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JESUS CHRIST SDA HYMNAL (1985)

SDAH 215: The King Shall Come

JESUS CHRIST >> SECOND ADVENT

SDAH 215

The King shall come when morning dawns
And light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills
And life to joy awakes.

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For Worship Leaders

Hymn Spotlight: The King Shall Come

Whether adapted from ancient Greek sources or an original by John Brownlie, this hymn expresses the longing for Christ’s visible return. It captures the darkness of this world and the joy that will break forth with the King’s arrival. Set to MORNING SONG, its melody is quiet yet expectant. May our hearts echo the prayer: “Come with joy and hope and glory—Jesus, come!”

📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.

Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):

This hymn of seven stanzas was first published by John Brownlie in 1907 in Hymns From the East, a collection of translations of Greek hymns, although no original of this one has been located, and it may be an original from the author himself. 

John Brownlie was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on August 3 or 6, 1857 some say 1859). He studied at the university there and also at the Free Church College. He was granted his license to preach in 1884; in 1885 he became assistant minister of the Free Church in Portpatrick, Wigtownshire, now Dumfries-Galloway. On the death of his superior in 1890, he took full charge of the church there. He tool great interest in education locally and in larger town of Stranraer, 10 miles across the peninsula. His greatest work was the translation on many Latin and Greek hymns, the latter being a largely unworked field except for John Manson Neale’s efforts. His publications include Hymns of Our Pilgrimage, 1889; Zionward, 1890 Pilgrim Songs, 1892; Hymns and Hymn Writers of the Church Hymnary, 1899; Hymns of the Early Church, 1896 Hymns form East and West, 1898; Hymns of the Greek Church, 1900; and others. Brownlie died at Crieff in Perthshire, on November 18, 1925.

MORNING SONG, also called CONSOLATION, first appeared in John Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, 1813, set to hymn by Isaac Watts. It is also used for SDAH 576, “Awake, Awake to Love and Work.”

John Wyeth was born on Cambridge, Massachusetts, on March 31, 1770; he became a printer and publisher in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. He published his first Repository of Sacred music in 1810, which collected standard psalm tunes, for which there was a great demand at that time at camp meetings and revival meetings in Pennsylvania. Wyeth, a Unitarian, was not a musician, but his two volumes had enormous sales among other fellowships. He died in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on January 23, 1858. 

📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.

Stanza:

2 – Matthew 24:30

3 – Matthew 28:2

4 – Revelation 22:4

Text
Text


1
The King shall come when morning dawns
And light triumphant breaks,
When beauty gilds the eastern hills
And life to joy awakes.

2
Not as of old a little child,
To bear and fight and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.

3
O, brighter than that rising morn
When Christ, victorious, rose
And left the lonesome place death,
Despite the rage of foes.

4
O, brighter than that glorious morn
Shall dawn upon our race
The day when Christ in splendor comes,
And we shall see His face.

5
The King shall come when morning dawns
And light and beauty brings.
Hail, Christ the Lord! Your people pray:
Come quickly, King of kings.

Hymn Info
Hymn Info


Biblical Reference
(b) Matt 24:30 (c) Matt 28:2 (d) Rev 22:4

Author
John Brownlie (1859-1925)

Text Source
Based on the Greek

Year Published
1907

Copyright
Arrangement copyright 1984 by Melvin West

Hymn Tune
MORNING SONG

Metrical Number
C.M.

Arranger
Melvin West, 1984 (1930-)

Tune Source
from Kentucky Harmony, 1816

Alternate Harmony
SDAH 576

Theme
SECOND ADVENT

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