Acapeldridge - Join in Exultation Lyrics
Lyrics
People join in exultation, voices raise;
Let ev’ry people, tribe, and nation sing God’s praise.
Make all the hills and vales today with musick ring;
Let voices soar with joy, more and more, extol the eternal King
Chorus
Sing, tribes and nations, wake the vales and the hills with song:
Extol the Saviour, unto whom praises glad belong,
‘Till earth and heaven shall with glad hallelujahs ring;
Let voices soar with joy, more and more, extol our eternal King.
He has brought us full salvation, sing, friends, sing;
Fill earth and sky with jubilation, praise the King.
Oh, worthy of our praise is he forevermore;
His love proclaim, give praise to his name, ‘till all shall our God adore.
We shall reach the home supernal by his grace,
And, gathered round the throne eternal, see his face;
Then let us give our hearts’ best praise— adoring, sing;
With heart and voice proclaim him our choice, our great and eternal King.
Video
Join in Exultation
Meaning & Inspiration
I keep thinking about the line where it talks about every tribe and nation joining in, and it’s hard not to immediately go to that vision in Revelation where people from everywhere are standing before the throne. It’s a massive, sweeping picture of worship that feels like it’s pulled straight from the end of the book. There is this insistence on the whole earth making a sound for God, which feels right, like the psalms where the hills and the sea are commanded to clap their hands. But then I sit with that for a second and wonder if I’m just singing along because the melody is big or because I actually grasp the weight of what it means for "every tribe and nation" to be there. It’s easy to sing about global praise when I'm comfortable, but the song actually pushes toward a finish line, talking about reaching that "home supernal" and seeing His face.
The idea that we’ll see His face—that’s the part that sticks. It’s what John writes about, how we’ll be like Him because we’ll see Him as He is. The song frames it as something we move toward by His grace, which feels solid and biblical, like we aren't getting there on our own steam. Yet, sometimes I catch myself singing these words and they feel almost too light, like a celebration of a finish line that I haven't really spent enough time praying over. Do I actually live like I’m waiting to see His face? Or am I just enjoying the sound of the choir? There’s a tension there between the joy of the lyrics and how often I forget that the "full salvation" they mention is something that changes the way I wake up on a Tuesday morning, not just something I sing about when the music is swelling. It’s beautiful to imagine the earth and heaven ringing together, but it makes me question if my own voice is actually part of that, or if I’m just watching from the sidelines.