Awake, my tongue; thy tribute bring

To him who gave thee power to sing;

Praise him who is all praise above,

The source of wisdom and of love.

2 How vast his knowledge! how profound!

A depth where all our thoughts are drowned;

The stars he numbers, and their names

He gives to all those heavenly flames.

3 Through each bright world above, behold

Ten thousand thousand charms unfold;

Earth, air, and mighty seas combine

To speak his wisdom all divine.

4 But in redemption, O what grace!

Its wonders, O, what thought can trace!

Here, wisdom shines for ever bright;

Praise him, my soul, with sweet delight.

My God, how excellent thy grace!

Whence all our hope and comfort springs;

The sons of Adam in distress,

Fly to the shadow of thy wings.

2 Life, like a fountain rich and free,

Springs from the presence of my Lord,

And in thy light our souls shall see

The glories promised in thy word.

Give to our God immortal praise;

Mercy and truth are all his ways:

Wonders of grace to God belong;

Repeat his mercies in your song.

2 Give to the Lord of lords renown,

The King of kings with glory crown:

His mercies ever shall endure,

When lords and kings are known no more.

3 He built the earth, he spread the sky,

And fixed the starry lights on high:

Wonders of grace to God belong;

Repeat his mercies in your song.

4 He fills the sun with morning light,

He bids the moon direct the night:

His mercies ever shall endure,

When suns and moons shall shine no more.

5 He sent his Son with power to save

From guilt, and darkness, and the grave:

Wonders of grace to God belong;

Repeat his mercies in your song.

6 Through this vain world he guides our feet,

And leads us to his heavenly seat:

His mercies ever shall endure,

When this vain world shall be no more.

O love, beyond conception great,

That formed the vast, stupendous plan,

Where all divine perfections meet

To reconcile rebellious man:

2 There wisdom shines in fullest blaze,

And justice all her right maintains—

Astonished angels stoop to gaze,

While mercy o’er the guilty reigns.

3 Yes, mercy reigns, and justice too;

In Christ they both harmonious meet;

He paid to justice all her due;

And now he fills the mercy-seat.

Lord, what is man? Extremes how wide

In this mysterious nature join!

The flesh to worms and dust allied,

The soul immortal and divine.

2 Divine at first, a holy flame

Kindled by heaven’s inspiring breath;

Till sin, with power prevailing, came;

Then followed darkness, shame and death.

3 But Jesus, O amazing grace!

Assumed our nature as his own,

Obeyed and suffered in our place,

Then took it with him to his throne.

4 Now, what is man, when grace reveals,

The virtue of a Saviour’s blood?

Again a life divine he feels,

Despises earth and walks with God.

5 And what, in yonder realms above,

Is ransomed man ordained to be!

With honor, holiness, and love,

No seraph more adorned than he.

6 Nearest the throne, and first in song,

Man shall his hallelujahs raise;

While wondering angels round him throng

And swell the chorus of his praise.

O love of God, how strong and true!

Eternal and yet ever new:

Above all price, and still unbought;

Beyond all knowledge and all thought.

2 O, wide-embracing, wondrous love,

We read thee in the sky above;

We read thee in the earth below,

In seas that swell and streams that flow.

3 We read thee best in him who came

To bear for us the cross of shame;

Sent by the Father from on high,

Our life to live, our death to die.

4 O love of God, our shield and stay

Through all the perils of the way;

Eternal love, in thee we rest,

For ever safe, for ever blest.

Father! how wide thy glory shines!

How high thy wonders rise!

Known through the earth by thousand signs,

By thousand through the skies.

2 Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power,

Their motions speak thy skill;

And on the wings of every hour,

We read thy patience still.

3 But when we view thy strange design

To save rebellious worms,

Where justice and compassion join

In their divinest forms,

4 Our thoughts are lost in reverent awe,

We love and we adore;

The brightest angel never saw

So much of God before.

