Come, We that Love the Lord, ELW 625
1 Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known; join in a song with sweet accord, join in a song with sweet accord and thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.
Refrain
We're marching in Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion; we're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.
2 Let those refuse to sing who never knew our God; but children of the heav'nly King, but children of the heav'nly King may speak their joys abroad, may speak their joys abroad.
Refrain
3 The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets before we reach the heav'nly fields, before we reach the heav'nly fields, or walk to golden streets, or walk the golden streets.
Refrain
4 Then let our songs abound, and ev'ry tear be dry; we're marching through Emmanuel's ground, we're marching through Emmanuel's ground, to fairer worlds on high, to fairer worlds on high.
Refrain
Devotion
V.1 Come, We that love the Lord, and let our joys be known
Join in a song with sweet accord, join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.
We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion.
We're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.
Even though this is a well known old hymn, I was not familiar with it until I heard it on Amy Grant's CD. The song was so full of joy (and bagpipes) that I was instantly in love. We certainly have a strong tradition of looking forward to the joy of heaven. This particular hymn uses strong imagery from Revelation, a book that shows all the nations in heaven singing around the throne of God.
But I would like to add another layer to this song. We, as Christians, do not exist simply to make it to heaven. Jesus did not just die so we could have a pleasant afterlife. Heaven, Zion, the throne bleeds back into our everyday life. We come every Sunday to sing "in sweet accord" around the throne. We participate every day in the kingdom of God, which is not a place, but a reality. We are marching not to heaven, but towards God's vision for the world.
Prayer
Dear God: May we see signs of your heaven in the world around us, and may we be instruments that sing your praise in sweet accord this day. Amen.