JESUS CHRIST >> KINGDOM & REIGN
SDAH 226
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!
Behold the King of glory waits;
The King of kings is drawing near,
The Savior of the world is here.
Get the hymn sheet in other keys here
For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
Hymn Spotlight: Lift Up Your Heads
Based on Psalm 24, this Advent hymn welcomes the King of Glory. George Weissel’s 17th-century text, translated by Catherine Winkworth, combines Scripture and heart preparation. William Knapp’s tune WAREHAM gives it a stately and reverent tone. Let us open our hearts anew to Christ, our coming King.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
George Weissel (1590-1635), who was a pastor at Konigsberg from 1623 until his death, and one of Prussia’s important hymn writers, wrote five eight-line stanzas of this hymn, which was published in 1642. It was entitled “Macht Hoch die Tur, das Tor machete weit” (Lift Up the Door, Fling Wide the Gate). It was intended for the first Sunday in Advent. It is based on the psalm that describes the return to heaven of the ascended Christ: “Lift up your hands, O ye gates . . . and the King of glory shall come in” (Ps. 24:7). The hymn was translated from the German by Catherin Winkworth (1829-1878; se biographies) in her Lyra Germanica, First Series, 1855. The original meter was 8.8.8.8.8.8.6.8. and was faithfully translated in this meter of each stanza have been omitted, making the hymn a normal Long meter one.
Her heading “Fourth Sunday in Advent. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say unto you, Rejoice. . . The Lord is at hand” (an exact quotation from Philippians 4:4). After opening the lines from Psalm 24, the hymn goes on to draw the spiritual lesson of Christ entering the heart of the believer and uses many Scripture references. WAREHAM was composed in 1738 for Psalm 36:5-10 by William Knapp (1698-1768; see SDAH 174) and named in honor of his birthplace in Wareham, Dorset, England. The same tune, in the lower key of A, is used for SDAH 174, “ Star of Our Hope.” Notice that the melody, with the one exception in line 1 and one other in line 4, proceeds successive notes of the scale.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Stanza:
1 – Psalm 24:7
Revelation 19:6
John 4:42
2 – Isaiah 45:21
Hebrews 13:6
Leviticus 8:9
4 – 1 Corinthians 3:16
5 – Ephesians 3:16
Text
1
Lift up your heads, ye mighty gates!
Behold the King of glory waits;
The King of kings is drawing near,
The Savior of the world is here.
2
The Lord is just, a helper tried;
Mercy is ever at His side;
His kingly crowns is holiness,
His scepter, pity in distress.
3
O blest the land, the city blest,
Where Christ the Ruler is confessed!
O happy hearts and happy homes
To whom this King in triumph comes!
4
Fling wide the portals of your heart;
Make it a temple, set apart
From earthly use for heaven’s employ,
Adorned with prayer, and love, and joy.
5
Redeemer, come; I open wide
My heart to Thee; here, Lord, abide.
Let me Thy inner presence feel,
Thy grace and love in me reveal.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Ps 24:7; Rev 19:6; John 4:42 (b) Isa 45:21; Heb 13:6; Lev 8:9 (d) 1 Cor 3:16 (e) Eph 3:16
Author
Georg Weissel (1590-1635)
Translator
Catherine Winkworth, 1855 (1827-1878): each verse abr.
Year Published
1642
Hymn Tune
WAREHAM
Metrical Number
L.M.
Composer
William Knapp (1698-1768)
Year Composed
1738
Alternate Tune and key
Alt tune, TRURO SDAH 182; Lower key SDAH 174
Theme
KINGDOM & REIGN
