Category Archives: Hymns

The Cords That Bound ~ Hymn

The Cords that bound my heart to earth
Are broken by His hand;
Before His cross I found myself
A stranger in the land.

That visage marr’d, those sorrows deep,
The vinegar and gall,
These were His golden chains of love
His captive to enthrall.

My hear is with Him on His throne
And ill can brook delay,
Each moment listening for the voice
“Rise up, and Come away!”

With hope deferred oft sick and faint,
“Why tarries He? I cry;
Let not the Saviour chide my haste,
For then would I reply:

“May not an exile, Lord, desire.”
His own sweet land to see?
“May not a captive seek release,”
A prisoner to be free?

“A child, when far away, may long”
For home and kindred dear;
And she, that waits her absent Lord”
May sigh till he appear.

I would, my Lord and Saviour, know”
That which no measure knows!
Would search the mystery of Thy love
The depths of all thy woes!

Sweetly the Holy Hymn

Sweetly the Holy Hymn

Sweetly the holy hymn
Breaks on the morning air;
Before the world with smoke is dim
We meet to offer prayer.

While flowers are wet with dews,
Dew of our souls, descend:
Ere yet the sun the day renews,
O Lord, Thy Spirit send.

Upon the battlefield,
Before the fight begins,
We seek, O Lord, Thy sheltering shield,
To guard us from our sins.

Ere yet our vessel sails
Upon the stream of day
We plead, O Lord, for heavenly gales
To speed us on our way!

On the lone mountain side,
Before the morning’s light,
The Man of sorrows wept and cried,
And rose refreshed with might.

Oh, hear us then, for we
Are very weak and frail,
We make the Savior’s name our plea,
And surely must prevail.

Words: Charles Spurgeon, 1849.

Wonderful Words of Life ~ Hymn

Wonderful Words of Life

Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of life,
Let me more of their beauty see, wonderful words of life;
Words of life and beauty teach me faith and duty.

Refrain

Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life,
Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of life.

Christ, the blessèd One, gives to all wonderful words of life;
Sinner, list to the loving call, wonderful words of life;
All so freely given, wooing us to Heaven.

Refrain

Sweetly echo the Gospel call, wonderful words of life;
Offer pardon and peace to all, wonderful words of life;
Jesus, only Savior, sanctify us forever.

Refrain

Words and Music: Philip P. Bliss, 1874.

Some history of this hymn from George C. Stebbins:

I car­ried that song through two sea­sons of evan­gel­is­tic work, ne­ver think­ing it pos­sessed much mer­it, or that it had the el­e­ment of spe­cial use­ful­ness, par­ti­cu­lar­ly for so­lo pur­pos­es.

It oc­curred to me to try it one day dur­ing the cam­paign in New Ha­ven, [Con­nec­ti­cut,] 1878 and, with the help of Mrs. Steb­bins, we sang it as a du­et. To our sur­prise the song was re­ceived with the great­est en­thu­si­asm and from that time on to the close of the meet­ings was the fa­vor­ite of all the hymns used.

As an il­lus­tra­tion of the hold it got up­on the peo­ple all about that se­ction of the coun­try, I re­ceived a let­ter from the Sec­re­tary of the Con­nec­ti­cut State Sun­day School As­so­ci­a­tion of­fer­ing me what seemed an ab­surd­ly large sum of mo­ney, if I would, with Mrs. Steb­bins, come to the State Con­ven­tion and sing that one song.

George C. Steb­bins
Mem­oirs and Rem­inis­cenc­es

Ht: Cyberhymnal

Father of Earth and Heaven ~ Hymn

Father of Earth and Heaven

Father of earth and Heaven,
Whose arm upholds creation,
To Thee we raise the voice of praise,
And bend in adoration.
We praise the power that made us,
We praise the love that blesses;
While every day that rolls away
Thy gracious care confesses.

Life is from Thee, blest Father,
From Thee our breathing spirits;
And Thou dost give to all that live
The bliss that each inherits.
Day, night, and rolling seasons,
And all that life embraces,
With bliss are crowned, with joy abound,
And claim our thankful praises.

Though trial and affliction
May cast their dark shade o’er us,
Thy love doth throw a heav’nly glow
Of light on all before us.
That love has smiled from Heaven
To cheer our path of sadness,
And lead the way, through earth’s dull day,
To realms of endless gladness.

That light of love and glory
Has shone through Christ the Savior,
The holy Guide who lived and died
That we might live forever.
And since Thy great compassion
Thus brings Thy children near Thee,
May we to praise devote our days,
And love as well as fear Thee.

And when death’s final summons
From earth’s dear scenes shall move us,
From friends, from foes, from joys, from woes,
From all that know and love us,
O, then, let hope attend us;
Thy peace to us be given;
That we may rise above the skies,
And sing Thy praise in Heaven.

Words: Henry Ware, Jr., 1825.

How Oft Have Sin and Satan Strove ~ Hymn

 

751 (L.M.) Isaac Watts

How oft have sin and Satan strove
To rend my soul from Thee, my God!
But everlasting is Thy love,
And Jesus seals it with His blood.

The oath and promise of the Lord
Join to confirm the wondrous grace;
Eternal pow’r performs the word,
And fills all heav’n with endless praise.

