{"id":9478,"date":"2025-11-09T08:43:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-09T08:43:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/?p=9478"},"modified":"2025-11-11T13:59:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T13:59:42","slug":"hills-of-the-north-rejoice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianvoice.org.uk\/index.php\/hills-of-the-north-rejoice\/","title":{"rendered":"Advent cometh: Hills of the North, Rejoice!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"hillsofthenorth\"<\/a><\/div>\n
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Download the PDF here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Hills of the north, rejoice;
\nRiver and mountain spring,
\nHark to the advent voice;
\nValley and lowland, sing;
\nThough absent long, your Lord is nigh;
\nHe judgment brings and victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

Isles of the southern seas,
\nDeep in your coral caves
\nPent be each warring breeze,
\nLulled be your restless waves:
\nHe comes to reign with boundless sway,
\nAnd makes your wastes His great highway.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lands of the East, awake,
\nSoon shall your sons be free;
\nThe sleep of ages break,
\nAnd rise to liberty.
\nOn your far hills, long cold and grey,
\nHas dawned the everlasting day.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Charles<\/a>
Charles Oakley became\u00a0Rector of Holy Trinity Church, Wickwar in Gloucestershire in 1856.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Shores of the utmost West,
\nYe that have waited long,
\nUnvisited, unblest,
\nBreak forth to swelling song;
\nHigh raise the note, that Jesus died,
\nYet lives and reigns, the Crucified.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shout, while ye journey home;
\nSongs be in every mouth;
\nLo, from the North we come,
\nFrom East, and West, and South.
\nCity of God, the bond are free,
\nWe come to live and reign in thee!<\/span><\/p>\n

Text:\u00a0Charles Edward Oakley, 1832-65
\nMusic: Martin Shaw, Tune:\u00a0Little Cornard,\u00a0Meter:\u00a06 6 6 6 8 8<\/p>\n

Feel free to copy and paste Oakley’s\u00a0words for your own congregation this Advent. \u00a0Advent begins on Sunday 27th November this year (2016). \u00a0It is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord in the year-book of the Church of England, England’s established church. \u00a0But you don’t have to be Anglican to sing it!<\/p>\n

Charles Oakley’s life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Charles Edward Oakley M.A. was born near Chatham in Kent in 1832. \u00a0He\u00a0was educated at Rugby School and Pembroke College, Oxford, and then at Magdalen College as a Demy (scholar), he took a First Class in Literae Humaniores (Greek and Latin literature and philosophy) in 1854, and a First Class in Law and Modern History (1855), when he was also Johnson Theological Scholar (1855).<\/p>\n

He entered Holy Orders in 1855 and served as a chaplain to the army in the Crimean War (1855). \u00a0He became rector of Wickwar, Gloucestershire (1856-63) and then later Rector of St. Paul’s, Covent Garden, London in 1863.<\/p>\n

He died at Abergele, near Rhyl, North Wales on 15th September 1865 after a tragically short incumbency. \u00a0In short, Oakley was a very clever as well as a holy young man.<\/p>\n

His fine Missionary hymn, “Hills of the north, rejoice,” appeared in Bp. T. V. French’s Hymns adapted to the Christian Seasons, and the Hymnal Companion in 1870. (John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)) The tune now associated with the hymn, Little Cornard, was written by composer Martin Shaw<\/strong><\/a> in 1915.<\/p>\n

Beware of the modern version!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Above are C.E.Oakley\u2019s original words. \u00a0The modern version of this hymn<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(scroll down in the link) still carries an advent message, but uncomfortable notions like ‘judgment’ and ‘victory’ have\u00a0been expunged. \u00a0Jesus becomes a personal saviour who doesn’t reign any more. \u00a0In the last verse, ‘they’ come, not ‘we’. \u00a0And rather than ‘live and reign’, with all the responsibility and action that implies, ‘they … find their rest’. \u00a0Maybe\u00a0the Victorian sentiments are politically incorrect these days, but Oakley captured the majesty of Christ\u00a0and created something singable and uplifting, an inspiring hymn full of hope\u00a0and destiny.<\/p>\n

Based solidly on scripture<\/strong><\/p>\n

There is some Victorian romanticism in the Southern Seas and so on, but even there the hymn is inspired. \u00a0The rhymes and construction are simply faultless. \u00a0Each verse has its four lines of geography and its final two lines of triumphant theology. \u00a0Note the hymn has nothing to do with British imperialism. \u00a0Oakley was not imagining himself in Gloucestershire but in Jerusalem, in the ‘City of God’.<\/p>\n

The scripture message he had in mind starts in the Psalms:<\/p>\n

Psalm 107:1 O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy; 3 And gathered them out of the lands, from the east, and from the west, from the north, and from the south.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Isaiah (and in Jeremiah) it becomes a promise to regather Israel:<\/p>\n

Isaiah 43:5 Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west; 6 I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;<\/strong> (cf Jer 16:14-15, 23:7-8, 31:8)<\/p>\n

Finally, in the Gospel, our Lord himself applies the great gathering to\u00a0his believers:<\/p>\n

Luke 13:29 And they shall come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

That is what the hymn is about. \u00a0More could be written on it.<\/p>\n

Copy and Paste<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again, you don’t have to be an Anglican to sing this great hymn. \u00a0It will grace and bless any church. \u00a0Remember there is no longer any copyright on Oakley’s words, so you can indeed feel free to copy and paste them for your own congregation. \u00a0To hear the tune, click here (opens in a new tab).<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Find out how to join Christian Voice and stand up for the King of kings (clicking on the link below does not commit you to join)<\/strong>
\n\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Please note that persons wishing to comment on this story must enter a valid email address. Comments from persons leaving fictitious email addresses will be trashed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Download the PDF here. Hills of the north, rejoice; River and mountain spring, Hark to the advent voice; Valley and lowland, sing; Though absent long, your Lord is nigh; He judgment brings and victory. Isles of the southern seas, Deep in your coral caves Pent be each warring breeze, Lulled be your restless waves: He […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9479,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[380,83],"tags":[2157,15,2156,43],"class_list":["post-9478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freedom-to-preach","category-justice-policing-crime","tag-charles-oakley","tag-christian-voice","tag-hills-of-the-north","tag-stephen-green"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t