In 1741, George Handel completed Messiah in time for an orphans’ charity concert.

At age 56 George Handel had given what he had considered his farewell concert. Discouraged and dejected, Handel felt a failure. That’s when a wealthy friend, Charles Jensen, gave Handel a libretto based on the life of Christ, taken right from the Bible. At the same time, Handel received a commission from a Dublin charity to compose a work for a benefit performance.

With the libretto in hand, Handel set to work on August 22, 1741. He became so absorbed in his work that he never left the room of his small London house, rarely stopping to eat. Within six days, he had completed part one. In nine more days, he had finished part two, and in another six, part three. The entire orchestration was completed in another two days. In all, 260 pages of manuscript were filled in 24 short days. Handel’s title for the commissioned work was simply Messiah.

With tears running down his face, Handel recounted that while writing what has become the hallmark of that work, the “Hallelujah Chorus”, “I did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God himself.”

Handel’s awe-inspiring composition, with its inspiring lyrics and stirring sounds, may be the closest we come on this side of Heaven to experiencing what John—and indeed Handel himself—saw when the doors of Heaven were opened to them:

“Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a huge crowd, or the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the crash of loud thunder: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns” (Revelation 19:6).

It is the victory song that resounds in heaven when Jesus comes to judge the wicked and joins with his bride—the faithful believers from all time.

You won’t want to miss that!

Then I heard again what sounded like the shout of a huge crowd, or the roar of mighty ocean waves, or the crash of loud thunder: “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns (Revelation 19:6).

To Do

Spend some time today listening to George Handel’s Messiah.

Also on this day . . .

Today is National Cream-Filled Donut Day.

1901—President William McKinley was assassinated.

1999—Walt Disney World closed down for the first time in its 28-year history because of Hurricane Floyd.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.