1 Back from the Long Ago,
Distant and dim,
Breathing a warning low,
Comes a sweet hymn;
Fraught with my childhood dreams,
Is it for me;
Sacred and tender seems,
“Nearer to thee;
“Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.”
2 Oft in an hour of bliss,
Comes the refrain,
Biding me find in this,
Heavenly gain;
Even in my griefs I say:
Father, I flee
Out of this clouded way,
Nearer to thee;
“So by my woes to be,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.”
3 Thus let me daily rise
Nearer thy throne,
Nearer the lasting prize
Kept for thine own;
E’en when Death’s heralds come,
Lord, may they be
Angels to lead me home,
Nearer to thee;
“Angels to beckon me,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.”