For he looked for a city which hath foun
dations, whose builder and maker is
God.'
1 FOR thee, O dear, dear country,
Mine eyes their vigils keep;
For very love, beholding
Thy happy name, they weep:
The mention of thy glory
Is unction to the breast,
And medicine in sickness,
And love, and life, and rest.
O only mansion!
O paradise of joy!
Where tears are ever banished,
And smiles have no alloy!
With jaspers glow thy bulwarks,
Thy streets with emeralds blaze;
The sardius and the topaz
Unite in thee their rays.
3 Thine ageless walls are bonded
With amethyst unpriced;
Thy saints build up its fabric,
The corner stone is Christ;
The cross is all thy splendour,
The Crucified thy praise;
His laud and benediction
Thy ransomed people raise.
4 Thou hast no shore, fair ocean!
Thou hast no time, bright day!
Dear fountain of refreshment
To pilgrims far away!
Upon the Rock of Ages
They raise thy holy tower;
Thine is the victor's laurel,
And thine the golden dower.
5 O sweet and blessèd country,
The home of God's elect!
O sweet and blessèd country,
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest,
Who art, with God the Father
And Spirit, ever blest.
'And the city was pure gold, like unto
clear glass.'
1 JERUSALEM the golden,
With milk and honey blest,
Beneath thy contemplation
Sink heart and voice opprest:
I know not, Oh! I know not,
What social joys are there,
What radiancy of glory,
What light beyond compare!
2 They stand, those halls of Zion,
Conjubilant with song,
And bright with many an angel,
And all the martyr throng:
The Prince is ever in them;
The daylight is serene;
The pastures of the blessed
Are decked in glorious sheen.
3 There is the throne of David;
And there, from care released,
The shout of them that triumph,
The song of them that feast;
And they who, with their Leader,
Have conquered in the fight,
For ever and for ever
Are clad in robes of white.
4 O sweet and blessèd country,
The home of God's elect!
O sweet and blessed country,
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest,
Who art, with God the Father
And Spirit, ever blest.
'And so shall we ever be with the Lord'
1 'FOR ever with the Lord!'
Amen, so let it be:
Life from the dead is in that word;
Here in the body pent, Absent from Him I roam; Yet nightly pitch my moving tent A day's march nearer home.
2 My Father's house on high,
Home of my soul, how near
At times, to faith's foreseeing eye,
Thy golden gates appear!
Ah, then my spirit faints
To reach the land I love,
The bright inheritance of saints,
Jerusalem above.
3 'For ever with the Lord!'
Father, if 'tis Thy will,
The promise of that faithful word
Even here to me fulfil.
Be Thou at my right hand,
Then can I never fail:
Uphold Thou me and I shall stand;
Fight, and I must prevail.
So, when my latest breath
Shall rend the veil in twain,
By death I shall escape from death,
And life eternal gain.
Knowing as I am known,
How shall I love that word, And oft repeat before the throne, 'For ever with the Lord!'
"Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city
of God.'
1 GLORIOUS things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God;
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Formed thee for His own abode.
2 On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded,
Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
3 See, the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove.
4 Who can faint, while such a river
Ever flows their thirst to assuage,―
Grace which, like the Lord the giver,
Never fails from age to age?
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