Rejoice! the Lord is King

For Advent, For Christmas

Words: Charles Wesley, Rejoice, The Lord Is King!, 1746, alt.

Music: Gopsal, MIDI / Noteworthy Composer
Darwall, MIDI / Noteworthy Composer
Jubilate; MIDI / Noteworthy Composer
Nevin, Resurrection

Meter: 66 66 88

Source: The Book of Christmas Hymns (London: T. Nelson and Sons, 1868), pp. 115-116.

1. Rejoice, the Lord is King!
Your Lord and King adore
Mortals, give thanks and sing,
And triumph evermore;

Refrain:
Lift up your heart,
Lift up your voice; rejoice,
Again I say, rejoice!

2. Jesus the Savior reigns,
The God of truth and love;
When He had purged our stains
He took His seat above; Refrain

3. His kingdom cannot fail,
He rules o'er earth and heaven,
The keys of death and hell
Are to our Jesus given; Refrain

4. He sits at God's right hand,
Till all His foes submit,
And bow to His command,
And fall beneath His feet: Refrain

5. He all His foes shall quell,
Shall all our sins destroy,
And every bosom swell
With pure, seraphic joy: Refrain

6. Rejoice in glorious hope!
Our Lord the Judge shall come,
And take His servants
Up to their eternal home. Refrain

Sheet Music "Darwall" by John Darwall, 1770, from Henry Sloane Coffin and Ambrose White Vernon, eds., Hymns of the Kingdom of God. New York: The A. S. Barnes Company, 1910, #96.

These editors give the date of composition of the lyrics by Charles Wesley in 1744.

Note:

First appeared in John Wesley's Moral and Sacred Poems in 1744, and two years later in Charles Wesley's collection, Hymns for our Lord's Resurrection. The First Edition. (Bristol: Felix Farley, 1746). The Third Edition is found in Vol. 4, The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley. Also includes Hymns for Those That Seek and Those That have Redemption in the Blood of Jesus Christ, pp. 205 ff.; see Hymns and Sacred Poems, Vol. 1, Part 1.

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