O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

Advent longing drives this arrangement of the old Latin-derived hymn, and CeCe Winans keeps its wording intact. The speaker is a people in "lonely exile," asking Emmanuel to "ransom captive Israel" and promising that the "sun of God appears" at last. Each verse ends on the same assurance: "Rejoice, rejoice, Emmanuel / Shall come to thee, O Israel."

The later verses pile up names for the one being awaited. He is the "Lord of might" who gave the Law on Sinai "in cloud and majesty and awe," and then the "Dayspring" asked to "cheer our spirits by thine advent here." The requests turn from history to personal darkness: "drive away the shades of night / and pierce the clouds / and bring us light."

Its imagery rests on Scripture. Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 give the name Emmanuel, "God with us," and Malachi 4:2 speaks of the sun of righteousness rising with healing, the picture behind "Dayspring" and "sun of God." The version here is short, only three verses, so the weight falls on the waiting more than the arrival.