“E’en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come”

Adversity, Christmas, Comfort, Encouragement, Faith, God, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Joy, Love, Music, Peace, Personal Distress, Prayer, Suffering, , Leave a comment

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.

As we wait for that day when we will no longer know sorrow, even now the God of peace is with us, supporting us, helping us, giving us His love and peace. This song was written during a time of deep distress. Ruth Manz wrote the lyrics, and Paul Manz wrote the music, when their three-year-old son was in the hospital and not expected to live.

“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…

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. It was also sung at the 2004 King’s College Cambridge: A Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

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 you are facing right now, go to Him and share your heart.

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33
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There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever.
Revelation 22:3–5
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He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelation 22:20
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Agnus Dei: Screenshot from video.
1Dan Olson, “Christmas hymn born out of anguish,” Minnesota Public Radio. December 21, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
This rendition is by the Kansas City Chorale.
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 ©2022–2025 Iwana Carpenter

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