1 Hear what God the Lord hath spoken:
O my people, faint and few,
Comfortless, afflicted, broken,
Fair abodes I build for you.
Thorns of heartfelt tribulation,
Shall no more perplex your ways:
You shall name your walls salvation,
And your gates shall all be praise.
2 There, like streams that feed the garden,
Pleasures without end shall flow;
For the Lord, your faith rewarding,
All His bounty shall bestow.
Still in undisturbed possession,
Peace and righteousness shall reign:
Never shall you feel oppression,
Hear the voice of war again.
3 Ye no more your suns descending,
Waning moons no more shall see;
But, your griefs for ever ended,
Find eternal noon in Me.
God shall rise, and shining o'er you,
Change to day the gloom of night;
He, the Lord, shall be your Glory,
God your everlasting Light.
Source: Church Book: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran congregations #581
First Line: | Hear what God the Lord hath spoken |
Title: | God Her Everlasting Light |
Author: | William Cowper |
Meter: | 8.7.8.7 D |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Hear what God the Lord hath spoke. W. Cowper. [The Church in Glory.] First published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Book i., No. 65, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed, "The future peace and glory of the Church." It is in somewhat extensive use both in Great Britain and America.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907
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Hear what God the Lord hath spoken, p. 502, ii. In the manuscript volume described under Cowper, W., p. 1625, ii., this hymn, given at pp. 211-213, concludes a letter from J. Newton which is dated "Aug. 1773." See Notes and Queries, Sept. 24, 1904.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)