Hail To the Lord’s Anointed Lyrics
1 Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,
Great David’s greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free;
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
2 He shall come down like showers
Upon the fruitful earth;
And love, joy, hope, like flowers,
Spring in His path to birth:
Before Him on the mountains
Shall peace, the herald, go;
And righteousness, in fountains,
From hill to valley flow.
3 Kings shall fall down before Him,
And gold and incense bring;
All nations shall adore Him,
His praise all people sing;
For He shall have dominion
O’er river, sea, and shore,
Far as the eagle’s pinion,
Or dove’s light wing can soar.
Who Wrote Hail to the Lord’s Anointed Hymn?
James Montgomery, born in Scotland, the son of a Moravian clergyman, was an editor by profession.
Though as a child he had joined the Moravian Church, he lost his early piety when he became a young man; but later in life, he was converted, and joined the Moravian Church again at the age of forty-three.
Thus, he became a Christian warrior, such as he describes, standing
In all the armor of his God;
The Spirit’s sword is in his hand,
His feet are with the gospel shod.
He and Cowper hold the foremost place among laymen of the church who are eminent hymn- writers.
His hymn, “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed,” he wrote in 1821, seven years after he joined the church a second time.
It is a metrical version of the seventy-second psalm.
It was written as a Christmas hymn and was first sung on Christmas Day, 1821, at a great convocation of Moravians in their settlement at Falencki
At a Wesleyan missionary meeting, held in Liverpool on April 14 of the following year, 1822, when Dr. Adam Clarke presided, Montgomery made an address and closed it by the recital of this hymn with all of its verses, some of which are omitted in this hymnal.
Dr. Clarke later used it in his famous Commentary in connection with his discussion of the seventy-second psalm.
Hail To the Lord’s Anointed YouTube Video
For more lyrics and stories of old hymns visit popular and old hymns history and lyrics.
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