Advent Reflection 02 December

Hark the glad sound, the Saviour comes

 

Pause for a moment

 

What good news have you heard in the last week?

 

Listen to the music

Hark, the glad sound! The Saviour comes, 
the Saviour promised long! 
Let every heart prepare a throne, 
and every voice a song.

He comes the prisoners to release,
in Satan’s bondage held;
the gates of brass before Him burst,
the iron fetters yield.

He comes the broken heart to bind, 

the bleeding soul to cure,
and with the treasures of His grace,
to bless the humble poor.

Our glad Hosannas, Prince of Peace,
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
and heaven’s eternal arches ring,
with Thy beloved Name.

Learn about the carol

 

This hymn was written by Philip Doddridge in 1735. Doddridge was a pastor of a Dissenting church, he did not accept the authority of the Church of England. He wrote this hymn, and many others, to be sung by his congregation and not for publication. His congregation didn’t use hymnals, but instead had someone sing the hymn line by line from the pulpit with the congregation repeating each line in turn.

Most of Doddridge’s hymns were inspired by a particular scripture, and that was true of this hymn, which was inspired by Isaiah 61:1-2.  The King James Version reads:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has
    anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom
    for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour and the day of vengeance
    of our God, to comfort all who mourn,.”

When Jesus spoke in his hometown synagogue in Nazareth, he quoted those verses from Isaiah and then said, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21).  In other words, Jesus was saying that he had come to preach good news, to bind up those who were broken, to proclaim liberty to captives, and to comfort those who mourn. It is in celebration of this work of Christ that we sing this hymn.

Time for reflection

 

‘News’ always seems to be a bad thing. If someone says ‘I need to tell you something’ you always assume that someone is ill / redundant / upset with you or something like that. There was a time when our News programmes ended with an ‘and finally…’ which was a bit of light-hearted news – but not these days. Yet into all the news, there is a light shining. We may have been in a strange place this year, but families have spent time together, we have trod lighter on the Earth and we have reassessed what is important to us.

We continue to be challenged as to how we bring the good news to those who are struggling. It is our calling to live the Good News of Jesus in our lives.

Time for Action

 

Bring good news to a neighbour – maybe by a smile or a chat, or maybe in some other way.