Worship Set 9 - "He Shall Reign Forevermore"

​Advent is here!  The long awaited Christmas season is upon us!  A time for merriment, carols, and festivities.  Therefore, let’s make our worship reflect this special season.  Let’s celebrate Christmas by worshiping and adoring the King of Kings!

​Personal disclaimer:  I’m not a huge fan of Christmas carols for worship because I feel that they are over used and therefore, have become generic, mindless tunes we sing.  However, if you take the time to intentionally ponder the words of our traditional carols, you’ll find a wealth of meaning and imagery in those well-known lyrics.  But with that being said, you still won’t find me doing a Christmas carol for worship--just personal preference. 
 
Therefore, I am very excited that, over the last decade, some amazing Christmas worship music have been written for the church.  Songs that celebrate this season while also worshiping the Savior.  Songs filled with adoration, praise, and thanksgiving.  Songs that will make you think and ponder the Christmas story in new ways.  Songs that give a fresh spin to favorite classics. 
 
This month, I will be sharing a few of my favorite Christmas worship songs and today, I’ll start with “He Shall Reign Forevermore” by Chris Tomlin and Matt Maher.  I’ve featured this song on my blog before, but not on the worship page.  So let’s look at it from a worship stand point. 
 
Taken from an old hymn “In the Bleak Midwinter” and a line from Handel’s Messiah, this song is powerful.  Filled with the moving anthem of “He shall reign forevermore” and quiet moments of reflection, this has become one of my favorite Christmas songs.  I’ve used it in worship for several years and haven’t grown tired of it.  My favorite part is found in the bridge:

“Here within a manger lies
The One who made the starry skies
This baby born for sacrifice
Christ the Messiah.”

​I hope you take some time to read through the lyrics of this song and listen to the recording.  I know that Christmas can be such a busy time, but if we fail to stop and worship the King of Kings, we will become guilty of the same failure as the people of Bethlehem who did not recognize the Savior in their own backyard.  So let’s take some time and worship the Messiah who came as a baby and now reigns gloriously above all forevermore.  Here’s “He Shall Reign Forevermore” by Chris Tomlin and Matt Maher.

"He Shall Reign Forevermore"
by Chris Tomlin and Matt Maher

In the bleak mid-winter
All creation groans,
For a world in darkness
Frozen like a stone
Light is breaking, in a stable for a throne

And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
Unto us a Child is born
The King of kings and Lord of lords
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore

If I were a wise man
I would travel far
If I were a shepherd,
I Would do my part,
But poor as I am I will give to Him my heart

And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
Unto us a Child is born
The King of kings and Lord of lords
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore

Here within a manger lies
The One who made the starry skies
This baby born for sacrifice
Christ, the Messiah!

Into our hopes, into our fears
The Savior of the world appears
The promise of eternal years
Christ, the Messiah!

And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore
Unto us a Child is born
The King of kings and Lord of lords
And He shall reign forevermore, forevermore