"Praise Him in Song"

"Alpha and Omega"

The chorus to the song, "Alpha and Omega," is a popular chorus.  The words are:

 

He is the Alpha and Omega,

The Beginning and the End,

The Son of God, King of kings,

Lord of lords, He's everything,

Messiah, Jehovah, the Prince of Peace is He.

The Son of Man, seed of Abraham,

Second Person in the Trinity.

 

The verses proceeding the chorus come directly from Revelation 21:3-6, and set the stage for the chorus.  What connect the verses and the chorus is a declaration four times of words from Revelatioan 21:6:

 

And it is done, it is done,

It is done, it is done.

 

"Alpha and Omega" was written in 1972 by Robbie Brice.  It was recorded by his group, "The Kinfolk," for two of their albums, and became popular.  In 1982, Robbie and his wife, Martha, were at a Gaither Trio concert.  Martha spotted musicians in their band that she knew from her days with a former group, "The Spurrlows."  She gave one of them a cassette tape of "Alpha and Omega."  A year later, Roger Byrd listened to the tape, and immediately passed it on to Bill Gaither.  Bill Gaither contacted Robbie, who gave him the publishing rights to the song.  It became a signature song for the Gaither Vocal Band.

The opening verses are:

 

I heard a great voice out of Heaven saying,

"Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men.

He shall dwell within them, they shall be His people

And Almighty God will be with them.

 

He shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

There shall be no more death,

Neither sorrow nor crying and no more pain.

The former things are all passed away.

 

He that sat upon the throne said,

"Behold, I make all things new."

He said unto me,

"Write these words,

For they are faithful and true."