Come Ye Disconsolate

Come Ye Disconsolate is a hymn text by Thomas Moore (1816) in 8.8.8.8 meter. Found in ch95 502, lw 337, ph87 538, tlh 531. Sung to CONSOLATOR.

This hymn emphasizes Christ's accessibility to the troubled and burdened, reflecting Lutheran emphasis on grace freely offered to sinners. It embodies the comfort of the Gospel as it calls the afflicted to approach God's throne of grace with confidence.

History & Background

Written by Irish poet Thomas Moore in 1816, this hymn was originally set to a traditional Irish melody. It became widely adopted in Protestant hymnals throughout the 19th and 20th centuries as a hymn of comfort.

Scripture References Like the previous four hymns, “Come, You Disconsolate” is an st. 1 = Heb. 4:14-16 invitation, a call for sinners to come to Christ with their sorrows st. 2 — Isa. 54:7 and find healing (st. 1), experience hope and comfort (st. 2), John 14:18 and participate in the feast of the Lamb (st. 3). The text empha­ sizes the consolation that Christ offers to those who turn to him in faith. Entitled “Relief in Prayer,” this text by Thomas Moore (b. Dublin, Ireland, 1779; d. Devizes, Wiltshire, England, 1852) was first published in three stanzas in Moore’s Sacred Songs, Duets and Trios (1816), one of his thirty-two hymn texts in that collection. Minor changes were made for the 1824 edition. Although born and educated in Ireland, Moore spent much of his adult life in England. In 1804 he began a civil service appointment in Bermuda but delegated it to a deputy, who embezzled money that Moore had to pay back! He traveled throughout 710 CHURCH & MISSION the eastern United States and Canada in 1840 but then returned to London. Moore became known for two achievements—playing and singing Irish folk songs in aristo­ cratic homes and writing poetry. His publications include a biography of Lord Byron and A Selection ofIrish Melodies (1807-1834). The American composer Thomas Hastings (b. Washington, Litchfield County, CT, 1784; d. New York, NY, 1872) revised Moore’s stanzas 1 and 2 and substituted his own third stanza when he published the hymn in Spiritual Songs for Social Worship (1831), compiled by Hastings and Lowell Mason . Like Lowell Mason, Hastings was a tireless writer, composer, and promoter of church music in the European style (he thought the shape-note tradition “unscientific”). He wrote some six hundred hymn texts and composed about a thousand tunes, most of which have been forgotten. From 1823 to 1832 he lived in Utica, New York, where he directed the Oneida County Choir and was editor of a religious magazine, The Western Recorder. In 1832 Hastings was invited by twelve churches to come to New York City to improve their psalm singing. He stayed there the rest of his life, composing, writing, teaching, and directing. He published some fifty volumes, including his Utica Collection (1816, later expanded as Musica Sacra), Spiritual Songsfor Social Worship (with Mason, 1833), and Church Melodies (1858).

Hymnal Appearances

• Chalice Hymnal — 502
• Lutheran Worship — 337
• Psalter Hymnal — 538
• The Lutheran Hymnal — 531
• United Methodist Hymnal — 510

Liturgical Use

As an invitation hymn in evangelistic services, possibly with altar calls or with the Lord’s Supper (note st. 3); useful in the service of confession/forgiveness and comfort/ encouragement.

Bulletin Note

Written by Irish poet Thomas Moore in 1816, this hymn draws from Hebrews 4:16's exhortation to approach God's throne of grace boldly. Its tune, Consolator, was composed to deepen the message of comfort at Christianity's heart.

Preaching Connection

This hymn transforms the Law's exposure of our desolation into Gospel proclamation: Christ himself becomes the throne of grace where the disconsolate find not judgment but merciful welcome.

Catechism & Confessional Connections

• Of Justification Augsburg Confession

Stanza Arc

The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Law convicts of spiritual desolation; Gospel reveals Christ as eternal Comforter through mercy, grace, and sacramental sustenance

Overview

Thomas Moore, the Irish poet ('The Minstrel Boy'), wrote the original in his Sacred Songs (1816); Thomas Hastings revised it and added st. 3 for evangelical use. Come to the mercy-seat with wounded hearts — 'Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal' (st. 1); Joy of the desolate, Hope of the penitent, the Comforter speaks (st. 2); see the Bread of Life and the waters flowing from God's throne; come to the feast of love (st. 3).

Central theme: An invitation to the grieving to bring their sorrows to the mercy-seat, where Christ the Bread of Life heals

Structure

Three quatrains (11.10.11.10), each ending with a variant of 'Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal / cure / … remove.'

Law & Gospel Shape

Gospel: mercy-seat; 'Hope of the penitent'; 'the Comforter'; 'Bread of Life'; 'feast of love.' Sorrow acknowledged throughout.

Confessional Connections

Heb 4:16 (TLH's text): 'Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace.' The 'Mercy-seat' is Christ the propitiation (Rom 3:25). St. 2: 'Hope of the penitent' — comfort for the contrite (AC XII). St. 3 (Hastings) directs the grieving to 'the Bread of Life' (John 6:35) and 'the feast of love,' which in Lutheran use naturally evokes the Lord's Supper where sorrowing sinners are fed. Moore's original was more sentimental; Hastings's revision anchors it in Christ.

Liturgical Use (Study Notes)

Funerals; grief; invitation; Lord's Supper.

Historical Notes

Moore (1779-1852), Irish Catholic poet, published it in Sacred Songs (1816). Hastings (1784-1872), American church musician, altered it and added st. 3 (1832).

About the Tune

CONSOLATOR / 'Alma Redemptoris Mater' (Samuel Webbe, 1792, adapted).

Scripture References

Heb 4:16 Rom 3:25 Ps 147:3 Matt 11:28 Matt 5:4 John 14:16-18 2 Cor 1:3-4 John 6:35 Rev 22:1 Isa 25:6-8 Rev 21:4

Stanza by Stanza

Themes

Comfort in affliction Grace and mercy Divine invitation Repentance and forgiveness Christ's consolation

Look Further

• Search Hymnary.org for "Come Ye Disconsolate" ↗
• Search IMSLP for public-domain scores of "CONSOLATOR" ↗