"Behold a Host, Arrayed in White"

Over the last two years, I noted some features in "Behold a Host, Arrayed in White," sung to the tune "Den store hvide flok."  Musically, the tune is divided into three sections, and all of the features I noticed occur at the end of either the first or third section.  While these two sections aren't exactly the same, the last three phrases are, so I made only one excerpt of notation:

At the end of the first section of the second verse, there are the lines "Those martyrs stand, / A priestly band, / God's throne forever near."  "Forever" is sung with a melisma (F# E F# E), musically giving a sense of duration.  In the same spot in the third verse, there are the lines "Extol the Lord, / Who with His Word / Sustained you on the way."  Here, "sustained" is sung with a melisma (D E F# G), which gives something of a sense of its meaning (prolonged, to use a different word).

At the end of the last section (the end of the hymn), there are these lines in the third verse:  "Lift up one voice; / Let heav'n rejoice / In our Redeemer's song!"  "Lift up" is sung to an ascending group of notes (F# G A), illustrating its meaning, and "lift" is even sung with a melisma to emphasize this.  "Redeemer's" is sung to a cross inscription, illustrating that it's through Christ's crucifixion and resurrection that we are redeemed.  In fact, at the end of each section, there are three cross inscriptions in the tune, but this instance has the strongest connection between the tune and the text.

I also noticed a purely textual feature:  in the line "They now serve God both day and night" in the first verse, "day and night" is a merism.