Category Archives: Hymns

Hear the Advent Song ~ Hymn

 

Hear the Advent Song

Hear the ad­vent song
Of the an­gel throng
As they ho­vered ov­er earth;
As the night shone bright with ce­les­ti­al light,
As they told of Je­sus’ birth.

Refrain

Glory be to God, in the high­est, praise!
Peace on earth, good will to men.
Roll the an­gel song all the earth along,
Till the Lord shall come again!

Glory be to God!
All His works we laud!
But of all His gifts, the best
Is the Son he gave, sin­ful men to save;
Be His name for­ev­er blest.

Refrain

We will seek His face,
We will know His grace,
We will wor­ship at His shrine;
All our trea­sure lay at His feet to­day,
As we hail Him king di­vine!

Refrain

At His cra­dle bend,
For in Him des­cend
All the bless­ings God can give;
At His shame­ful cross, count your gain as loss,
By His death we sin­ners live.

Refrain

Peace on earth shall reign
When He comes again,
Lord of lords, and King of kings;
Even now God’s rest fills the trou­bled breast,
When the Lord His pre­sence brings.

Refrain

Let the sons of light,
Through the world’s dark night,
As the watch­ers wait the dawn,
Look with eag­er eyes for the new sun­rise
Which shall bring the end­less morn!

Refrain

Words: Arthur T. Pierson, 1897.

When Shades of Night Around Us Close ~Hymn

When Shades of Night Around Us close

When shades of night around us close,
And weary limbs in sleep repose,
The faithful soul awake may be,
And longing sigh, O Lord, to Thee.

Thou true Desire of nations, hear,
Thou Word of God, Thou Savior dear;
In pity heed our humble cries,
And bid at length the fallen rise.

O come, Redeemer, come and free
Thine own from guilt and misery;
The gates of Heav’n again unfold,
Which Adam’s sin had closed of old.

All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
Whose advent sets Thy people free,
Whom with the Father we adore
And Holy Ghost forevermore.

Words: Charles Cof­fin, Par­is Bre­vi­a­ry, 1736 (In noc­tis um­brâ de­sid­es); trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1861.

O Love of God, How Strong and True ~ Hymn

O Love of God, How Strong and True

O love of God, how strong and true!
Eternal and yet ever new;
Uncomprehended and unbought,
Beyond all knowledge and all thought.

O love of God, how deep and great!
Far deeper than man’s deepest hate;
Self-fed, self-kindled, like the light,
Changeless, eternal, infinite.

O heav’nly love, how precious still,
In days of weariness and ill!
In nights of pain and helplessness,
To heal, to comfort, and to bless.

O wide embracing, wondrous love,
We read Thee in the sky above,
We read Thee in the earth below,
In seas that swell, and streams that flow.

We read Thee in the flowers, the trees,
The freshness of the fragrant breeze,
The song of birds upon the wing,
The joy of summer and of spring.

We read Thee best in Him who came
To bear for us the cross of shame;
Sent by the Father from on high,
Our life to live, our death to die.

We read Thee in the manger-bed,
On which His infancy was laid;
And Nazareth that love reveals,
Nestling amid its lonely hills.

We read Thee in the tears once shed,
Over doomed Salem’s guilty head,
In the cold tomb of Bethany,
And blood-drops of Gethsemane.

We read Thy power to bless and save,
E’en in the darkness of the grave;
Still more in resurrection light,
We read the fullness of Thy might.

O love of God, our shield and stay
Through all the perils of our way;
Eternal love, in Thee we rest,
Forever safe, forever blest!

Words: Horatius Bonar, 1861.

This hymn was sung at the 2004 fun­er­al of Am­eri­can pre­si­dent Ron­ald Rea­gan.

Come, O Come, Thou Quickening Spirit ~ Hymn

 

Come, O Come, Thou Quickening Spirit

Come, O come, Thou quick­en­ing Spir­it,
God from all eter­ni­ty!
May Thy pow­er nev­er fail us;
Dwell with­in us con­stant­ly.
Then shall truth and life and light
Banish all the gloom of night.

Grant our hearts in full­est mea­sure
Wisdom, coun­sel, pur­ity,
That we ev­er may be seek­ing
Only that which pleas­eth Thee.
Let Thy know­ledge spread and grow,
Working er­ror’s ov­er­throw.

Show us, Lord, the path of bless­ing;
When we tres­pass on our way,
Cast, O Lord, our sins be­hind Thee,
And be with us day by day.
Should we stray, O Lord, recall;
Work re­pent­ance when we fall.

With our spir­it bear Thou wit­ness
That we are the sons of God
Who re­ly up­on Him sole­ly
When we pass be­neath the rod;
For we know, as child­ren should,
That the cross is for our good.

Prompt us, Lord, to come be­fore Him
With a child­like heart to pray;
Sigh in us, O Ho­ly Spir­it,
When we know not what to say.
Then our pray­er is not in vain,
And our faith new strength shall gain.

If our soul can find no com­fort,
If de­spon­den­cy grows strong,
And the heart cries out in ang­uish,
Oh my God, how long, how long?
Comfort then our ach­ing breast,
Grant it cour­age, pa­tience, rest.

Holy Spir­it, strong and migh­ty,
Thou who mak­est all things new,
Make Thy work with­in us per­fect
And the ev­il foe sub­due.
Grant us wea­pons for the strife
And with vic­to­ry crown our life.

