Into the darkness of this world

Today’s hymn from Sing Praise is another Advent themed one, ‘Into the darkness of this world’ by Maggi Dawn.  It’s one of those pieces somewhere in style between ‘hymn’ and ‘worship song’, with the structure of the former but the informal sound and enthusiasm of the latter. But the theme is unmistakable: a plea to Jesus Christ to come to the world again and change it for the better.

The first verse starts by looking back to the Incarnation: ‘Into the darkness of this world, into the shadows of the night, into this loveless place you came’ but finishes with the appeal ‘Into the darkness once again O come, Lord Jesus, come’.  The chorus (identical in the second verse) asks Jesus to come with love and light to drive darkness far from us.

The second verse switches from ‘the world’ to the individual with an appeal to come to ‘the longing of our souls, the heavy hearts of stone’ and ‘order our lives and souls aright’. The third both looks back by addressing him as Emmanuel (a title used mainly in the Advent/Christmas season) and also asks him to visit ‘this broken place’ which could be understood either locally or universally as you prefer. The last chorus has different words, finishing with ‘We long to see you face to face: O come, Lord Jesus, come’.

Overall I think this makes a good advent hymn as it makes us think of personal, local and global concerns, the coming of Jesus into the individual and his eventual return to rule the world.

One thought on “Into the darkness of this world”

  1. I first came across this hymn very shortly after its publication in 1993, when my wife brought it home from a “Music in Christian Worship” course which she was undertaking at a university near Stoke-on-Trent: I immediately warmed to it, and I tried to get it introduced into the repertoire both there and in subsequent church life. I think it’s one of the best Advent hymns I have come across, and I enjoy singing it very much. In particular the way it distinguishes between the first and second coming of Jesus and has the first leading into the plea for the second, is very helpful.

    Not that I think it is perfect: the unevenness of the rhyme concerns me (there is lots of rhyme, but some of it occurs where technically it shouldn’t, and confuses the ear about where the rhyme is supposed to be), and also the syncopations of the rhythm (particularly in the chorus) which makes it more of a soloists’s song than a congregation’s song.

    But thematically, it is right on the button, and I wish it was more widely known.

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