Come, Thou almighty King,
Help us Thy name to sing, help us to praise!
Father all glorious, o’er all victorious,
Come and reign over us, Ancient of Days!

Jesus, our Lord, arise,
Scatter our enemies, and make them fall;
Let Thine almighty aid our sure defense be made,
Our souls on Thee be stayed; Lord, hear our call.

Come, Thou incarnate Word,
Gird on Thy mighty sword, our prayer attend!
Come, and Thy people bless, and give Thy Word success,
Spirit of holiness, on us descend!

Come, holy Comforter,
Thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour.
Thou who almighty art, now rule in every heart,
And ne’er from us depart, Spirit of power!

To Thee, great One in Three,
Eternal praises be, hence, evermore.
Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see,
And to eternity love and adore!

Words by Anonymous, though some records credited it to Charles Wesley
Music by Felice de Giardini, 1769

 

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He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelations 22:20

As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.
Daniel 7:9

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm. A song. May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.
Psalm 68:1

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.
Isaiah 26:3

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John 1:14

When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father–the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father–he will testify about me.
John 15:26

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Matthew 28:19

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We have all been invited to parties or held parties that we invited people to attend.  More often than not, these are just general get togethers, but sometimes they are held for a special occasion. It might be a birthday, a graduation or just to honor a specific person.

I remember many years ago when we hosted a celebration for my parents 25 wedding anniversary.  We planned for the activities, who would speak, and the special music.  We planned a location and a menu, which we then spent many hours preparing. We sent out invitations to friends and family to join us.  Most importantly we made sure the guests of honor would be there.  We asked our parents to do us the honor of joining us in this time of celebration to honor them. It is this type of invitation that is given in the hymn, “Come, Thou Almighty King.”

The hymn begins with those very words, “Come, Thou Almighty King.”  It is the cry of the heart for all those who know him, for our truest desire is to be in his presence.  It is a desire that is reflected in the closing words of the Bible itself. In Revelation 22:20 John writes, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

He is the guest of honor, who we seek to praise and worship.  We want to give him the honor that he deserves, honor that we feel is more than we can give.  So we ask Him to “Help us Thy name to sing, help us to praise!” For he is our “Father all glorious” who is “o’er all victorious.” He is our rightful King, to whom we submit and call for him to “Come and reign over us” because He is the “Ancient of Days!” spoken of by Daniel in chapter 7 verse 9 when he writes, “As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze.”

The hymn continues, “Jesus, our Lord, arise, Scatter our enemies, and make them fall.” And so our call is not just our desire to praise and worship him, but to find peace and security. Psalm 68:1 says, “May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.” In this world we face many dangers and adversaries, but we can trust in the truth that the enemy will scatter in the presence of God.  So we can know that if we remain strong in Him we can know peace as Isaiah 26:3 tells us, “You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.” It is in this truth that the hymn writer declares, “Let Thine almighty aid our sure defense be made, Our souls on Thee be stayed; Lord, hear our call.”

The hymn continues to call out to God as it reads, “Come, Thou incarnate Word.” And so we are reminded that the God ee call to has come to us.  He came to us as described in John 1:14 where we read, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Emmanuel, God with us.  So as we reflect back that God did come to us, we look forward to a day when He will return.  He will “Come, and Thy people bless, and give Thy Word success.”

But as we remember that He did come and we look forward to His coming again, we are reminded that He has not left us alone.  The hymn calls out, “Come, holy Comforter.” Jesus promised that he would send a comforter, an advocate, a helper in the form of the Holy Spirit.  In John 15:26 Jesus says, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father–the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father–he will testify about me.” An so the hymn continues, “Thy sacred witness bear in this glad hour. Thou who almighty art, now rule in every heart, And ne’er from us depart, Spirit of power!” The Holy Spirit stands as a witness, to Jesus and the Father.  He dwells within” the heart of the believer and will never abandon them.

So the call has rung out, that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit would come to us.  So the hymn writer concludes by writing, “To Thee, great One in Three.” The recognition that all three person’s of the Godhead are worthy of our praise. That the Godhead, three in one, watches overs us, protects us and comforts us. For we have been called, as presented in Matthew 28:19, “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

The desire of our soul, is to be in the presence of God. Our hope is to know the peace and comfort that come only from His presence.  When we honestly cry out from our heart, we will join in and sing, “Thy sovereign majesty may we in glory see, And to eternity love and adore!”

 

 

 

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