Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending

View this hymn using FlexPresent: Hymnary.org's free tool provides this hymn's music notationand lyrics synchronized with its audio

Lo! He comes with clouds descending, Once for guilty sinners slain

Author: Charles Wesley (1758)
Published in 766 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Playable presentation: Lyrics only, lyrics + music
Audio files: MIDI, Recording

Song available on My.Hymnary

Representative Text

1 Lo he comes in clouds descending,
Once for helpless sinner slain!
Thousand, thousand saints attending
Swell the triumph of his train:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
All the Angels cry amen.

2 Ev'ry eye shall now behold him,
Rob'd in dreadful majesty,
Those who set at nought and sold Him,
Pierc'd and nail'd gim to the tree.
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.

3 Ev'ry island, sea, and mountain,
Heav'n and earth, shall flee away;
All who hate him, must confounded,
Hear the trump proclaim the day;
Come to judgment, come to judgment, come to judgment,
Come to judgment come away.

4 Now redemption long expected,
See, in solemn pomp appear!
All his saints by man rejected,
Now shall meet him in the air!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
See the day of God appear.

5 Answer thine own bride and Spirit,
Hasten Lord, the gen'ral doom,
The new heav'n and earth t' inherit,
Take thy pining exiles home,
All creation, all creation, all creation,
Travails! groans! and bids thee come.

5 Yea, amen let all adore thee,
High on thine eternal throne!
Saviour, take the pow'r and glory;
Claim the kingdom for thine own.
O come quickly, O come quickly, O come quickly,
Hallelujah! come Lord, come.

Author: Charles Wesley

Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Lo! He comes with clouds descending, Once for guilty sinners slain
Title: Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending
Author: Charles Wesley (1758)
Meter: 8.7.8.7.4.7
Source: The Coll.
Language: English
Notes: Spanish translations: See "Ved del cielo descendiendo" by G. H. Rule, "Con los nubes viene Cristo" by George Paul Simmonds
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Matt. 24:30, Rev. 5:11-13
st. 2 = Rev. 1:7, Zech. 12:10, John 19:37

In 1750 John Cennick, a friend of John and Charles Wesley (PHH 267), wrote an Advent hymn that began, "Lo! he cometh, countless trumpets blow before his bloody sign!" Cennick's hymn was published in his Collection (1752). Charles Wesley completely rewrote the text and published his version in Hymns of Intercession for all Mankind (1758) with the title "Thy Kingdom Come" (changed to "The Second Advent" in other editions). Though later hymnals occasionally mixed Cennick's lines with Wesley's, the Psalter Hymnal includes most of Wesley's original text.

Like so many of Wesley's texts, "Lo! He Comes" abounds with biblical imagery. Stanzas 1, 2, and 4 are based on the rich language of John's apocalyptic visions recorded in Revelation 1:7 and 5:11-13. The third stanza reminds us that Christ's wounds and atoning death should lead us to greater faith and ultimately to our worship of Christ in glory (as Christ himself reminded the doubting Thomas). Stanza 4 is a majestic doxology to Christ, our Savior and Lord.

Liturgical Use:
Advent; other worship services that focus on Christ's coming again in glory.

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook
========================

Lo! He comes with clouds descending, Once for favoured sinners slain. [The Second Advent.] The hymn in modern collections which opens with these lines is a cento of a somewhat complicated character, und will need, for clearness and accuracy, the reproduction of the original text of several hymns.
1. The first form of the hymn is by John Cennick. There is evidence to show that it was sung by the congregation of the Moravian Chapel, in Dublin, on April 20, 1750; but the earliest printed text known appeared in the fifth (1752) edition of Cennick's Collection of Sacred Hymns, &c, Dublin, S[amuel] rowell, and is as follows:—

[1] "Lo! He cometh, countless trumpets
Blow before his bloody sign!
'Midst ten thousand saints and angels,
See the Crucified shine.
Allelujah!
Welcome, welcome bleeding Lamb!

[2] "Now His merits by the harpers,
Thro' the eternal deeps resounds!
Now resplendent shine His nailprints,
Every eye shall see His wounds!
They who pierced Him, Shall at His appearing wail.

[3] "Every island, sea, and mountain,
Heaven and earth shall flee away!
All who hate Him must, ashamed,
Hear the trump proclaim His day:
Come to judgment!
Stand before the Son of Man!

[4] "All who love Him view His glory,
Shining in His bruised Face:
His dear Person on the rainbow,
Now His people's heads shall raise:
Happy mourners!
Now on clouds He comes! He comes!

