‘Our God reigns!’
Handel’s ‘Messiah’ is often performed by choirs at this time of year. ‘Messiah’ is an English-language oratorio composed in 1741, with lyrics from Scripture (compiled by Charles Jennen from the King James version of the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer.)
Musically, this choral work may not appeal to everyone nowadays, but I am always struck by the power of singing Scripture, the power of singing God’s Word. The ‘Hallelujah’ chorus (one of the most famous parts of the work) focuses on that word ‘Hallelujah’ (which means ‘praise the Lord’ and which is found repeatedly in the Psalms and the book of Revelation) and on the phrase ‘for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth’ – a truth that needs to be fervently embraced at all times. The repeated line ‘and He shall reign for ever and ever’ needs to soak into the mindset and heart of every believer. He is ‘King of Kings for ever and ever… and Lord of Lords for ever and ever.’ These truths need to be the bedrock of our lives, for they provide the solid foundation enabling us to withstand every storm of life and every flaming arrow of the enemy.