Guard, O God, our faith for­ev­er;
Let not Sa­tan, death or shame
Ever part us from our Sav­ior;
Lord, our re­fuge is Thy name.
Though our flesh cry ev­er: Nay!
Be Thy Word to us still Yea!

And when life’s frail thread is break­ing,
Then as­sure us more and more,
As the heirs of life un­end­ing,
Of the glo­ry there in store,
Glory nev­er yet ex­pressed,
Glory of the saints at rest.

Words: Heinrich Held, 1897-1957.

A Mighty Fortress is Our God ~Hymn

A Mighty Fortress is Our God

A mighty fortress is our God,
A bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth, His name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

And though this world, with devils filled,
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo, his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.

Words and Music: Martin Luther, 1529.

This song has been called the great­est hymn of the great­est man of the great­est per­i­od of Ger­man his­to­ry, and the Bat­tle Hymn of the Re­for­ma­tion. It was sung at the fun­er­al of Am­er­i­can pre­si­dent Dwight Ei­sen­how­er at the Na­tion­al Ca­thed­ral in Wash­ing­ton, DC, March 1969.

A Message Sweet is Borne to Me ~ Hymn

A Message Sweet is Borne to Me

A mes­sage sweet is borne to me
On wings of joy di­vine;
A won­drous mes­sage, glad and free,
That thrills this heart of mine;
I’m saved by grace, by grace alone,
Through Christ, whose love I claim,
No oth­er could for sin atone,
Hosanna to His name!

Refrain

O glo­ri­ous song that all day long
With tune­ful note is ring­ing,
I’m saved by grace, am­az­ing grace,
And that is why I’m sing­ing!

I hear the mes­sage that I love
When morn­ing dawns anew;
I read it in the sun ab­ove
That shines across the blue;
I hear it in the twi­light still,
And at the sun­set hour—
I’m saved by grace! what words can thrill
With such a ma­gic pow­er?

Refrain

Oh, won­drous grace for all man­kind,
That spreads from sea to sea!
It heals the sick and leads the blind,
And sets the pri­son­er free;
The soul that seeks it can­not fail
To see the Sav­ior’s face,
And Sa­tan’s power can­not pre­vail
If we are saved by grace.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1898.

O Savior, Precious Savior ~ Hymn

O Savior, Precious Savior

O Savior, precious Savior,
Whom yet unseen we love!
O name of might and favor,
All other names above!
We worship Thee, we bless Thee,
To Thee, O Christ, we sing;
We praise Thee, and confess Thee
Our holy Lord and king.

O bringer of salvation,
Who wondrously hast wrought,
Thyself the revelation
Of love beyond our thought;
We worship Thee, we bless Thee,
To Thee, O Christ, we sing;
We praise Thee, and confess Thee
Our gracious Lord and king.

In Thee all fullness dwelleth,
All grace and power divine;
The glory that excelleth,
O Son of God, is Thine;
We worship Thee, we bless Thee,
To Thee, O Christ, we sing:
We praise Thee, and confess Thee
Our glorious Lord and king.

O grant the consummation
Of this our song above,
In endless adoration,
And everlasting love!
Then shall we praise and bless Thee
Where perfect praises ring,
And evermore confess Thee
Our Savior and our king.

Words: Frances R. Havergal, 1870.

Stand Like the Brave ~ Hymn

Stand Like the Brave

O Christ­ian, awake! ’tis the Mas­ter’s com­mand;
With hel­met and shield, and a sword in thy hand,
To meet the bold tempt­er, go, fear­less­ly go,
Then stand like the brave, with thy face to the foe.

Refrain

Stand like the brave, stand like the brave,
Stand like the brave, with thy face to the foe.

The cause of thy Mas­ter with vi­gor de­fend;
Be watch­ful, be zea­lous, and fight to the end;
Wherever He leads thee, go, val­iant­ly go,
Then stand like the brave, with thy face to the foe.

Refrain

Press on, nev­er doubt­ing, thy cap­tain is near,
With grace to sup­ply, and with com­fort to cheer;
His love like a stream in the de­sert will flow;
Then stand like the brave, with thy face to the foe.

Refrain

Words: Fanny Crosby, 1886.

Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands ~ Hymn

Amidst Us Our Beloved Stands

Amidst us our Be­lov­èd stands,
And bids us view His pierc­èd hands;
Points to the wound­ed feet and side,
Blest em­blems of the Cru­ci­fied.

What food lu­xu­ri­ous loads the board,
When at His ta­ble sits the Lord!
The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,
When Je­sus deigns the guests to meet!

If now, with eyes de­filed and dim,
We see the signs, but see not Him;
O may His love the scales dis­place,
And bid us see Him face to face!

Our for­mer trans­ports we re­count,
When with Him in the ho­ly mount,
These cause our souls to thirst anew,
His marred but love­ly face to view.

Thou glo­ri­ous Bride­groom of our hearts,
Thy pre­sent smile a heav’n im­parts!
Oh lift the veil, if veil there be,
Let ev­ery saint Thy beau­ties see!

Words: Charles H. Spurgeon, 1866.

How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds ~ Hymn

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How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds

How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary, rest.

Dear Name, the Rock on which I build,
My Shield and Hiding Place,
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace!

By Thee my prayers acceptance gain,
Although with sin defiled;
Satan accuses me in vain,
And I am owned a child.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
O Prophet, Priest and King,
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see Thee as Thou art,
I’ll praise Thee as I ought.

Till then I would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath,
And may the music of Thy Name
Refresh my soul in death!

Words: John Newton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­iv­er, 1779).