[5] “Now redemption, long expected,
See, in solemn pomp appear:
All His people, once despised,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Allelujah!
Now the promised kingdom's come!

[6] "View Him smiling, now determined
Every evil to destroy!
All the nations now shall sing Him
Songs of everlastingjoy!
O come quickly!
Allelujah ! come Lord, come!"

2. The next form is by Charles Wesley. In 1758 was published the Hymns of Intercession for All Mankind, a tract of 40 hymns. (Poetical Works1868-72, vol. vi. 148.) Of these there were three in the same metre, viz.:—
xxxviii. “Rise, ye dearly purchased sinners."
xxxix. "Lo! He comes with clouds descending.”
xl. "Lift your heads, ye friends of Jesus."
The original text of the second of these hymns is as follows:—

"1. Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favour'd sinners slain!
Thousand, thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of his train:
Hallelujah,
God appears, on earth to reign !
"2. Every eye shall now behold Him
Rob'd in dreadful majesty,
Those who set at nought and sold Him,
Pierc'd, and nail'd Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing Shall the true Messiah see.
"3. The dear tokens of his passion
Still His dazling body bears,
Cause of endless exultation
To his ransom'd worshippers;
With what rapture
Gaze we on those glorious scars!
"4. Yea, amen! let all adore Thee
High on thine eternal throne!
Saviour, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for thine own:
Jah, Jehovah,
Everlasting God, come down."

3. The third form of the text is really the first form of the modern cento. It was given by M. Madan in his Collection of Psalms & Hymns, &c., 1760, No. 42.
4. This cento, with the omission of stanza v. came into general use, and was rarely altered until after 1830, when Hall, in his Mitre Hymn Book, 1836, and others, began to tamper with the text. Several editors were assisted in making their alterations and changes in the text through T. Olivers's hymn, "Come, Immortal King of Glory" (q.v.), first published in 20 stanzas without date; and then in 36 stanzas in 1763. The fourth stanza of the 1763 text reads :—

“Lo! He comes with clouds descending;
Hark! the trump of God is blown;
And th' archangel's voice attending,
Make the high procession known,
Sons of Adam
Rise and stand before your God."

A cento from this hymn, and beginning with this stanza, is given in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862. Either from the original, or from Lord Selborne's cento, several lines by Olivers are interwoven in some modern collections with Madan's cento of 1760, as in Thring's Collection, 1882, where in stanza iv. lines 5, 6 are from Olivers's stanza xxxv.
5. The alterations which are found in the Madan cento in modern hymnbooks are very numerous, and range from a single word to several lines. Of these altered versions more than twenty exist in the hymn-books now in common use in English-speaking countries. These alterations have not been made to suit any special school of thought, and in most cases they weaken, instead of strengthen the hymn. They can easily be detected by comparing any text with those given above.
6. Amongst the imitations of this hymn that are in common use we have "Lo! He comes with clouds descending," with stanza ii. beginning “See the universe in motion." This imitation embodies a great many lines from Wesley's text. It is by M. Bridges, and was published in his Hymns of the Heart, 1848, in 9 stanzas. In 1855 it was given in H. W. Beecher's Plymouth Collection, with the omission of stanza iv., and attributed to Brydges in error. A second imitation is: “Lo! He comes with pomp victorious." This is given anonymously in the 1876 edition of E. Harland's Church Psalter and Hymnal.
7. The Cennick-Wesley cento (Madan’s) is one of the most popular hymns in the English language, and is in extensive use in all English-speaking countries. It has also been translated into many languages. The translation into Latin, "Nube vectus en descendit," by the Rev. C. B. Pearson in his Latin Translation of English Hymns, 1862, p. 19, is from Wesley's text, with the addition of Cennick's stanza v.
8. The history of the tune "Olivers" in its original form, and also in its recast form as "Helmsley," both of which are inseparably associated with this hymn, is given by Major Crawford in Grove's Dictionary of Music, vol. ii. p. 161. It appears from this article that Thomas Olivers (who is named above, and is the author of the popular hymn "The God of Abraham praise") constructed a tune partly out of a concert-room song, beginning "Guardian angels, now protect me," and the same was published in Wesley's Select Hymns and Tunes Annexed, 1765, under the title Olivers. In 1769 it was recast by M. Madan, and published under the name of Helmsley, in his Collection of Hymn and Psalm Tunes. Four years afterwards a burlesque called The Golden Pippin (1769) was produced in London, and failed. In 1776 it was revived in a shortened form, and one of the actresses, Miss Catley, introduced into it the melody of "Guardian angels" adapted to the words of the burlesque. Although there is no indication of this in the book of words, she no doubt concluded the song, on which Olivers had based his tune eleven years before, by dancing "Miss Catley's Hornpipe," constructed for the purpose out of the then popular Helmsley. It seems, therefore, that instead of the hymn tune being liable to the obloquy, so continually cast upon it, of being made out of "Miss Catley's Hornpipe," the hornpipe was made out of the tune.

--Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

HELMSLEY

John Wesley attributed the tune HELMSLEY to Thomas Olivers in Wesley's 1765 Sacred Melodies with his brother's text of "Lo! He Comes with Clouds Descending." However, Olivers is said to have heard the tune on the street somewhere. Since the first line resembles a tune by violinist and composer Thoma…

Go to tune page >


ST. THOMAS (Wade)

This tune is likely the work of the composer named here, but has also been attributed to others as shown in the instances list.

Go to tune page >


REGENT SQUARE (Smart)

Henry T. Smart (PHH 233) composed REGENT SQUARE for the Horatius Bonar (PHH 260) doxology "Glory be to God the Father." The tune was first published in the English Presbyterian Church's Psalms and Hymns for Divine Worship (1867), of which Smart was music editor. Because the text editor of that hymna…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

You have access to this FlexScore.
Download:
Are parts of this score outside of your desired range? Try transposing this FlexScore.
General Settings
Stanza Selection
Voice Selection
Text size:
Music size:
Transpose (Half Steps):
Capo:
Contacting server...
Contacting server...
Questions? Check out the FAQ

A separate copy of this score must be purchased for each choir member. If this score will be projected or included in a bulletin, usage must be reported to a licensing agent (e.g. CCLI, OneLicense, etc).

This is a preview of your FlexScore.
Baptist Hymnal 1991 #199
  • Full Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
The Cyber Hymnal #3717
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)
Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #612
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
The United Methodist Hymnal #718
  • Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)
  • Bulletin Score (PDF)
  • Full Score (PDF)
Worship and Rejoice #318

Instances

Instances (1 - 71 of 71)
TextPage Scan

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #99

Ambassador Hymnal #155

Text

Ancient and Modern #41

Anglican Hymns Old and New (Rev. and Enl.) #449

TextAudioPage Scan

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #199

Text

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #100

Text

Christian Worship (1993) #29

Text

Christian Worship (2008) #704

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #487

Church Family Worship #599

Church Hymnal, Fifth Edition #132

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #144

TextPage Scan

Church Hymnary (4th ed.) #477

Clarion Call #196

Text

Common Praise (1998) #114

TextPage Scan

Common Praise #31

TextPage Scan

Complete Anglican Hymns Old and New #405

Page Scan

Complete Mission Praise #424

TextPage Scan

CPWI Hymnal #46

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #98

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #435

Text InfoTextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Glory to God #348

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #289

TextPage Scan

Hymnal Supplement 98 #802

Hymns Ancient and Modern, New Standard Edition #28

Hymns and Psalms #241

Page Scan

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #196

TextPage Scan

Hymns of Glory, Songs of Praise #477

Hymns Old and New #307

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #103

TextFlexScoreAudio

Lift Up Your Hearts #479

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Service Book #336

Text

Lutheran Worship #15

TextPage Scan

Moravian Book of Worship #259

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #406

Audio

Praise! Our Songs and Hymns #251

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #214

Text InfoTune InfoTextAudioPage Scan

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #612

TextPage Scan

Rejoice in the Lord #605

Text

Sampler #701

TextPage Scan

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #211

Sing Glory #438

TextPage Scan

Sing Joyfully #572

Singing the Faith #177

The Baptist Hymnal #658

The Book of Common Praise of the Reformed Episcopal Church #4

The Book of Common Praise of the Reformed Episcopal Church #5

The Book of Praise #120

Text

The Celebration Hymnal #754

The Christian Life Hymnal #210

The Christian Life Hymnal #211

Page Scan

The Covenant Hymnal #768

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #3717

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal 1982 #57

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal 1982 #58

Text

The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #241

Page Scan

The Irish Presbyterian Hymnbook #649

TextPage Scan

The New English Hymnal #9

TextPage Scan

The Presbyterian Hymnal #6

Text

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #161

TextFlexScoreAudio

The United Methodist Hymnal #718

Text

The United Methodist Hymnal Music Supplement #157

TextPage Scan

The Worshiping Church #283

Text

Together in Song #273

TextFlexScoreAudioPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #318

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #386

TextPage Scan

Voices United #25

Welsh and English Hymns and Anthems #32b

Wesley Hymns #11

TextScoreAudioPage Scan

Worship and Rejoice #318

Worship His Majesty #278

Include 695 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us