Behold and see the promise come

Behold and see the promise come; a woman who will bear a son.

A sign is given from God above, the true and only Holy One.

 

Behold and hear the holy Word, the gospel of God's only Son:

Once promised in the prophets' lore, now see the long-awaited one.

 

Behold and see the troubled man, the father of God's Holy Son;

In faith he heeds the angel's call to care for God's Anointed One.

 

Behold and hear the call today to follow God's most favored Son,

To serve and work and witness sure, to live in Christ who makes us one.

 

 

TEXT: Charles Spence Freeman, August 2020, after Advent 4A scriptures

MUSIC: Tune PUER NOBIS NASCITUR, Trier ms., 14^th cent.; adapt. Michael Praetorius, 1609; harm. George Ratcliffe Woodward, 1910.

Another hymn for the Advent Hymnary project; also, a potential substitute for a cycle of hymns for Year A Sundays, more general in nature than "When Joseph learned," originally created for Advent 4A. For churches that use a "Watch-Prepare-Rejoice-Behold" theme for Advent (which works very well in year A), this fits the "behold" theme well, obviously.