I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the very modern hymns.
Today’s song is He Shall Reign Forevermore from 2015.
This one was part of a Christmas album – it reminds me of Handel’s Messiah and a 1991 Graham Kendrick song:
Here’s an Old Testament and New Testament verse that relate to the hymn:
Isaiah 9:6
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Revelation 11:15
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said:
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah,
and he will reign for ever and ever.”
It also draws from the lyrics of various Christmas hymns. I find it good to think of the birth of Jesus outside the context of Christmas. It gives me a fresh perspective. I’m attached to the old Christmas Carols – but singing them can become like singing Auld Lang Syne. I sung that for years without knowing what it was about 😀. I thought that Auld Lang Syne was a person 😀. And because we have such an emotional and cultural attachment to Christmas, we can celebrate it without really reflecting on the incarnation of the Son of God and the implications for our own lives and eternity
Here are some other versions of today’s hymn.
Hibernia Gospel 