5 Here the whole Deity is known;

But thought can never trace

Which of the glories brighter shine,

The justice, or the grace.

6 Now the full glories of the Lamb

Adorn the heavenly plains:

Bright seraphs learn Immanuel’s name,

And try their choicest strains.

7 O! may I bear some humble part

In that immortal song;

Wonder and joy shall tune my heart,

And love command my tongue.

Eternal Wisdom, thee we praise;

Thee all thy creatures sing:

While with thy name, rocks, hills, and seas,

And heaven’s high palace, ring.

2 Thy hand, how wide it spread the sky;

How glorious to behold!

Tinged with a blue of heavenly dye,

And decked with sparkling gold.

3 Almighty power, and equal skill,

Shine through the worlds abroad,

Our souls with vast amazement fill,

And speak the builder, God.

4 But still the wonders of thy grace

Our warmer passions move;

Here we behold our Saviour’s face,

And here adore his love.

Come, ye that know and fear the Lord,

And raise your souls above;

Let every heart and voice accord

To sing that—God is love.

2 This precious truth his word declares,

And all his mercies prove;

While Christ, th’ atoning Lamb, appears,

To show that—God is love.

3 Behold his loving-kindness waits

For those who from him rove,

And calls for mercy reach their hearts,

To teach them—God is love.

4 O! may we all, while here below,

This best of blessings prove;

Till warmer hearts, in brighter worlds,

Shall shout that—God is love.

God! my supporter and my hope,

My help for ever near,

Thine arm of mercy held me up

When sinking in despair.

2 Thy counsels, Lord, shall guide my feet

Through this dark wilderness;

Thy hand conduct me near thy seat,

To dwell before thy face.

3 Were I in heaven without my God,

’Twould be no joy to me;

And while this earth is my abode,

I long for none but thee.

4 What if the springs of life were broke,

And flesh and heart should faint?

God is my soul’s eternal rock,

The strength of every saint.

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,

Pilgrim through this barren land;

I am weak, but thou art mighty,

Hold me with thy powerful hand;

Bread of heaven,

Feed me till I want no more.

2 Open thou the crystal fountain

Whence the healing waters flow;

Let the fiery, cloudy pillar,

Lead me all my journey through;

Strong Deliverer,

Be thou still my strength and shield.

3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,

Bid the swelling stream divide;

Death of death, and hell’s destruction,

Land me safe on Canaan’s side!

Songs of praises

I will ever give to thee.

God is love; his mercy brightens

All the path in which we move!

Bliss he grants, and woe he lightens;

God is light, and God is love.

2 Chance and change are busy ever;

Worlds decay and ages move;

But his mercy waneth never;

God is light, and God is love.

3 E’en the hour that darkest seemeth,

His unchanging goodness proves;

From the cloud his brightness streameth;

God is light, and God is love.

4 He our earthly cares entwineth

With his comforts from above;

Everywhere his glory shineth;

God is light, and God is love.

When Jordan hushed his waters still,

And silence slept on Zion’s hill,

When Bethlehem’s shepherds, thro’ the night,

Watched o’er their flocks by starry light—

2 Hark! from the midnight hills around,

A voice of more than mortal sound,

In distant hallelujahs stole,

Wild murmuring o’er the raptured soul.

3 On wheels of light, on wings of flame,

The glorious hosts of Zion came;

High heaven with songs of triumph rung,

While thus they struck their harps and sung:

4 “O Zion, lift thy raptured eye;

The long-expected hour is nigh;

The joys of nature rise again;

The Prince of Salem comes to reign.

5 “See, Mercy, from her golden urn,

Pours a rich stream to them that mourn;

Behold, she binds with tender care

The bleeding bosom of despair.

6 “He comes to cheer the trembling heart:

Bids Satan and his host depart;

Again the day-star gilds the gloom,

Again the bowers of Eden bloom.”

Behold the woman’s promised seed!

Behold the great Messiah come!

