What "A King Is Coming" means
Advent is the church's season of structured longing. For four weeks before Christmas, the tradition holds the congregation in expectation rather than arrival, making the community practice what the Old Testament community lived: the ache for a promise not yet fulfilled. "A King Is Coming" names that ache directly. Not "A King Has Come" or even "A King Will Come" in a vague future tense. The present continuous, "is coming," places the congregation inside the movement toward, not after the arrival.
That grammatical choice is doing real theological work. The Incarnation is both historical event and eschatological promise. A King came, in Bethlehem, in flesh, in the scandal of a stable. And a King is coming again, in glory, in the fullness of what was inaugurated in that first arrival. Advent holds both of these in tension, and this song plants the congregation exactly at that crossroads. To sing "a King is coming" in December is to stand with the prophets who longed for what they had not seen and also with the early church that prayed "Maranatha, come Lord Jesus." The expectation is layered.
The word "King" carries its own weight. Not "a friend," not "a helper," not even "the Messiah" in general terms. A King, with all the political and cosmic authority that word implied to its original hearers. The prophetic tradition expected a King who would set all broken things right, who would reign with justice and peace, whose throne would not end. When the church sings this during Advent, it is not merely recalling a birth story. It is professing a political theology: the one who came in weakness is the one to whom all authority belongs, and He is still coming in the fullness of that authority.
What this song does in a room
At 80 BPM in 4/4, this song has slightly more momentum than the other liturgical songs in this batch. The pace is still measured, but there is a forward lean in it, appropriate to a song about movement toward an arrival. Expectation, properly understood, is not passive. It is an active posture, leaning into something that has not yet arrived.
What the song does in a room is give corporate voice to what many worshippers are carrying privately: the sense that something is not yet right with the world, the longing for things to be made whole, the hope that is not the same as optimism because it is anchored in a promise rather than a probability. In Advent, congregations are often navigating the gap between the cultural Christmas season, which is already fully arrived in the mall and the radio, and the theological season of waiting. This song gives them language for the waiting.
In a well-led Advent service, this song can create genuine gravitas without heaviness, the sense of something real and large bearing down on the present moment. It is not a sad song. It is an urgent song, which is a different thing. Urgency and joy are not opposites in Advent.
What this song is saying about God
God is keeping a promise. That is the song's core claim. The King who is coming is the King who was announced, and the announcement is still in motion. God does not abandon His word midway through its fulfillment. The prophets spoke. The promise was made. The first arrival confirmed that the promise was not metaphor. The church waits for the full arrival still confident because of what has already come.
There is also a word here about the kind of King God is: one who comes to His people rather than waiting for them to arrive at His court. The Incarnation pattern is the pattern of a God who moves toward, who comes down to where the people are. The King who comes is not enthroned at a distance. He comes.
Scriptural backbone
Isaiah 9:6-7 is the prophetic spine: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom..." The "increase of his government" is still in motion. Matthew 21:9 gives the Palm Sunday anticipation that feeds back into Advent: "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" The crowds were expecting a king. Advent gives the church the same posture. Revelation 22:20 closes the canon with the same urgency: "He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming soon.' Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"
How to use it in a service
This song belongs in Advent, and within Advent it fits best in the weeks when the prophetic texts are prominent, often the first two Sundays. As the season moves toward the fourth Sunday and the annunciation narratives, the song's prophetic urgency gives way to something more intimate. But in the early Advent weeks, when the church is sitting with Isaiah and the prophets, this song carries the room into the right posture.
It works well as an opening song or as a transition into the sermon if your text is from the prophets. It can also serve as a response to the lighting of the Advent candle, especially the candles of hope and expectation. If your congregation has a liturgy around the candle, let the song follow immediately after the candle prayer while the image of the flame and the longing are still alive in the room.
Things to watch for as the worship leader
The temptation in Advent songs is to soften the edge of the expectation by resolving it too quickly into Christmas joy. Resist that. "A King Is Coming" is not a Christmas song. It is an Advent song, and the difference matters. Let the congregation sit in the tension of the "not yet." Your job is to hold the space open, not to close it down by moving too quickly toward triumph.
Watch also for the temptation to underperform the song out of fear that the congregation won't track with a liturgical Advent piece. Lead it with conviction. Rooms follow leaders who believe what they are singing.
A note for the team behind you (techs, vocalists, band)
Band: The forward lean at 80 BPM gives you a little more rhythmic energy to work with. A steady, light kick on beats 1 and 3 with a tasteful snare on 2 and 4 will give the song momentum without pushing it into contemporary worship territory. This is still a liturgical Advent piece. Guitar and bass should lock in and leave space. A strings pad or sustained organ tone underneath will reinforce the expectation quality, the sense of something long-held and still approaching.
Vocalists: The word "coming" carries the weight of the song. Whatever your vocal phrasing choices, make sure that word lands clearly every time it appears. Do not rush past it in a musical phrase. The congregation needs to hear it and feel its present-tense urgency.
Tech team: Advent lighting conventionally uses deep purples and blues, colors of waiting and royalty. A slow, almost imperceptible warm shift as the song progresses can reinforce the sense of something approaching without calling attention to the effect. Keep words large, legible, and well-contrasted. In an Advent service, the congregation needs every word of this one clearly readable.