Scripture Verse

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3–5

Introduction

portrait
Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

Words: Is­aac Watts, Hymns and Spir­it­ual Songs, Book 1, 1707, num­ber 26. Hope of hea­ven by the re­sur­rect­ion of Christ.

Music: Na­ti­vi­ty Hen­ry La­hee, 1855 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of La­hee (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Blest be the ev­er­last­ing God,
The Fa­ther of our Lord;
Be His abound­ing mer­cy praised,
His ma­jes­ty ad­ored.

When from the dead He raised His Son,
And called Him to the sky,
He gave our souls a live­ly hope
That they should ne­ver die.

What though our in­bred sins re­quire
Our flesh to see the dust,
Yet as the Lord our Sav­ior rose,
So all His fol­low­ers must.

There’s an in­her­it­ance di­vine
Reserved against that day;
’Tis un­cor­rupt­ed, un­de­filed,
And can­not waste away.

Saints by the pow­er of God are kept
Till the sal­va­tion come;
We walk by faith as stran­gers here,
Till Christ shall call us home.