What is your hope?

This first week of Advent, we look toward the ending we know is coming. We hope expectantly, knowing that our waiting is not in vain. Knowing that Jesus has come, and will come again!

Therefore we sing “Rejoice! Emmanuel (God with us) shall come to thee!”

What does this waiting look like for you?
Is there something hard in your life right now, like Israel’s captivity, that makes you long for the day Jesus will return to make everything right?
Are you able to say “Rejoice!” even in the hard time, knowing he IS coming?

Lyrics

Verse 1
O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear

Refrain
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!

Verse 2
O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny
From depths of hell Thy people save
And give them victory o’er the grave

Repeat Refrain

Verse 3
O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer
Our spirits by Thine advent here
Disperse the gloomy clouds of night
And death’s dark shadows put to flight

Repeat Refrain

Verse 4
O come, Thou Key of David, come
And open wide our heavenly home
Make safe the way that leads on high
And close the path to misery

Repeat Refrain

Text: Latin Antiphons (8th cen.), translated by J.M. Neale (1851)
Music: VENI EMMANUEL, Latin chant (c. 1500), adapted by Thomas Helmore (1856)
Meter: 8.8.8.8 with refrain
Copyright: Public Domain

This hymn is featured in our Advent Card Worship Guides!