Behold the prophets all agreed

To give him the superior room!

2 Abrah’m, the saint, rejoiced of old,

When visions of the Lord he saw;

Moses, the man of God, foretold

This great fulfiller of his law.

3 The types bore witness to his name,

Obtained their chief design, and ceased—

The incense and the bleeding lamb,

The ark, the altar, and the priest.

4 Predictions in abundance join

To pour their witness on his head:

Jesus, we bow before thy throne,

And own thee as the promised seed.

In hymns of praise, eternal God,

When thy creating hand

Stretched the blue arch of heaven abroad,

And meted sea and land,

The morning stars together sung,

And shouts of joy from angels rung.

2 Than earth’s prime hour, more joyous far

Was the eventful morn,

When the bright beam of Bethlehem’s star

Announced a Saviour born!

Then sweeter strains from heaven began

“Glory to God—good will to man.”

3 Babe of the manger! can it be?

Art thou the Son of God?

Shall subject nations bow the knee,

And kings obey thy nod?

Shall thrones and monarchs prostrate fall

Before the tenant of a stall?

4 ’Tis he! the hymning seraphs cry,

While hovering drawn to earth;

’Tis he, the shepherds’ songs reply;

Hail! hail! Immanuel’s birth;

The rod of peace those hands shall bear,

That brow a crown of glory wear!

5 ’Tis he! the eastern sages sing,

And spread their golden hoard;

’Tis he! the hills of Zion ring,

Hosanna to the Lord!

The Prince of long prophetic years

To-day in Bethlehem appears!

It came upon the midnight clear,

That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth

To touch their harps of gold:

“Peace to the earth, good will to men,

From heaven’s all-gracious King;”

The world in solemn stillness lay

To hear the angels sing.

2 Still through the cloven skies they come

With peaceful wings unfurled;

And still their heavenly music floats

O’er all the weary world:

Above its sad and lowly plains

They bend on heavenly wing,

And ever o’er its Babel sounds

The blesséd angels sing.

3 Yet with the woes of sin and strife

The world has suffered long;

Beneath the angel-strain have rolled

Two thousand years of wrong;

And men, at war with men, hear not

The love-song which they bring:

O! hush the noise, ye men of strife,

And hear the angels sing!

4 And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow;

Look now! for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing:

O! rest beside the weary road,

And hear the angels sing!

5 For lo! the days are hastening on,

By prophet-bards foretold,

When with the ever-circling years

Comes round the age of gold;

When peace shall over all the earth

Its ancient splendor fling,

And the whole world send back the song

Which now the angels sing.

Mortals! awake, with angels join,

And chant the solemn lay;

Love, joy, and gratitude combine

To hail the auspicious day.

2 In heaven the rapturous song began,

And sweet seraphic fire

Through all the shining legions ran,

And swept the sounding lyre.

3 The theme, the song, the joy was new

To each angelic tongue;

Swift through the realms of light it flew,

And loud the echo rung.

4 Down through the portals of the sky

The pealing anthem ran,

And angels flew with eager joy

To bear the news to man.

5 Hark! the cherubic armies shout,

And glory leads the song,

Peace and salvation swell the note

Of all the heavenly throng.

6 With joy the chorus we’ll repeat,

“Glory to God on high!

Good will and peace are now complete—

Jesus was born to die!”

7 Hail, Prince of life! for ever hail!

Redeemer—brother—friend!

Though earth, and time, and life shall fail,

Thy praise shall never end.

To us a child of hope is born,

To us a Son is given;

Him shall the tribes of earth obey,

Him, all the hosts of heaven.

2 His name shall be the Prince of Peace,

For evermore adored,

The Wonderful, the Counsellor,

The great and mighty Lord.

3 His power, increasing, still shall spread;

His reign no end shall know;

Justice shall guard his throne above,

And peace abound below.

Calm on the listening ear of night,

Come heaven’s melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretches far

Her silver-mantled plains.

