Maui, I think Vessbot of course assumed we were talking about small altitude changes only, ie. those we can reach in 125 seconds. In that case, THR does command a given rate of climb/descend (or vertical speed). What I get from this discussion is that this command is simply set INITIALLY. Once thrust set, elevators pitch for speed if required.
For large altitude changes, it’s a no brainer. Full climb thrust during climb (THR REF), Idle during descent (still shows as THR on FMA - who knows why - but quickly followed by HOLD).