OME, Thou Saviour long expected,
Born to set Thy people free;
By Thy watchful love protected,
May we find our rest in Thee.
Israel's strength and consolation,
Hope of all the earth, Thou art;
Blest desire of every nation,
Joy of every longing heart.
2 Born Thy people to deliver,
Born a child, and yet a king;
Born to reign in us for ever,
Now Thy gracious kingdom bring.
By Thine own eternal Spirit
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By Thine all-sufficient merit
Raise us to Thy glorious throne.
HE Lord will come! the earth shall quake,
The hills their fixed seat forsake;
And withering from the vault of night
The stars withdraw their feeble light.
2 The Lord will come! but not the same
As once in lowly form He came,
A silent Lamb to slaughter led,
The bruised, the suffering, and the dead..
The Lord will come! a dreadful form,
With wreath of flame, and robe of storm,
On cherub wings, and wings of wind,
Anointed Judge of human kind.
4 Can this be He who wont to stray
A pilgrim on the world's highway;
By power oppressed, and mocked by pride?
O God! is this the crucified ?
5 Go, sinners, to the rocks complain!
Go, seek the mountains cleft in vain!
But Faith, victorious o'er the tomb,
Shall sing for joy-"The Lord is come!"
ARK! a thrilling voice is sounding;
“ Christ is nigh,” it seems to say;
"Cast away the works of darkness,
O ye children of the day!"
2 Startled by the solemn warning,
Let the earth-bound soul arise;
Christ, our Sun, all clouds dispelling,
Shines upon the morning skies.
Once the Lamb, so long expected,
Came in great humility:
Once again behold He cometh,
Robed in dreadful majesty.
4 Hark! a thrilling voice is sounding,
"Christ is nigh," it seems to say;
"Cast away the works of darkness,
O ye children of the day!"
SAVIOUR, is Thy promise fled ?
Nor longer might Thy grace endure,
To heal the sick and raise the dead,
And preach Thy gospel to the poor?
2 Come, Jesus, come! return again;
With brighter beam Thy servants bless, Who long to feel Thy perfect reign, And share Thy kingdom's happiness.
3 A feeble race, by passion driven,
In darkness and in doubt we roam,
And lift our anxious eyes to heaven,
Our hope, our harbour, and our home.
4 Yet, 'mid the wild and wintry gale,
When Death rides darkly o'er the sea,
And strength and earthly daring fail,
Our prayers, Redeemer, rest on Thee.
5 Come, Jesus, come! and, as of yore
The prophet went to clear Thy way,
A harbinger Thy feet before,
A dawning to Thy brighter day;
6 So now may grace with heavenly shower Our stony hearts for truth prepare ; Sow in our souls the seed of power, reap Thy harvest there.
HE Church has waited long
Her absent Lord to see;
And still in loneliness she waits,
A friendless stranger she.
age has gone,
Sun after sun has set,
And still, in weeds of widowhood,
She weeps a mourner yet.
2 Saint after saint on earth
Has lived, and loved, and died;
And as they left us one by one,
We laid them side by side:
We laid them down to sleep,
But not in hope forlorn ;
We laid them but to ripen there,
Till the last glorious morn.
3 The whole creation groans,
And waits to hear the voice
That shall restore her comeliness,
And make her wastes rejoice.
Come, Lord, and wipe away
The curse, the sin, the stain,
And make this blighted world of ours
Thine own fair world again.
Return, return again;
ORD, to Thy holy temple
Come back and fill with glory
The hearts and ways of men!
Not as a lowly infant,
Unnoticed and unknown, .
But in the royal splendour
Of Thine eternal throne!
2 O Thou, whom we delight in,
The Messenger of love,
Come to Thy temple quickly
Back from Thy throne above!
But who may bide Thy coming,
Who hear Thy footsteps tread,
Who stand when Thou appearest,
Thou Judge of quick and dead?
3 Thy Spirit send before Thee,
Till every heart, restored
By His new life, adore Thee,
Their only God and Lord!
And make our offerings pleasant
As in the days of old,
And as in former happy years
Of which our fathers told.
Come back and fill Thy temple,
Built up of human hearts,
With that abiding presence
Which never more departs !
Come where the prostrate nations
Before Thy feet shall fall;
Come with Thy holy angels,
Come back the Lord of all!
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