Scripture Verse

Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen. Revelation 1:7

Introduction

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John Cennick 1718–1755
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: John Cen­nick, Col­lect­ion of Sac­red Hymns 1752. Re­pub­lished & al­tered by Charles Wes­ley, 1758, & Mar­tin Ma­dan, 1760. For an­oth­er ver­sion, see Lo! He Com­eth!

Music: Helms­ley 18th Cen­tu­ry Eng­lish tune (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

Lo! He comes with clouds des­cend­ing,
Once for fa­vored sin­ners slain;
Thousand, thou­sand saints at­tend­ing,
Swell the tri­umph of His train:
Hallelujah! Hal­le­lujah! Hal­le­lu­jah!
God ap­pears on earth to reign.

Every eye shall now be­hold Him
Robed in dread­ful ma­jes­ty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wail­ing, deep­ly wail­ing, deep­ly wail­ing,
Shall the true Mes­si­ah see.

Every is­land, sea, and moun­tain,
Heav’n and earth, shall flee away;
All who hate Him must, con­found­ed,
Hear the trump pro­claim the day:
Come to judg­ment! Come to judg­ment!
Come to judg­ment! Come to judg­ment!
Come away!

Now redemp­tion, long ex­pect­ed,
See in so­lemn pomp ap­pear;
All His saints, by man re­ject­ed,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Hallelujah! Hal­le­lu­jah! Hal­le­lu­jah!
See the day of God ap­pear!

Answer Thine own bride and Spi­rit,
Hasten, Lord, the ge­ne­r­al doom!
The new Heav’n and earth t’in­her­it,
Take Thy pin­ing ex­iles home:
All cre­ation, all cre­ation, all cre­ation,
Travails! groans! and bids Thee come!

The dear to­kens of His pas­sion
Still His daz­zling bo­dy bears;
Cause of end­less ex­ul­ta­tion
To His ran­somed wor­ship­pers;
With what rap­ture, with what rap­ture,
With what rap­ture
Gaze we on those glo­ri­ous scars!

Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eter­nal throne;
Savior, take the pow­er and glo­ry,
Claim the king­dom for Thine own;
O come quick­ly! O come quick­ly!
O come quick­ly!
Everlasting God, come down!

This is be­lieved to be Cen­nick’s orig­in­al text:

Lo! He com­eth, count­less Trum­pets,
Blow be­fore his bloody Sign!
’Midst ten Thou­sand Saints and An­gels,
See the Cru­ci­fied shine, Al­le­lu­jah!
Welcome, wel­come bleed­ing Lamb!

Now his Mer­its by the Harp­ers,
Thro’ the eter­nal Deeps re­sounds!
Resplendent shine his Nail Prints,
Ev’ry eye shall see his Wounds!
They who pierc’d Him,
Shall at his ap­pear­ing wail.

Ev’ry is­land, sea, and moun­tain,
Heav’n and Earth shall flee away!
All who hate him must ashamed,
Hear the Trump pro­claim the Day:
Come to Judg­ment!
Stand be­fore the Son of Man!

All who love him view his Glo­ry
Shining in his bruised Face:
His dear Per­son on the Rain­bow,
Now his Peo­ples Heads shall raise:
Happy Mourn­ers!
Now on Clouds he comes! He comes!

Now Re­demp­tion long ex­pect­ed,
See, in so­lemn Pomp ap­pear;
All his Peo­ple, once des­pised,
Now shall meet him in the Air:
Allelujah!
Now the pro­mised king­dom’s come!

View him smil­ing, now de­ter­min’d,
Ev’ry Ev­il to de­stroy!
All the na­tions now shall sing him,
Songs of ev­er­last­ing Joy!
O come quick­ly! Al­le­lu­jah!
Come Lord, come!