Rejoice, Again I Say Rejoice

Charles Wesley was no stranger to persecution. As the founder of the Methodists along with his brother John, he endured much ridicule for, what was at the time, his unusual ways of worship. Many of his fellow believers experienced persecution. Is it curious, then, that he chose to write a hymn calling on Christians to rejoice?

Not so. Paul wrote the book of Philippians, especially chapter 4:4 which this hymn is based on, while in prison in Rome. He himself had been beaten, stoned and had his life threatened numerous times.

But this rejoicing isn't a call to throw a party. This is a rejoicing in the Lord. A deep, abiding, hopeful trust in his care for us. Philippians 4:4-7 says this:
⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Our rejoicing comes from a life of prayer and trust. We come to the Lord with thanksgiving for all he has done for us and with our petitions. We lay aside all anxiety and, in doing so, Christ fills us with peace. For this, we rejoice. We have a sovereign God who is in control of every aspect of our life - good or bad.

There is no better reason to rejoice than that.

Rejoice, the Lord is King! 
 Your Lord and King adore; 
 mortals, give thanks and sing, 
 and triumph evermore. 
 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. 
 Lift up your heart, 
 lift up your voice; rejoice, 
 again I say, rejoice. 

3. His kingdom cannot fail; 
 he rules o'er earth and heaven; 
 the keys of earth and hell 
 are to our Jesus given. 
 Lift up your heart, 
 lift up your voice; rejoice, 
 again I say, rejoice. 

4. Rejoice in glorious hope! 
 Jesus the Judge shall come, 
 and take his servants up 
 to their eternal home. 
 We soon shall hear 
 th'archangel's voice; the trump of God 
 shall sound, rejoice!

 

The Story behind Rejoice, the Lord Is King

The text for this majestic hymn by Charles Wesley first appeared in his brother John's book Moral and Sacred Poems in 1744. In 1746, Charles published it as one of 16 selections in Hymns for Our Lord's Resurrection. It originally had six verses.

The hymn is based on Philippians 4:4. "Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." The early Methodists experienced much persecution and hardship and Charles wrote this hymn, based on Paul's words penned while to prison, to encourage them.

The composer of the tune most associated with the hymn, John Darwall, first published the tune with the words of Psalm 148 in 1770. G.F. Handel wrote a tune specifically for this hymn in 1750 and published in 1826 by Samuel Wesley, Charles' son.

Rejoice, the Lord Is King

A beautiful hymn for this season of the year.

My Great Redeemer's Praise

There was an ad on the radio recently where a store was promoting a sale. The announcer came on and told the audience about this big clearance. A lone little voice quietly sang a ditty. No, the announcer insisted the sale was bigger than that. A couple of other voices joined in the jingle. No, no, the announcer insisted this was a really, really big sale. A symphony chorus broke in, full and rich and deep. Yes, the announcer said that was how big the sale was.

As Christians, we have even grander news than a clearance sale. We have the death and resurrection of Jesus to proclaim to the world.

He breaks the power of canceled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean,
His blood availed for me.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice,
New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,
The humble poor believe.

Are a thousand tongues even enough to proclaim our Lord's majesty, power and salvation? He has given us the greatest gift of all - eternal life. What will we do in eternity? We'll praise Him, of course. It will take an eternity to glorify Him for His grace and mercy to us.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” Revelation 5:13

This praise isn't to be reserved for Sundays only. On the contrary, the Lord's praise is to be constantly on our lips.

O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer’s praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace!

My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread through all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy name.

Even the deaf, the blind, and the lame will speak and leap and sing. There is no circumstance when praise should be far from your lips. And on that glorious day when we shall be taken to heaven, all our hindrances will be removed and we'll be able to praise Him with all that we have.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come,
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

The Bible has it's own version of O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing. It's Psalm 150.

Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

The Story Behind O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

A bout of pleurisy while studying under Peter Bohler led to the renewal of Charles Wesley's faith on May 21, 1738. You can read more about that story here.

One year after this renewal, he decided to write a hymn to commemorate this event. The result was an 18 stanza long poem. The seventh verse, which says, "O for a thousand tongues to sing" has become the first verse of the shorter hymn we know today. The reference for these words is most likely from Peter Bohler who said, "Had I a thousand tongues, I would praise Him with them all."

The hymn was placed first in John Wesley’s A Collection of Hymns for the People Called Methodists published in 1780. The music to which we sing these words was composed by Lowell Mason in 1839. Mr. Mason was the first music teacher hired by an American public school. He wrote music for over 1600 hymns and is said to be the "Father of American Church Music."

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing

This week's hymn is a favorite of mine. When I was in summer Sunday school in junior high or high school, we had to memorize these words. I've never forgotten them. Enjoy!

That Thou My God Shouldst Die for Me

I once stood on the edge of the Grand Canyon - or as close to the edge as I'll come. It's deep. Very, very deep. Unless you've seen it in person, it's difficult to fathom a "hole in the ground" that big. And it's beautiful. The colors are spectacular. Without having seen it firsthand, you can't imagine what it's like. I can't describe it adequately.

But if that's spectacular, what about God's love? Have you ever taken the time to meditate on how amazing is God's love for us? So deep was His love that He sent His Son - God Himself - to die for us.

Died He for me, who caused His pain—
For me, who Him to death pursued?

He died for me, not because of anything He had done, but because of the sin I had done; not because He had to, but because He loved me more than I can comprehend.

Ephesians 3:17-19: And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

We did nothing to deserve His love - quite the opposite. We deserve eternal punishment. Pause and think about that. Even though we did nothing good, through Christ's death, and because of His great love for us, God gave us everything good. We couldn't even seek Him out. He came to us in our weakness and brokeness and lavished His grace on us.

’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Ephesians 2:4-5:  ⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

His love does surpass all our knowledge. It will take all of eternity for us to comprehend it.

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.

The fourth verse is the one that leads scholars to believe that Charles Wesley wrote this hymn shortly after his conversion. It references Peter's miraculous escape from prison in Acts 12 and makes the analogy to the freedom from sin we have in Christ.

My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

There is only one response.

Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

The Story of Amazing Love (And Can It Be)

The hymn that we know as Amazing Love or And Can It Be was written by the prolific hymn composer Charles Wesley. I read varying accounts to the number of songs attributed to him, but it appears to be well over 5000.

Charles and his brother John were both ordained ministers and founded a holy group called "The Methodists" because of their methods of rising early and strict Bible study. Yet they were both caught in the trap of legalism. A mission trip to the American colony of Georgia proved to be disastrous and Charles came home broken and ill. After his return, both he and his brother made the acquaintance of Moravian Peter Bohler, who urged Charles to look more deeply at the state of his soul and who taught them about true evangelical Christianity.

In May of 1738, once again ill, Charles read Martin Luther's book on Galatians and was convicted. He wrote, "At midnight I gave myself to Christ, assured that I was safe, whether sleeping or waking. I had the continual experience of His power to overcome all temptation, and I confessed with joy and surprise that He was able to do exceedingly abundantly for me above what I can ask or think."

He also journaled, "I now found myself at peace with God, and rejoiced in hope of loving Christ. I saw that by faith I stood." Two days later he began writing a hymn that many believe to be And Can It Be (Amazing Love). The hymn's words bear this theory out, especially the words of verse four.

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature's night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free;
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

Amazing Love

This week I chose one of my favorite hymns, "Amazing Love" by Charles Wesley. It gives me shivers just to listen to it. Enjoy!