Someday in the not-too-distant future, each of us who are born-again by the Spirit, saved from God’s wrath, justified freely by His grace, and forgiven forever: are going to join the ultimate, Heavenly Hallelujah chorus. The words for that chorus have been given to us already, written down in Revelation.
The term in English: Hallelujah Chorus, has become totally associated with an oratorio written 271 years ago in London.
It was in April 1741 the German composer Handel was bankrupt, imperiled by paralyzing pain, betrayed by friends, and depressed. It looked like his composing career was over.
In this devastating time of Handel’s life, a friend presented him with 52 Scripture passages, and from a season of prayerfully reading those passages, Handel’s soul became enraptured with the beauty of the God Almighty who Reigns.
In the summer of 1741, his servants were quoted as saying that for those three-plus weeks of writing: “He was praying, or he was weeping, or he was staring into eternity”.
Then came:
Handel’s Messiah
When he booked a concert hall for his “farewell” composition, the word on the street was, that he was no longer thought able to produce anything worthy of London’s audiences.