2 Celestial choirs, from courts above,

Shed sacred glories there,

And angels, with their sparkling lyres,

Make music on the air.

3 The answering hills of Palestine

Send back the glad reply;

And greet, from all their holy hights,

The day-spring from on high.

4 O’er the blue depths of Galilee

There comes a holier calm,

And Sharon waves, in solemn praise,

Her silent groves of palm.

5 “Glory to God!” the sounding skies

Loud with their anthems ring—

“Peace to the earth, good will to men,

From heaven’s eternal King.”

6 Light on thy hill, Jerusalem!

The Saviour now is born!

And bright on Bethlehem’s joyous plains

Breaks the first Advent morn.

Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes!

The Saviour promised long!

Let every heart prepare a throne,

And every voice a song.

2 He comes, the prisoner to release

In Satan’s bondage held;

The gates of brass before him burst,

The iron fetters yield.

3 He comes, from thickest films of vice

To clear the mental ray,

And on the eyeballs of the blind

To pour celestial day.

4 He comes, the broken heart to bind,

The bleeding soul to cure,

And with the treasures of his grace

To enrich the humble poor.

5 Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,

The welcome shall proclaim,

And heaven’s eternal arches ring

With thy belovéd name.

Joy to the world; the Lord is come!

Let earth receive her King:

Let every heart prepare him room,

And heaven and nature sing.

2 Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!

Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy.

3 No more let sins and sorrows grow,

Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make his blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

4 He rules the world with truth and grace,

And makes the nations prove

The glories of his righteousness,

And wonders of his love.

Hark! the herald angels sing,

“Glory to the new-born King!

Peace on earth, and mercy mild;

God and sinners reconciled.”

2 Joyful, all ye nations, rise;

Join the triumphs of the skies;

With th’ angelic host proclaim,

“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”

3 See, he lays his glory by;

Born that man no more may die;

Born to raise the sons of earth;

Born to give them second birth.

4 Vailed in flesh the Godhead see!

Hail, th’ incarnate Deity!

Pleased as man with man to dwell,

Jesus, our Immanuel!

5 Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!

Hail, the Son of Righteousness!

Light and life to all he brings,

Risen with healing in his wings.

6 Let us then with angels sing,

“Glory to the new-born King!

Peace on earth, and mercy mild;

God and sinners reconciled!”

Bright and joyful was the morn

When to us a child was born;

From the highest realms of heaven

Unto us a Son was given.

2 On his shoulder he shall bear

Power and majesty—and wear

On his vesture and his thigh

Names most awful—names most high.

3 Wonderful in counsel he,

Christ th’ incarnate Deity;

Sire of ages ne’er to cease,

King of kings, and Prince of Peace.

4 Come and worship at his feet,

Yield to him the homage meet;

From his manger to his throne,

Homage due to God alone.

Watchman, tell us of the night,

What its signs of promise are.

Traveler, o’er yon mountain’s hights

See that glory-beaming star!

2 Watchman, does its beauteous ray

Aught of joy or hope foretell?

Traveler, yes: it brings the day,

Promised day of Israel.

3 Watchman, tell us of the night;

Higher yet that star ascends.

Traveler, blessedness and light,

Peace and truth, its course portends.

4 Watchman, will its beams alone

Gild the spot that gave them birth?

Traveler, ages are its own:

See! it bursts o’er all the earth!

5 Watchman, tell us of the night,

For the morning seems to dawn.

Traveler, darkness takes its flight,

Doubt and terror are withdrawn.

6 Watchman, let thy wandering cease;

Hie thee to thy quiet home.

Traveler, lo! the Prince of Peace,

Lo! the Son of God is come!

He has come! the Christ of God;

Left for us his glad abode;

Stooping from his throne of bliss,

To this darksome wilderness.

2 He has come—the Prince of Peace—

Come to bid our sorrows cease;

Come to scatter, with his light,

All the shadows of our night.

