1 With songs of sacred joy
Extol His glorious Name,
Who reared the spacious earth,
And raised our ruined frame.
He built the Church who spread the sky;
Sing and exalt His honors high.
2 See the Foundation laid
By Power and Love divine;
Jesus, His first-born Son,
How bright His glories shine!
Low He descends, in dust He lies,
That from His tomb a Church might rise.
3 But He for ever lives,
Nor for Himself alone:
Each saint new life derives
From Him the living Stone.
His influence spreads through every soul,
And in one house unites the whole.
4 To Him with joy we move;
In Him cemented stand;
The living temple grows,
And owns the Founder's hand.
That Structure, Lord, still higher raise,
Louder to sound its Builder's praise.
Source: Church Book: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran congregations #265