The Cyber Hymnal ‎#5499

5499. O Where Are Kings and Empires Now?

1. O where are kings and empires now
Of old, that went and came?
But Lord, Thy Church is praying yet,
A thousand years the same.

2. We mark her goodly battlements
And her foundations strong;
We hear, within, the solemn voice
Of her unending song.

3. For not like kingdoms of the world
Thy holy Church, O God,
Though earthquake shocks are threat’ning her,
And tempests are abroad.

4. Unshaken as eternal hills,
Immovable she stands,
A mountain that shall fill the earth,
A house not made by hands.

Text Information

• First Line: O where are kings and empires now
• Title: O Where Are Kings and Empires Now?
• Author: Arthur C. Coxe (1839)
• Meter: CM
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: At the 1873 general conference of the Evangelical Alliance in New York City, President Woolsey of Yale University quoted the first stanza of this hymn while speaking of the world's skeptical attitude toward prayer. The applause was thunderous.

Tune Information

• Name: TALLIS' ORDINAL
• Composer: Thomas Tallis (ca. 1567)
• Meter: CM
• Incipit: 13455 66551 76651
• Key: D Major
• Copyright: Public Domain