Perusing the Concordia (the source hymnal for the Saturday Hymns of My Youth series) this morning, I counted just the right number of favorite Advent/Christmas hymns to take us through Christmas Day. So, in the spirit of doing little or nothing here this week, I’m going to present them all, one each day. One or two of them will be lesser-known; today’s is quite familiar.
120 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 ev’ry nation,
Joy of ev’ry 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.
—The Concordia Hymnal (Augsburg Publishing House), 1960.
The Concordia tune is Lord Victorious, for which I could find no example. It’s a pretty poor tune anyway, seemingly calculated to prevent singers from actually feeling the sentiment of the text. Cyberhymnal.org lists a half-dozen tunes including Hyfrydol, which is, of course, the canonical tune.
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