REJOICE! The Lord Is King!
George Frederic Handel is my favorite composer (and Arrival of the Queen of Sheba my favorite of his works) of the Baroque era of music, and though he wrote this piece, the lyrics come from none other than Charles Wesley. Today is a great – no, perfect – day for these words, as a reminder of what really matters. (Hint: it isn’t the rulers of the world!)
You can follow along at hymnal.net also. (It is played much more quickly there we’ve done at my church, but they do tend to make their renditions a bit zippy on this site anyway!) I also love hymnal.net as a great place to find music with which I can play on my ukuleles, by the way.
AND there is a 5th verse, of which I was not previously aware, but it is MAGNIFICENT:
Rejoice in glorious hope! Jesus the Judge shall come,
and take his servants up to their eternal home.
We soon shall hear the archangel’s voice;
God’s trumpet call shall sound, rejoice!
Rejoice, again, I say rejoice. Praise and glory to the One who gave His life so that we may live. Rejoice, again, I say rejoice. This earth shall pass away but His chosen will not see death. Rejoice, again, I say, rejoice. Glory to God in the Highest. Thank you, Jesus., Thank you Holy Spirit. Thank you, Heavenly Father.
No matter what we can see, feel, hear, or touch, we always have reason to rejoice.
Amen and amen!!! Beautiful – always loved this hymn!!!!
His kingdom cannot fail!!!! Lift up your voice, rejoice!!
Agree – it is impossible to not have our hearts lifted when listening to it!