Jesus Shall Reign, ELW 434 and LBW 530
1 Jesus shall reign wherever the sun
Does its successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
2 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.
3 People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on his love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.
4 Blessings abound wherever he reigns:
The prisoners leap to lose their chains,
The weary find eternal rest,
And all who suffer want are blest.
5 Let every creature rise and bring
Honors peculiar to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen.
Devotion
Some hymns are more anthem-like than others. These hymns can lift our spirits in an extraordinary way as we sing them with increasing gusto. Imagery and imagination blend together in a hymn of magnificent praise to end a worship service.
This is where the hymn of the day can lead us and perhaps leave us, as they often do me, pulsing their delightful way through the rest of the day. Born of scriptural stories, images and promise, some such hymns seem even to have a heavenly quality as though, like Scripture, they were written with divine influence by a human hand. Yes! Such as this is our hymn of the day. Thanks be to God.
Prayer
May our hymns of praise continue to bless us in our singing of them to your glory, dear Jesus. Amen.