COME, THOU LONG-EXPECTED JESUS

Heather Allington

Heather writes for Sunday Song Book on behalf of the The Salvation Army Oshawa. As a lifelong member of the Army, she has loved these familiar - and some less familiar - songs for many years, and enjoys researching and writing about their origins. She is a wife, mother, grandmother and retired elementary school teacher who likes trying her hand at watercolour painting and poetry writing.

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in Thee.

CHORUS:
Sweet chiming bells, oh, how they ring
To welcome Christ, the newborn King!
Sweet chiming bells, oh, how they ring
To welcome Christ, the King!

All Thy people’s consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a Child and yet a King;
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.

In 1744 Charles Wesley observed the plight of orphans in his surroundings, and also considered the division of classes, from the wealthy to the poor, in Great Britain. These observations led him to write the above carol, based on Haggai 2:7, in which the prophet gives God’s message as: “I will shake all nations, and the desired of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory.” No doubt many people in Britain were living in dire circumstances in those years, and the situation needed to be “shaken”! William Booth was motivated to develop the Salvation Army because he found it so one hundred and twenty years later! And what of our world today in the twenty-first century?

Wesley wrote the last two verses of the carol first as a prayer, and then incorporated the words into a hymn. He wanted people to think of Advent and Christmas as celebrating the birth of Jesus, but also for them to live in preparation for His second coming.