3 He, the mighty King, has come!

Making the poor earth his home

Come to bear sin’s heavy load;

Son of David, Son of God.

4 He has come, whose name of grace

Speaks deliverance to our race;

Left for us his glad abode;

Son of Mary, Son of God!

5 Unto us a child is born!

Ne’er has earth beheld a morn

Numbered in the morns of time,

Half so glorious in its prime.

6 Unto us a Son is given!

He has come from God’s own heaven;

Bringing with him from above,

Holy peace and holy love.

God with us! O glorious name!

Let it shine in endless fame;

God and man in Christ unite—

O mysterious depth and hight!

2 God with us! amazing love

Brought him from his courts above;

Now, ye saints, his grace admire,

Swell the song with holy fire.

3 God with us! O wondrous grace!

Let us see him face to face;

That we may Immanuel sing,

As we ought, our God and King.

Silent night! hallowed night!

Land and deep silent sleep;

Softly glitters bright Bethlehem’s star,

Beckoning Israel’s eye from afar

Where the Saviour is born.

2 Silent night! hallowed night!

On the plain wakes the strain,

Sung by heavenly harbingers bright,

Fraught with tidings of boundless delight:

Christ the Saviour has come.

3 Silent night! hallowed night!

Earth awake, silence break,

High your anthems of melody raise,

Heaven and earth in full chorus of praise:

Peace for ever shall reign.

Hark! hark! the notes of joy

Roll o’er the heavenly plains,

And seraphs find employ

For their sublimest strains:

Some new delight in heaven is known;

Loud sound the harps around the throne.

2 Hark! hark! the sound draws nigh—

The joyful host descends;

The Lord forsakes the sky,

To earth his footsteps bends:

He comes to bless our fallen race;

He comes with messages of grace.

3 Bear, bear the tidings round!

Let every mortal know

What love in God is found,

What pity he can show:

Ye winds that blow, ye waves that roll,

Bear the glad news from pole to pole.

4 Strike, strike the harps again,

To great Immanuel’s name!

Arise, ye sons of men,

And all his grace proclaim:

Angels and men, wake every string,

’Tis God the Saviour’s praise we sing!

Shepherds! hail the wondrous stranger,

Now to Bethlehem speed your way;

Lo! in yonder humble manger,

Christ, the Lord, is born to-day.

2 Bright the star of your salvation,

Pointing to his rude abode;

Rapturous news for every nation:

Now, behold the Son of God.

3 Love eternal moved the Saviour,

Thus to lay his radiance by;

Blessings on the Lamb for ever;

Glory be to God on high.

Hark! what joyful notes are swelling

On the quiet midnight air!

’Tis the voice of angels telling,

Jesus comes our sins to bear!

Now the music, in its gladness,

Breaks and swells, and glides along!

Now, earth, waking from her sadness,

Joins the chorus of the song!

Glory in the highest heaven!

Peace on earth, good-will to man!

Let all praise to God be given,

For Redemption’s glorious plan!

2 See all darkness disappearing,

As the star begins to rise!

Sin and death stand trembling, fearing,

As the light falls on their eyes:

Now, again, the earth rejoices,

Satan’s powerful kingdom shakes,

As, from all the heavenly voices,

Louder still the chorus breaks!

Glory in the highest heaven! etc.

3 Rise and shine, Star of Salvation!

Spread thy beams o’er all the earth,

Till each distant land and nation

Owns and speaks thy matchless worth!

Till all tongues, thy praises singing,

Shall thy mighty wonders tell,

Till all heaven with joy is ringing,

As our hearts the chorus swell:

Glory in the highest heaven! etc.

4 When our days on earth are ended,

And we rise to worlds above,

Then our songs shall all be blended

In one song of pardoning love!

Then we’ll tell the wondrous story,

And our blesséd Lord adore;

In our home of bliss and glory

We shall sing for evermore!

