VESPER 8s, 75.

Arr. from F. F. von FLOTOW

964

THIS is not my place of resting,
Mine's a city yet to come;
Onward to it I am hasting,
On to my eternal home.

2 In it all is light and glory;
O'er it shines a nightless day;
Every trace of sin's sad story,
All the curse, hath passed away.
ENNERDALE S. M.

3 There the Lamb, our Shepherd, leads us,
By the streams of life along,
On the freshest pastures feeds us,
Turns our sighing into song.

4 Soon we pass this desert dreary,
Soon we bid farewell to pain;
Never more are sad or weary,
Never, never sin again.

Horatius Bonar 1845

C. STEGGALL

965

COME, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song of sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.

2 Let those refuse to sing

That never knew our God;
But children of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad.
3 The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.

4 The hill of Zion yields

A thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach the heavenly fields,

Or walk the golden streets.

5 Then let our songs abound,

And every tear be dry;

We're marching thro' Immanuel's ground To fairer worlds on high.

Where not a care shall stir the breast, Nor sorrow entrance find?

2 Is there a blissful home,

Where kindred minds shall meet,
And live, and love, nor ever roam
From that serene retreat?

3 Are there bright, happy fields,
Where naught that blooms shall die;
Where each new scene fresh pleasure yields,
And healthful breezes sigh?

4 Are there celestial streams,
Where living waters glide,

With murmurs sweet as angel-dreams,
And flowery banks beside?

5 For ever blessed they,

Whose joyful feet shall stand,
While endless ages waste away,
Amid that glorious land!

6 My soul would thither tend,
While toilsome years are given;
Then let me, gracious God, ascend
To sweet repose in heaven.

Ray Palmer 1843

TAPPAN C. M. 5 lines

G. KINGSLEY

-X

968

ON Jordan's rugged banks I stand,
And cast a wishful eye
To Canaan's fair and happy land,
Where my possessions lie.

2 O the transporting, rapturous scene
That rises to my sight:
Sweet fields arrayed in living green,
And rivers of delight.

3 All o'er those wide-extended plains
Shines one eternal day;
There God, the Son, for ever reigns,
And scatters night away.

4 No chilling winds, nor poisonous breath, Can reach that healthful shore; Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,

Are felt and feared no more.

5 When shall I reach that happy place,

And be for ever blest?

When shall I see my Father's face,

And in His bosom rest?

969

THERE is an hour of peaceful rest,

To mourning wanderers given
There is a joy for souls distressed,
A balm for every wounded breast,
'Tis found above, in heaven.

2 There is a home for weary souls
By sin and sorrow driven;
When tossed on life's tempestuous shoals,
Where storms arise, and ocean rolls,

And all is drear but heaven.

3 There, faith lifts up her cheerful eye,
To brighter prospects given;
And views the tempest passing by,
The evening shadows quickly fly,

And all serene in heaven.

4 There, fragrant flowers, immortal bloom, And joys supreme are given;

There, rays divine disperse the gloom:
Beyond the confines of the tomb
Appears the dawn of heaven.

William Bingham Tappan 1818

Love Thee with unsinning heart,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.
3 When the praise of heaven I hear,
Loud as thunders to the ear,
Loud as many waters' noise,
Sweet as harp's melodious voice,
Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
Not till then, how much I owe.

Robert Murray McCheyne 1837

THE HOLY CITY C M. D.

There is

J. BARNBY

THERE is a City great and strong,
Twelve gates of precious stones,
With turrets and high battlements,
Not needing light of suns;
The streets aglow with fire of gold,
It hath no sound of strife;
In glory all its own it stands

Beside the stream of Life.

2 A joy is there that knows no cloy, A light that ne'er grows dim, A multitude that never cease

From grateful praise and hymn; Lo, all the sainted sons of earth, And angels there I view; And there, O vision glorious! There standeth Jesus too!

VARINA C. M. D.

3 Jesus, I know 'tis He; I see
The mark of nail and spear;
And on His face I catch the trace
Of earth-time smile and tear;
But on His brow a crown shines now,
And bending hosts adore!
"Tis He, 'tis He who on the tree
The thorn-crown meekly wore!

4 O wondrous, fair Jerusalem,
Shall I thy gates pass through?
Thy jubilations surely join,

Thy lordly splendors view? O Crucified, O Glorified,

May I Thy face behold,

And join the ransomed as they sing Along the streets of gold.

Denis Wortman 1889

G. F. ROOT

But timorous mortals start and shrink
To cross this narrow sea,
And linger, shivering, on the brink,
And fear to launch away.

3 O could we make our doubts remove,
Those gloomy doubts that rise,
And see the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes;

Stand dressed in living green:

So to the Jews old Canaan stood,

While Jordan rolled between.

And view the landscape o'er,

Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood,

Should fright us from the shore.

Isaac Watts 1709