O Come O Come Emmanuel

I have ignored this blog far too long.  Sometimes we have to go through a spiritual dry spell in order to recognize what we are missing.  I have been on a journey back into a deeper relationship with the Lord for the past few months and now feel like perhaps I once more have something worth writing about.

For some time, I have been thinking about the hymns and how accurately they project the Christian life we should be experiencing, so I have decided that next year I will blog daily on a specific hymn.  I'm hoping that it will not be like most New Years resolutions and trickle down until the inspiration stops completely.

In the meantime, since it is the Christmas season, I am going to start by looking at Christmas carols.

The first one that comes to mind is O Come, O come, Emmanuel.  It has such a mournful tune and words and speaks volume to the situation we find ourselves in today.  The tune we are most familiar with is from 15th century France while the words are thought to have first appeared in the 18th century.  There are many different versions of the text, but all of them speak to the travails of the mortal life and the promise of the Messiah, both his birth as man on earth and his long-awaited coming as our future King.

O come, O come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel,
That mourns in lonely exile here,
Until the Son of God appear.
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

We are mourning, even in this season of celebration.  For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 

All of creation, especially those that are heir to the promise are longing for His coming.  O come, O come, Emmanuel!