The music we sing at Christmas as we celebrate the first Advent of the Lord Jesus, sometimes looks forward to His second Advent, when He will return and make all things new. Joy to the World is one of those songs. E‘en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come is another.

And as with another Christmas song, Thou Who Wast Rich Beyond All Splendour, E‘en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come was written during a time of deep, personal distress, and speaks of the great love of God for us. Ruth Manz wrote the lyrics, and her husband, Paul Manz, composed the music while their three-year-old son was hospitalized and was not expected to live. In “Christmas hymn born out of anguish,” Don Olson wrote:

“And at one point he was given up by the doctor as well as the staff,” Paul says.

Paul and Ruth Manz took turns at their son’s bedside – Ruth by day, Paul by night.

Ruth is a gifted lyricist and always on the lookout for ways to inspire her husband’s composing…

During their vigil Ruth brought Paul some words she’d crafted based on a text in Revelation.

“Peace be to you and grace from Him who freed us from our sins. Who loved us all and shed his blood that we might saved be. Sing holy, holy to our Lord, the Lord almighty God, who was and is and is to come, sing holy, holy Lord,” Ruth says.

“That is just a compilation of the theme in Revelation, Revelation 22, where it speaks of the longing of the Advent, actually, the coming of the Christ” she adds.

“I think we’d reached the point where we felt that time was certainly running out so we committed it to the Lord and said, ‘Lord Jesus quickly come,'” Ruth says.

“I made a sketch that night at the bedside and miraculously through prayer by a lot of people John survived,” Paul says.¹

I don’t know when or how this song became a Christmas song, however, at the Wikipedia article there is a link to a December 21, 1974, article in the Lakeland Ledger of Lakeland, Florida stating it will be sung at the Christmas Midnight service at All Saints Episcopal Church. There’s also a link to the 2004 King’s College Cambridge: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols at which it was sung.

Listen to this beautiful song. May you know the peace and grace to be found in the Lord Jesus, and rest and trust in His love. And whatever circumstances you are facing tonight, go to Him and share your heart.

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Christmas candle and decorations: ChristianPhotos.net – Free High Resolution Photos for Christian Publications. Site has been deleted since I first found this photo.
¹Dan Olson, “Christmas hymn born out of anguish,” Minnesota Public Radio. December 21, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
The Wikipedia article on “E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come” says, “It is one of the signature songs of the Wheaton College Men’s Glee Club who perform it with alumni members at the end of every concert.” Here is one of the Wheaton videos.

Copyright ©2022 Iwana Carpenter