Carol Contemplation: Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,

Born to set Thy people free;

Israel’s Strength and Consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear Desire of ev’ry nation,

Joy of ev’ry longing heart.

From our fears and sins release us:

Let us find our rest in Thee.

Israel’s Strength and Consolation,

Hope of all the earth Thou art;

Dear Desire of ev’ry nation,

Joy of ev’ry longing heart.

Born to reign in us forever;

Now Thy gracious Kingdom bring.

By Thine own eternal Spirit

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By Thine all sufficient merit,

Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley; Tune:  Hyfrydol

Is this my favorite? It just might be. My favorite recording of this song is on a little album called Winterlude, by John Darnell. It is an instrumental recording of carols, and we bought it years ago on clearance at Marc’s, of all places. It is probably my very favorite Christmas album. The harmony line in this recording is just beautiful, and when I get to sing this song in church, I sing that line. So, so beautiful.

My friend Sandhya, (Sandhya, where are you!!!???) and I once had a conversation about hymns. She said, "You know, if I were ever thrown in prison for my faith and wasn’t allowed to have the Bible, I’d be ok, because I know all these hymns by heart." She’s totally right. So many of these songs and carols are full of scripture, full of doctrine. In this carol, we have the majesty of Christ– both His divinity and his humanity. We also see our need of Him, declaring our helplessness in the face of sin and fear. Most importantly, it rejoices in His merit, and His merit alone, to save us. What a wonder: the message of the Gospel, shining through the loveliness of a Christmas carol. When I am in a store during the holidays, I listen to the music wafting through the air. And sometimes I smile to myself: all these traditional songs, usually bereft of their lyrics, playing in the secular world. I smile because I believe they still have the power to move in the hearts of the listener. They whisper to us in the midst of all the materialism and stress: Jesus, Jesus, it is ALL about Jesus. What comfort.

Because this carol shares the same tune as "Our Great Savior," I usually end up mixing the words to both songs together. But it works. Listen:

"Hallelujah! What a Savior! Hallelujah! What a Friend!

Saving, helping, keeping , loving

He is with me to the end."

We can still sing "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus" as a prayer. He is, after all, going to come back some day.

Let us find our rest in Thee.