Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church ‎#520b

520b. Forever with the Lord!

1 Forever with the Lord!
Amen! so let it be;
Life from the dead is in that word,
'Tis immortality.

2 Here in the body pent,
Absent from Him, I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day's march nearer home.

3 My Father's house on high,
Home of my soul! how near
At times to faith's far-seeing eye
Thy golden gates appear!

4 Ah, then my spirit faints
To reach the land I love,
The bright inheritance of saints,
Jerusalem above!

5 For ever with the Lord!
Father, if 'tis Thy will,
The promise of that faithful word
E'en here to me fulfill.

6 Be Thou at my right hand,
Then can I never fail;
Uphold Thou me, and I shall stand,
Fight, and I must prevail.

7 So when my dying breath
Shall rend the veil in twain,
By death I shall escape from death
To life eternal gain.

8 Knowing as I am known,
How shall I love that word,
And oft repeat before the throne,
"Forever with the Lord!"

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: Forever with the Lord!
• Author: James Montgomery (1835)
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1917
• Topic: The Life Everlasting: Heaven

Tune Information

• Name: NEARER HOME
• Composer: Isaac B. Woodbury (1852)
• Harmonizer: Arthur S. Sullivan (1874)
• Meter: S. M. D.
• Key: A Major