Your Lord and King adore!
Rejoice, give thanks, and sing,
and triumph evermore:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Jesus the Savior reigns,
the God of truth and love;
when he had purged our stains
he took his seat above:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
His kingdom cannot fail,
he rules o'er earth and heaven;
the keys of death and hell
are to our Jesus given:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
He sits at God's right hand,
till all his foes submit,
and bow to his command,
and fall beneath his feet:
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Rejoice in glorious hope!
Our Lord the Judge shall come, [Jesus the Judge shall come]
and take his servants up
to their eternal home.
Lift up your heart, lift up your voice!
Rejoice, again I say, rejoice!
Charles Wesley, 1746
Here is a hymn that we usually program as general praise. It is in fact a distinctly Ascension hymn, as you will see in context of this season's columns in Knowing the Score. It begins with acknowledging Jesus as King, and in stanza 2 takes us to and through the cross. This is a master of poetic theology; a gift that Wesley shares with few other hymn writers. Jesus "purged our stains" then "took his seat above." There is a world of understanding there, for those who know the scriptures and who regularly sing the gospel. All the Passion in one brief phrase, and the kenosis hymn (Philippians 2) in another: he purged our stains and took his seat above. Rejoice!
To what end? That every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! So we, the Church, his Body, now live in that confession in confidence: He holds the keys to this kingdom which cannot fail. He rules. Rejoice!
Today's stanza 4 is not included in many new hymnals. But we must see and sing it. This is the work of Jesus now - and also it clarifies the final stanza's indentification of Jesus as Judge. Today I sat in on a mock ordination council. When the candidate was asked "where is Jesus now?" he wisely responded, "relative to his humanity, he is in heaven; relative to his divinity, he is omnipresent." Rejoice!
The destination of Jesus, in the clouds from the mount, was not to a passive position in a restful heaven, but to the next phase of his work. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high ... (Heb. 1:3) Now the point of what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places. (Heb. 8:1) We read elsewhere "he always lives to intercede for us." Rejoice!
And this is our hope. It is the source of hope for the apostles and the "more than 500" who saw Jesus between his resurrection and his ascension. It is the source of hope for all those who "having not seen him, yet love him." He is our Lord, the Judge, and he is coming again for his servants. He has gone to prepare a place for us, so that where he is we may be also. Rejoice!
And here is how Wesley finished this hymn - not what we find in our hymnals. Sing it to the last 2 lines (the refrain) of the hymn:
We soon shall hear th'archangel's voice;
the trump of God shall sound, rejoice!
Waiting, rejoicing,
Sing on!
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