The Sacred Harp ‎#30b

30b. Why should we start and fear to die?

1 Why should we start and fear to die?
What tim’rous worms we mortals are!
Death is the gate to endless joy,
And yet we dread to enter there.

2 The pains, the groans, the dying strife,
Fright our approaching souls away;
And we shrink back again to life,
Fond of our prison and our clay.

3 O if my Lord would come and meet,
My soul would stretch her wings in haste,
Fly fearless through death’s iron gate,
Nor feel the terrors as she passed.

4 Jesus can make a dying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are;
While on His breast I lean my head,
And breathe my life out sweetly there.

Text Information

• First Line: Why should we start and fear to die?
• Author: Isaac Watts (1707)
• Meter: L.M.
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1991

Tune Information

• Name: PROSPECT
• Composer: Graham (1835)
• Meter: L.M.
• Key: C Major