoop[ing]":