Glory in the highest heaven!

Sound aloud the joyful strain!

Glory to the Lamb be given,

Who for sinners once was slain!

Hark! what mean those holy voices,

Sweetly sounding through the skies?

Lo! th’ angelic host rejoices!

Heavenly hallelujahs rise.

2 Hear them tell the wondrous story,

Hear them chant in hymns of joy—

“Glory to the highest, glory!

Glory be to God most high!

3 “Peace on earth, good-will from heaven,

Reaching far as man is found;

Souls redeemed and sins forgiven!”

Loud our golden harps shall sound.

4 “Christ is born, the great anointed;

Heaven and earth his praises sing;

O receive whom God appointed,

For your Prophet, Priest, and King!

5 “Haste, ye mortals, to adore him;

Learn his name, and taste his joy;

Till in heaven ye sing before him—

“‘Glory be to God most high!’”

Hail, thou long-expected Jesus!

Born to set thy people free;

From our sins and fears release us,

Let us find our rest in thee.

2 Israel’s strength and consolation,

Hope of all the saints, thou art;

Longdesired of every nation,

Joy of every waiting heart.

3 Born, thy people to deliver—

Born a child, yet Christ, our King—

Born to reign in us for ever—

Now thy gracious kingdom bring.

4 By thine own eternal Spirit,

Rule in all our hearts alone;

By thine all-sufficient merit,

Raise us to thy glorious throne.

Angels, from the realms of glory,

Wing your flight o’er all the earth,

Ye who sang creation’s story,

Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:

Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the new-born King.

2 Shepherds, in the field abiding,

Watching o’er your flocks by night,

God with man is now residing,

Yonder shines the infant light;

Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the new-born King.

3 Sages, leave your contemplations,

Brighter visions beam afar;

Seek the great desire of nations;

Ye have seen his natal star!

Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the new-born King.

4 Saints, before the altar bending,

Watching long in hope and fear,

Suddenly, the Lord descending,

In his temple shall appear;

Come and worship,

Worship Christ, the new-born King.

Hail the blest morn! when the great Mediator

Down from the regions of glory descends!

Shepherds, go worship the babe in the manger;

Lo! for your guide the bright angel attends!

CHORUS.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,

Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thy aid:

Star of the East, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.

2 Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining,

Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall:

Angels adore him in slumbers reclining,

Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all!

3 Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,

Odors of Eden, and offerings divine;

Gems from the mountain, and pearls from the ocean,

Myrrh from the forest, and gold from the mine?

4 Vainly we offer earth’s richest oblation

Vainly with gold would his favor secure;

Richer, by far, is the heart’s adoration,

Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor!

From the regions of love, lo! an angel descended,

And told the strange news how the babe was attended;

Go, shepherds, and visit the wonderful stranger;

See yonder bright star! there’s your Lord in a manger.

CHORUS.

Hallelujah to the Lamb who has purchased our pardon,

We’ll praise him again when we pass over Jordan!

2 Glad tidings I bring unto you and each nation!

Glad tidings of joy—now behold your salvation;

Then suddenly multitudes raise their glad voices,

And shout hallelujahs, while heaven rejoices!

3 Now glory to God in the highest be given,

All glory to God is re-echoed from heaven;

Around the whole earth let us tell the glad story,

And sing of his love, his salvation, and glory.

4 O Jesus! ride on, thy kingdom is glorious;

Over sin, death, and hell, thou’lt make us victorious!

Thy banner unfurl—let the nations surrender,

And own thee their Saviour, their Lord and Defender!

Hark! from the world on high

Glory to God!

Now swells along the sky

Glory to God!

Songs, like sweet notes of praise,

Pour forth in rapturous lays,

As all the voices raise

Glory to God!

2 Hear how the angels sing

Glory to God!

Through all the heavens ring

Glory to God!

Now, let each heart on earth

Sing of the Saviour’s birth,

Telling his matchless worth,

Glory to God!