June - Jesus shall reign
Lyrics
1 Jesus shall reign where'er the sun
does its successive journeys run,
his kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
till moons shall wax and wane no more.
2 To him shall endless prayer be made,
and praises throng to crown his head.
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
with every morning sacrifice.
3 People and realms of every tongue
dwell on his love with sweetest song,
and infant voices shall proclaim
their early blessings on his name.
4 Blessings abound where'er he reigns:
the prisoners leap to lose their chains,
the weary find eternal rest,
and all who suffer want are blest.
5 Let every creature rise and bring
the highest honors to our King,
angels descend with songs again,
and earth repeat the loud amen.
(Isaac Watts, 1719)
Hymn Story
People have always been curious to travel and explore. They set out to sail to new places. Rulers of countries have also tried to grow their kingdoms and nations by conquering other ones. In the 18th century, the British empire grew in many far off places.
The hymn writer Isaac Watts lived at that time. At a time when the British empire would have been feeling confident in its strength, this hymn ‘Jesus shall reign’ was and still is a wonderful reminder that it is the Lord Jesus who will reign over the whole earth. All people from every nation, tribe, and tongue will be gathered to praise and honour Him. Empires rise and fall but the rule of the Lord will be forever.
Isaac Watts used the ideas of Psalm 72 to write this hymn. For example, in verse 8 we read about how His reign will reach everywhere.
‘May he have dominion from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth!’
And verses 13 and 14 tell us some of what His reign is like;
‘He has pity on the weak and the needy and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.’
Isaac Watts wrote over 750 hymns. He was born in Southampton, England in 1674 and died in 1748. He was very eager to sing the thoughts of the Psalms with the truth of the Lord Jesus and what it meant to sing the Psalms as a Christian, someone who loves and follows Christ. The Psalms were written hundreds of years before Christ came to earth but the words are filled with His coming and all that He would do. And so Watts writes ‘Jesus shall reign’.
Watts is often called the father of hymnody as before him Christian singing was built around Psalm singing. Watts inspired many poets after him to write hymns about the Lord Jesus, as seen through the whole Bible. ‘Jesus shall reign’ is one of the first big ‘mission hymns’ of the Church and is sung all over the world.
Watts wrote many other things including poetry. Some of his poetry influenced the writings of Lewis Carrol and Charles Dickens!