Scripture Verse

Behold My servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth. I have put My Spi­rit upon Him; He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. Isaiah 42:1

Introduction

Words: Orig­in­al­ly in the Scot­tish Trans­la­tions and Pa­ra­phras­es, 1745, as Be­hold My Ser­vant! See Him Rise. The re­cast ver­sion be­low ap­peared in John Lo­gan’s Poems, 1781; Ju­lian (pag­es 127–28) be­lieved the re­cast was like­ly by Mi­chael Bruce.

Music: Tal­lis’ Or­di­nal Tho­mas Tal­lis, cir­ca 1567 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

portrait
Thomas Tallis (1505–1585)

Lyrics

Behold! the Am­bas­sa­dor di­vine,
Descending from above,
To pub­lish to man­kind the law
Of ev­er­last­ing love.

On Him, in rich ef­fu­sion poured,
The heav’n­ly dew des­cends;
And truth di­vine He shall re­veal
To earth’s re­mot­est ends.

No trum­pet sound, at His ap­proach,
Shall strike the won­der­ing ears;
But still and gen­tle breathe the voice
In which the God ap­pears.

By His kind hand the shak­en reed
Shall raise its fall­ing frame;
The dy­ing em­bers shall re­vive,
And kin­dle to a flame.

The on­ward pro­gress of His zeal
Shall ne­ver know de­cline,
Till for­eign lands and dist­ant isles
Receive the law di­vine.

He who spread forth the arch of Heav’n,
And bade the plan­ets roll,
Who laid the ba­sis of the earth,
And formed the hu­man soul—

Thus saith the Lord, “Thee have I sent,
A pro­phet from the sky,
Wide o’er the na­tions to pro­claim
The mes­sage from on high.

“Before Thy face the shades of death
Shall take to sud­den flight;
The peo­ple who in dark­ness dwell
Shall hail a glo­ri­ous light;

“The gates of brass shall ’sun­der burst,
The ir­on fet­ters fall;
The pro­mised ju­bi­lee of Heav’n
Appointed rise o’er all.

“And lo! pre­sag­ing Thy ap­proach,
The hea­then tem­ple shake,
And trem­bling in for­sak­en fanes,
The fa­bled idols quake.

I am Je­ho­vah: I am One:
My name shall now be known;
No id­ol shall usurp My praise,
Nor mount in­to My throne.

Lo, for­mer scenes, pre­dict­ed once,
Conspicuous rise to view;
And fu­ture scenes, pre­dict­ed now,
Shall be ac­comp­lished, too.

Now sing a new song to the Lord!
Let earth His praise re­sound;
Ye who up­on the ocean dwell,
And fill the isles around.

O ci­ty of the Lord! be­gin
The uni­ver­sal song;
And let the scat­tered vil­lag­es
The joy­ful notes pro­long.

Let Ke­dar’s wil­der­ness afar
Lift up the lone­ly voice;
And let the ten­ants of the rock
With ac­cent rude re­joice.

O from the streams of dist­ant lands
Unto Je­ho­vah sing!
And joy­ful from the moun­tain tops
Shout to the Lord the King!

Let all com­bined with one ac­cord
Jehovah’s glo­ries raise,
Till in re­mot­est bounds of earth
The na­tions sound His praise.