Bright as the sun's meridian blaze

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Bright as the sun's meridian blaze

Author: W. Shrubsole
Tune: LUTON
Published in 43 hymnals

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Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Bright as the sun’s meridian blaze,
Vast as the blessings he conveys,
Wide as his reign from pole to pole,
And permanent as his control.

2 So, Jesus, let thy kingdom come,
Then sin and hell’s terrific gloom
Shall, at his brightness, flee away,
The dawn of an eternal day.

3 "Then shall the heathen, fill'd with awe,
Learn the blest knowledge of thy law:
And antichrist on ev'ry shore,
Fall from his throne to rise no more."

4 Then shall thy lofty praise resound
On Afric's shores--thro' India's ground,
And islands of the southern sea
Shall stretch their eager arms to thee.

5 Then shall the Jew and Gentile meet
In pure devotion at thy feet:
And earth shall yield thee, as thy due,
Her fulness and her glory too.

6 O that from Zion now might shine
This heavenly light, this truth divine:
Till the whole universe shall be
But one great temple, Lord, to thee.

Source: A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #319

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Author: W. Shrubsole

William Shrubsole was born in Sheerness, Kent, in 1759. His first occupation was as a shipwright in Sheerness Dockyard, but he was promoted, and afterwards removed to London, where he at length held the position of Secretary to the Committee of the Treasury in the Bank of England. He died at Highbury, in 1829. Mr. Shrubsole was the author of several hymns, and some articles in the religious magazines of his day. --Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872.… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Bright as the sun's meridian blaze
Author:	W. Shrubsole
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

Matthew 6:10
(hymns)

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Notes

Bright as the sun's meridian blaze. W. Shrubsole, jun. [Missions.] Written for the first meeting of the London Missionary Society, and dated Aug. 10, 1795 (Fathers and Founders of the L. M. Society, 1844). It subsequently appeared in the Evangelical Magazine, Sept., 1795, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, entitled, "On the intended Mission," "O send out Thy light and Thy truth," Ps. xliii. 3, and signed "Junior." Although thus printed anonymously, it "was duly acknowledged by Mr. Shrubsole in his lifetime, and the original manuscript, with numerous corrections, is in the possession of his family, in his own autograph." (Singers and Songs, p. 326.) It was included in some of the older collections, and is still in common use in Great Britain, and America. Original text in Lyra Britannica, 1867, p. 504.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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