The River of God

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There is a pure and peaceful wave

Author: William Ball
Tune: LOUELLA
Published in 44 hymnals

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Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 There is a pure and peaceful wave,
That rolls around the throne of love;
Whose waters gladden as they lave
The bright and heavenly shores above.

2 While streams, which on that tide depend,
Steal from those heavenly shores away,
And on this desert world descend,
Over our barren land to stray,--

3 The pilgrim, faint and near to sink
Beneath his load of earthly woe,
Refreshed in its gentle flow.

4 There, oh my soul, do thou repose,
And hover o'er the hallowed spring,
To drink the crystal wave, and there
To lave thy wounded, weary wing.

5 It may be that the waft of love
Some leaves on that pure tide hath driven,
Which passing from the shores above,
Have floated down to us from heaven.

6 So shall thy wants and woes be healed
By the blest influence they bring;
So thy parched lips shall be unsealed,
Thy Saviour's worthy name to sing.

Source: The Book of Worship #325

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Author: William Ball

Ball, William, a member of the Society of Friends, some time resident at Glen Rothsay, Rydal, Westmoreland, author of (1) Nugae Sacrae, or Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, Lond., 1825. (2) The Transcript and Other Poems; (3) Hymns, or Lyrics, 1864; (4) Verses composed since 1870, &c, 1875; and other works. From the above the following hymns have come into common use:— 1. Praise to Jesus! Praise to God. Praise. This is given in the Hymnary, 1871, as "Praise to Jesus, Lord and God," and in the American Hymns and Songs of Praise, N. Y., 1874, as:—"Hallelujah! Praise to God." Original text in Lyra. Britannica, 1867, p. 645. 2. There is a pure and tranquil wave . Hope. From Nugae Sacrae, 1825, into Lord Selborne's Book of… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	There is a pure and peaceful wave
Title:	The River of God
Author:	William Ball
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	The throne of love
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

There is a pure and tranquil wave. Hope. From Nugae Sacrae, 1825, into Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862; the Lyra Britannica, 1867, p. 646: and the Westminster Abbey Hymn Book, 1883, &c.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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