Hymn Reflection: Come, Thou Almighty King
“Come, Thou Almighty King” is a trinitarian hymn first titled “An Hymn to the Trinity” and found printed on a four-page leaflet of two hymns and bound into the 1757 edition of George Whitefield’s Collection of Hymns for Social Worship. The leaflet had no title page, but the hymn “Jesus, Let Thy Pitying Eye” by Charles Wesley was also included in it. Because of this, some have attributed “Come, Thou Almighty King” to Wesley as well. However, the hymn is not found in any publication by Wesley; therefore, the hymn author is designated as anonymous.
The text originally had five stanzas, but beginning with the printing of the 1854 edition of The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion, most hymnals omitted the original second stanza. The four remaining stanzas, as found in the 2008 Baptist Hymnal, outline a common structure found in trinitarian hymns. Stanza 1 addresses the Father; stanza 2 addresses the Son; stanza 3 addresses the Holy Spirit; and the final stanza is a doxology to the Trinity.
The hymn is almost exclusively sung to the melody ITALIAN HYMN by Italian composer and violinist Felice de Giardini (1716–1796). The composition of the tune was requested specifically for this text by Selina Shirley, the Countess of Huntingdon. This text and tune together were first published in Martin Madan’s Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1769).
According to hymnary.org this hymn has appeared in 1,595 hymnals. While its appearance in hymnals today is not as great as it was in its first half century of publication, it has maintained a consistent presence in hymnals over the last two hundred fifty years and is still found in nearly fifty percent of published hymnals today.
Analysis
1. Come, Thou Almighty King,
Help us Thy name to sing;
Help us to praise:
Father, all glorious,
O’er all victorious,
Come, and reign over us,
Ancient of Days.
The first stanza serves as a call to God the Father to assist the people of God in singing praise to him. The reasons given for singing this praise are his infinite power and might, glory, and sovereignty. In this stanza the people of God recognize that he is victorious over all creation and reigns over them as the Ancient of Days, an allusion to Daniel 7. In this passage the Ancient of Days, God himself, is described physically and as one who sits upon a central throne with ten thousand times ten thousand surrounding him while he reigns and exercises judgment. Later in the passage, helping the reader recognize that this is God the Father specifically, is the presentation of the “son of man” before him (Dan 7:13).
2. Come, Thou Incarnate Word,
Gird on Thy mighty sword;
Our pray’r attend!
Come, and Thy people bless,
And give Thy Word success:
Spirit of holiness,
On us descend.
Stanza two continues the spirit of stanza one’s allusion to Daniel 7, shifting attention from the Father to the Son who was “given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him (Dan 7:14).” In the first verse of the stanza, God the Son is addressed as “Incarnate Word,” a title we see in John 1, which describes Jesus as the eternal, preexistent Word who has come in the flesh to dwell among men and who is himself God. In his coming, he has “not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matt 10:34),” for the redeeming work of Christ will create separation between those who believe in Christ and those who reject him. The final half of the stanza calls on the Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to descend upon the people of God and give success to the Word as the distinct persons of the Trinity are at work together.
3. Come, Holy Comforter,
Thy sacred witness bear
In this glad hour!
Thou, who almighty art,
Now rule in ev’ry heart
And ne’er from us depart,
Spirit of pow’r.
The lyrics of stanza three flow directly from the final verses of stanza two as it continues the declaration of the reason for God the Holy Spirit to descend upon the people of God. The Spirit is the “Holy Comforter” and bears witness to the work of the Son. In John 15:26, Jesus tells his disciples that he will send a helper, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father, who will aid them in their witness of him. This promise reminds believers that when they bear witness about the Son, the Holy Spirit is at work in their words. The hymn communicates the eternal and powerful presence of the Spirit in the hearts and lives of believers.
4. To Thee, great One in Three,
The highest praises be,
Hence evermore.
Thy sov’reign majesty
May we in glory see,
And to eternity
Love and adore.
The final stanza serves as a doxology (an expression of praise to God) to the Trinity, the “great One in Three.” The preceding stanzas have all outlined specific work unique to each distinct person of the Trinity, and now the hymn writer combines the themes of sovereignty, majesty, and eternity as the source of motivation for the Church to proclaim her love and adoration to God.
Evaluation
The hymn effectively traces, though not exhaustively and some more than others, the work of each person of the Trinity both in distinctiveness and partnership to one another and offers the believer just cause to give him praise. God the Father is presented as reigning and judging in power and might as the Ancient of Days. God the Son, the Incarnate Word (John 1:1), who is presented before the Father in Daniel 7 is sent with his mighty sword creating enmity between those who believe and those who do not while reconciling men to the Father. Upon belief, Jesus sends God the Holy Spirit to be a comforter to the believer and to embolden the witness of the believer to the redeeming work of Jesus.
A weakness of the hymn is its lack of attention to the second person of the Trinity, God the Son. Only a few verses of stanza two are devoted to him. Perhaps this is a result of the original second stanza, listed below, being dropped from hymnals beginning in the mid nineteenth century.
Jesus our Lord arise,
Scatter our enemies,
And make them fall;
Let thine almighty aid,
Our sure defense be made,
Our souls on thee be staid,
Lord hear our call.
This omitted stanza fills in much of the missing narrative between God the Father and God the Son, especially as is communicated in the Daniel 7 passage with authority being given to the Son by the Father. The inclusion of this verse further strengthens a well-crafted trinitarian hymn, which rightly sees God as one in three distinct persons. May the Church continue to use this hymn to declare these great truths.
