Lyrics
Verse 1
Ring the bells of heaven! There is joy today,
For a soul, returning from the wild!
See the Father meets him out upon the way,
Welcoming His weary, wand'ring child.
Chorus
Glory! Glory! How the angels sing;
Glory! Glory! How the loud harps ring!
'Tis the ransomed army, like a mighty sea,
Pealing forth the anthem of the free.
Verse 2
Ring the bells of heaven! There is joy today,
For the wand'rer now is reconciled;
Yes, a soul is rescued from his sinful way!
And is born anew a ransomed child.
Chorus (Repeat)
Verse 3
Ring the bells of heaven! Spread the feast today!
Angels, swell the glad triumphant strain!
Tell the joyful tidings, bear it far away!
For a precious soul is born again.
Chorus (Repeat)
Video
Meaning & Inspiration
"Ring the Bells of Heaven" opens with direct command, celebrating joy specifically because a soul is returning from wandering, before describing the Father going out to meet that returning child personally. That image, a father meeting a wanderer partway rather than waiting at a distance, gives the hymn's opening its immediate warmth.
Its chorus imagines heaven's own response to that homecoming, angels singing, harps ringing, a ransomed multitude compared to a mighty sea, treating one individual's return as an occasion for collective, heavenly celebration. Repeating that same chorus after each verse ties every stage of the story, return, reconciliation, rebirth, to the identical heavenly reaction.
Rooted in nineteenth-century hymn tradition drawing on the parable of a wandering child welcomed home, the hymn functions as an invitation to celebrate repentance and rescue, its closing verse calling for the joyful news to be spread far and wide as a precious soul is described as born again.
Related Scripture
- Luke 15:20 Describes a father running to meet and welcome home a returning child, directly echoed in the hymn's opening verse.
- Luke 15:7 Describes joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, echoed in the hymn's description of angels singing at a soul's return.