This song from Emu was written by Liv Chapman for their “Creation Awaits” album, and it was filmed in the beautiful church 12th Century church St Aldates in Oxford, UK. This song has a really simple tune that congregations will catch quickly, and I love the crescendo at the end of each verse of hallelujah. It reminds me that at the end of the ages, when all is said and done and Christ returns, those who have waited for him, from every tribe and tongue will sing together “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns!” Enjoy!

Come and hear the wondrous love
The mighty God who reigns above
Has entered in to dwell with us
Hallelujah

On the earth, our saviour lived
The Son of Man, the servant king
And by his death, he bore our sin
Hallelujah

Refrain
The fight is over, the battle done
The victory of life is won
The song of triumph has begun
Hallelujah

The powers of hell had seemed to win
But Christ has conquered death and sin
Let’s raise our voices for our King!
Hallelujah

Refrain

For very soon, he will return
And place all things beneath his throne
And take us to our heav’nly home
Hallelujah

Refrain

So now by faith we persevere
And in His strength, we will not fear
For as we meet, our God is here
Hallelujah

Isaac Watts grew up singing only metrical Psalms. He would continually complain to his father about how boring and meaningless they were to him. His father tired of his complaints, challenged him to write something better. The following week, the adolescent Isaac presented his first hymn to the church. Watts did not reject metrical Psalms; he simply wanted to see them more impassioned. “They ought to be translated in such a manner as we have reason to believe David would composed them if he had lived in our day” he wrote. This is one of the most popular hymns and was given in his Psalms of David, 1719, as Pt 2. of his version of Psalm 72_¹.

Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
does its successive journeys run,
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.

To him shall endless prayer be made,
and praises throng to crown his head.
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
with every morning sacrifice.

People and realms of every tongue
dwell on his love with sweetest song,
and infant voices shall proclaim
their early blessings on his name.

Blessings abound where’er he reigns:
the prisoners leap to lose their chains,
the weary find eternal rest,
and all who suffer want are blest.

Let every creature rise and bring
the highest honors to our King,
angels descend with songs again,
and earth repeat the loud amen.

¹page 114 – Leeman, D. and Leeman, B., 2022. Our Hymns, Our Heritage: A Student Guide to Songs of the Church

There are several accounts as to the origin of the beautiful hymn “Fairest Lord Jesus.” The best known legend is that it was sung by the twelfth century German Crusaders, as they made their long, weary way to the Holy Land. Another, more credible account is that it was sung by the followers of John Hus, who were driven out of Bohemia in 1620 in the anti-Reformation purge, who settled in Silesia, now part of Poland. They had to keep their faith secret, yet had a strong tradition of hymn singing. I like the below version sung by Emu Music with updated words; enjoy!

Fairest Lord Jesus,
Ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish,
Thee will I honour,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.

Fair are the meadows,
Fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer,
Jesus is purer
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine,
Fairer still the moonlight,
And all the twinkling starry host:
Jesus shines brighter,
Jesus shines purer
Than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful Saviour!
Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honour,
Praise, adoration,
Now and forevermore be thine.

¹songsandhymns.org/hymns/detail/fairest-lord-jesus

Little is known about Dorothy Thrupp except she wrote many hymns for children. She often. used the pseudonym “Iota” or the initials D.A.T. This hymn was included in a book she edited for children called “Hymns for the Young”. It is based on Psalm 23 and John 10, where Jesus called Himself “the Good Shepherd”. Ira Sankey, a famous 19th Century gospel singer who would travel with D.L. Moody, once sang this hymn at a Christmas Eve gathering. Afterwards a man approached him who was a Confederate soldier. He told the story of how he raised his gun to shoot a Union solder, when the man began to sing this hymn. Deciding to wait until he has finished singing the hymn, he then remembered his own mother used to sing this hymn to him; at the end he could not pull the trigger and kill him. The twist in the story was that the soldier who had sang the hymn was Sankey himself!¹ Enjoy this one 🙂

Saviour, like a shepherd lead us,
Much we need Thy tender care;
In Thy pleasant pastures feed us,
For our use Thy folds prepare:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are;
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast bought us, Thine we are.

We are Thine, do Thou befriend us,
Be the guardian of our way;
Keep Thy flock, from sin defend us,
Seek us when we go astray:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Hear, O hear us when we pray;
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Hear, O hear us when we pray.

Thou hast promised to receive us,
Poor and sinful though we be;
Thou hast mercy to relieve us,
Grace to cleanse, and pow’r to free:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Early let us turn to Thee;
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Early let us turn to Thee.

Early let us seek Thy favour,
Early let us do Thy will;
Blessed Lord and only Saviour,
With Thy love our bosoms fill:
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still;
Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
Thou hast loved us, love us still.

¹page 98 – Leeman, D. and Leeman, B., 2022. Our Hymns, Our Heritage: A Student Guide to Songs of the Church

Written by Charles Wesley, “Jesus, Thine All Victorious Love” comes from the Wesleys’ great compendium, A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (A Collection of Hymns).² John Wesley, in the 1779 preface to that collection, calls it a “little body of experimental and practical divinity. This hymn stands out in that collection as an exemplary text for the Easter season. This is the fourth and last in a series of articles in the month of April exploring hymns especially appropriate for Eastertide. As with many Wesley hymns that we sing today, the four stanzas given in the are but part of a much longer hymn called “My God! I know, I feel thee mine.” The complete hymn is found in Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists in the section, “For Believers, Groaning for Full Redemption.” Atop the hymn text in the early editions sits a scripture reference to Romans 4:13, which speaks of the promise God made to Abraham and the righteousness of his faith¹. Enjoy!

Jesus, thine all-victorious love
shed in my heart abroad;
then shall my feet no longer rove,
rooted and fixed in God.

O that in me the sacred fire
might now begin to glow;
burn up the dross of base desire
and make the mountains flow!

O that it now from heaven might fall
and all my sins consume!
Come, Holy Ghost, for thee I call,
Spirit of burning, come!

Refining fire, go through my heart,
illuminate my soul;
scatter thy life through every part
and sanctify the whole.

¹umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-jesus-thine-all-victorious-love-wesley