Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

     Prolific hymnwriter Charles Wesley penned eighteen Christmas
songs, but he was never happy with simply painting the picture of the
manger scene. In this hymn he begins by alluding to scriptural proph-
ecies of Christ. Moving on to personal application, he continues:
Christ is not only the "desire of every nation"; He is the "joy of every
 longing heart." He is not only the child born with the "government...
on his shoulders" (Isaiah 9:6); He is "born to reign in us forever."

     Such personal application was a hallmark of the Wesleys' ministry.
Charles and his brother John challenged the staid Anglican traditions
of their time. The church of their day had great scholarship; its theol-
ogy was orthodox. Christians sang hymns straight from Scripture.
But the Wesleys seemed to ask, "Does this mean anything to you?
Is the biblical story about long-ago events or about what is going on
in your life?" They urged people to meet Christ personally and to
 include Him in every part of their lives--even their hymn singing.

Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus

Come, Thou long-expected Jesus,
Born to set Thy people free;
From our fears and sins release us;
Let us find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth Thou art;
Dear desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.

Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child and yet a King,
Born to reign in us forever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all sufficient merit,
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.

--Charles Wesley (1707-1788)

The One Year Book of Hymns,
Robert K. Brown & Mark R. Norton, Eds.
Wm. J. Petersen & Randy Petersen, Devotion