Amidst temptations sharp and long,
My soul to this dear refuge flies;
Hope is my anchor, firm and strong,
While tempests blow and billows rise.

The gospel bears my spirit up;
A faithful and unchanging God
Lays the foundation for my hope
In oaths, and promises, and blood

Not All the Blood of Beasts ~ Hymn

Not All the Blood of Beasts

Not all the blood of beasts
On Jewish altars slain,
Could give the guilty conscience peace
Or wash away the stain.

But Christ the heav’nly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;
A sacrifice of nobler name,
And richer blood than they.

My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine;
While like a penitent I stand,
And there confess my sin.

My soul looks back to see
The burdens Thou didst bear,
When hanging on the cursèd tree,
And hopes her guilt was there.

Believing, we rejoice
To see the curse remove;
We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice,
And sing His bleeding love.

Words: Isaac Watts, 1709.

Standing At the Portal ~ Hymn

Standing At the Portal

Standing at the portal
Of the opening year,
Words of comfort meet us,
Hushing every fear;
Spoken thru the silence
By our Savior’s voice,
Tender, strong and faithful,
Making us rejoice.

Refrain

Onward, then, and fear not,
Children of the day;
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away.

I, the Lord, am with thee,
Be thou not afraid;
I will help and strengthen
Be thou not dismayed.
Yea, I will uphold thee
With My own right hand;
Thou art called and chosen
In My sight to stand.

Refrain

For the year before us,
O what rich supplies!
For the poor and needy
Living streams shall rise;
For the sad and sinful
Shall His grace abound;
For the faint and feeble
Perfect strength be found.

Refrain

He will never fail us,
He will not forsake;
His eternal covenant
He will never break.
Resting on the promise,
What have we to fear?
God is all sufficient
For the coming year.

Onward, then, and fear not,
Children of the day;
For His Word shall never,
Never pass away.

 Words: Francis R. Havergal, January 4, 1873.

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen

God rest ye merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay,
Remember Christ our Savior was born on Christmas Day;
To save us all from Satan’s power when we were gone astray.

Refrain

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy;
O tidings of comfort and joy.

In Bethlehem, in Israel, this blessèd Babe was born,
And laid within a manger upon this blessèd morn;
The which His mother Mary did nothing take in scorn.

Refrain

From God our heavenly Father a blessèd angel came;
And unto certain shepherds brought tidings of the same;
How that in Bethlehem was born the Son of God by name.

Refrain

Fear not, then, said the angel, Let nothing you affright
This day is born a Savior of a pure Virgin bright,
To free all those who trust in Him from Satan’s power and might.

Refrain

The shepherds at those tidings rejoiced much in mind,
And left their flocks a-feeding in tempest, storm and wind,
And went to Bethl’em straightaway this blessèd Babe to find.

Refrain

But when to Bethlehem they came where our dear Savior lay,
They found Him in a manger where oxen feed on hay;
His mother Mary kneeling unto the Lord did pray.

Refrain

Now to the Lord sing praises all you within this place,
And with true love and brotherhood each other now embrace;
This holy tide of Christmas all others doth deface.

Refrain

God bless the ruler of this house, and send him long to reign,
And many a merry Christmas may live to see again;
Among your friends and kindred that live both far and near—

That God send you a happy new year, happy new year,
And God send you a happy new year.

Last hymn/carol for the last Sunday in 2019. May God send you a happy New Year!

Once He Came in Blessing~ Hymn

Once He Came in Blessing

Once He came in blessing,
All our ills redressing,
Came in likeness lowly,
Son of God most holy;
Bore the cross to save us,
Hope and freedom gave us.

Still He comes within us,
Still His voice would win us
From the sins that hurt us;
Would to truth convert us
From our foolish errors,
Ere He comes in terrors.

Thus if Thou hast known Him,
Not ashamed to own Him,
Nor dost love Him coldly,
But will trust Him boldly,
He will now receive thee,
Heal thee, and forgive thee.

He who well endureth,
Bright reward secureth;
Come, then, O Lord Jesus,
From our sins release us;
Let us here confess Thee,
Till in Heav’n we bless Thee.

Words: Johann Roh, 1544.

Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord ~ Hymn

 

Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord

Let the earth now praise the Lord.
Who hath truly kept His word
And the sinners’ help and friend
Now at last to us doth send.

What the fathers most desired,
What the prophet’s heart inspired,
What they longed for many a year,
Stands fulfilled in glory here.

Abram’s promised great reward,
Zion’s helper, Jacob’s Lord,
Him of twofold race behold,
Truly came, as long foretold.

Welcome, O my Savior, now!
Hail! My portion, Lord, art Thou.
Here, too, in my heart, I pray,
Oh, prepare Thyself a way!

King of Glory, enter in;
Cleanse it from the filth of sin,
As Thou hast so often done;
It belongs to Thee alone.

As Thy coming was in peace,
Quiet, full of gentleness,
Let the same mind dwell in me
That was ever found in Thee.

Comfort my desponding heart:
Thou my strength and refuge art.
I am weak, and cunningly
Satan lays his snares for me.

Bruise for me the serpent’s head,
That, set free from doubt and dread,
I may cleave to Thee in faith,
Safely kept through life and death.

And when Thou dost come again
As a glorious king to reign,
I with joy may see Thy face,
Freely ransomed by Thy grace.