3 O wise and holy virgins,
Now raise your voices higher,
Till, in your jubilations
Ye meet the angel choir.
The marriage-feast is waiting,
The gates wide open stand;
Up, up, ye heirs of glory!
The Bridegroom is at hand.
4 Our hope and expectation,
O Jesus, now appear.
Arise, thou Sun so longed for,
O'er this benighted sphere!
With hearts and hands uplifted,
We plead, O Lord, to see
The day of earth's redemption,
And ever be with thee.
"The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right
hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."
HE Lord unto my Lord thus spake :
"Till I thy foes thy footstool make,
Sit thou in state at my right hand:
Supreme in Sion thou shalt be,
And all thy proud opposers see
Subjected to thy just command.
2 "Thee, in thy power's triumphant day,
The willing people shall obey;
And, when thy rising beams they view,
Shall all (redeem'd from error's night)
Appear more numerous and bright
Than crystal drops of morning dew."
3 The Lord hath sworn, nor sworn in vain, That, like Melchizedek's, thy reign
And priesthood shall no period see;
Anointed Prince! thou, bending low,
Shalt drink where darkest torrents flow,
Then raise thy head in victory.
HY kingdom come, O God,
Thy reign, O Christ, begin:
Break with thine iron rod
The tyrannies of sin.
2 Where is thy rule of peace,
And purity, and love?
When shall all hatred cease,
As in the realms above?
3 When comes the promised time
That war shall be no more,
Oppression, lust, and crime
Shall flee thy face before?
4 We pray thee, Lord, arise,
And come in thy great might;
Revive our longing eyes,
Which languish for thy sight.
5 Men scorn thy sacred name,
And wolves devour thy fold;
By many deeds of shame
We learn that love grows cold.
6 O'er heathen lands afar
Thick darkness broodeth yet:
Arise, O morning Star,
Arise, and never set.
"Take ye heed; watch and pray; for ye know not
when the time is.'
O Lord, thy sign shall be
Upon the heavens displayed,
And earth and its inhabitants
Be terribly afraid :
For, not in weakness clad, thou com'st,
Our woes, our sins to bear,
But girt with all thy Father's might,
His judgment to declare.
2 The terrors of that awful day,
O who can understand?
Or who abide, when thou in wrath
Shall lift thy holy hand?
The earth shall quake, the sea shall roar,
The sun in heaven grow pale;
But thou hast sworn, and wilt not change,
Thy faithful shall not fail.
3 Then grant us, Saviour, so to pass
Our time in trembling here,
That when upon the clouds of heaven
Thy glory shall appear,
Uplifting high our joyful heads,
In triumph we may rise,
And enter, with thine angel train,
Thy palace in the skies.
"He saith, Surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so,
YOME, quickly come, dread Judge of all;
For, awful though thine advent be,
All shadows from the truth will fall,
And falsehood die, in sight of thee:
Come, quickly come: for doubt and fear
Like clouds dissolve when thou art near.
2 Come, quickly come, great King of all;
Reign all around us, and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthral,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin :
Come, quickly come for thou alone
Canst make thy scattered people one.
3 Come, quickly come, true Life of all;
The curse of death is on the ground;
On every home his shadows fall,
On every heart his mark is found:
Come, quickly come: for grief and pain
Can never cloud thy glorious reign.
4 Come, quickly come, sure Light of all,
For gloomy night broods o'er our way;
And fainting souls begin to fall
With weary watching for the day:
Come, quickly come: for round thy throne
No eye is blind, no night is known.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock."
JESUS, thou art standing
Outside the fast-closed door,
In lowly patience waiting
To pass the threshold o'er :
We bear the name of Christians,
His name and sign we bear:
O shame, thrice shame upon us,
To keep him standing there.
2 O Jesus, thou art knocking:
And lo! that hand is scarr'd,
And thorns thy brow encircle,
And tears thy face have marr'd:
O love that passeth knowledge,
So patiently to wait!
O sin that hath no equal,
So fast to bar the gate!
3 O Jesus, thou art pleading,
In accents meek and low,
“I died for you, my children,
And will ye treat me so?"
O Lord, with shame and sorrow
We open now the door:
Dear Saviour, enter, enter,
And leave us nevermore.
11 "Our God shall come and shall not keep silence."
THE Lord hath spoke, the mighty God
Hath sent his summons all abroad,
From dawning light till day declines:
The listening earth his voice hath heard,
And he from Sion hath appeared,
Where beauty in perfection shines.
2 Our God shall come, and keep no more
Misconstrued silence as before,
But wasting flames before him send;
Around shall tempests fiercely rage,
Whilst he does heaven and earth engage
His just tribunal to attend.
"The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye
the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
N Jordan's bank the Baptist's cry
Announces that the Lord is nigh;
Awake, and hearken, for he brings
Glad tidings of the King of kings.
|