Go work today in my vineyard.
Matthew 21:28
Words & Music: Thomas R. Sweatmon, in the New Victory Song Book, edited by Emmett S. Dean (Nashville, Tennessee: National Baptist Publishing Board, 1918), number 13 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Sweatmon (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
As I labor for Jesus
In His vineyard below,
Growing weary, my footsteps
Are so feeble, and slow;
But the echoes from Heaven
Come to comfort me then,
And I’m longing to hear
Those heav’nly echoes again.
Refrain
Oh! the echo from Heaven reaches me,
Oh! the angels’ sweet voices
Are so pleasing to me.
I will labor for Jesus
And the glory of men,
While the echoes from Heaven
Doth my pathway attend.
I am nearing fair Canaan
As I journey each day,
There no treasures so precious
That could tempt me to stay;
For my spirit is longing
For the mansions on high,
And the echoes are calling
Me from over the sky.
Refrain
When I enter the pearly gates
All shining with gold,
And I’m viewing Heav’n’s beauties
That have never been told,
I’ll be longing for Jesus
And to kneel at His feet,
While the voices of angels
Echo ’round me so sweet.
Refrain