Scripture Verse

Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. Psalm 80:1

Introduction

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John B. Dykes (1823–1876)

Words: Pa­ra­phrase of Psalm 80. Ap­peared in The Psalms, New­ly Pa­ra­phrased for the Ser­vice of the Sanc­tu­ary, by Jo­seph P. Bar­trum (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Rus­sell, Os­borne & Com­pa­ny, 1833), page 98. The hymn carried the su­btitle The west­ern church in de­so­la­tion.

Music: Me­li­ta John B. Dykes, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1861 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

Enthroned amid the se­ra­phim,
Where count­less roll the wheels of time,
Celestial light, al­migh­ty pow­er!
Burst forth in this af­flict­ive hour!
Effulgent, shine upon our race!
Thy an­cient mer­cies, Lord, re­trace!

From su­per­sti­tion’s dark do­main,
From per­se­cu­tion’s cru­el reign,
When erst a ten­der vine was brought,
With joys ex­ub­er­ant­ly fraught;
In re­gions wrapped in des­ti­ny,
It rose and bloomed, a love­ly tree!

Its shade the mount­ains ov­er­spread;
Its root, by bub­bling fount­ains fed,
Nor drought, nor de­sert, could ar­rest;
Its branches filled the far­thest west:
Beside a thou­sand flow­ery banks,
Its clus­ters swelled in glow­ing ranks.

Now torn and pros­trate its de­fense,
Despoiled of its mag­ni­fi­cence,
The sa­vage hunt­er treads it down;
It fades be­neath a ty­rant’s frown;
The sword de­stroys, the fire de­vours,
The De­ity in dark­ness lours!

Ah! why de­sert­ed of our God?
His vine­yard, why a field of blood?
Return, O God of hosts, re­turn!
Thy ra­vaged, slaugh­tered church dis­cern!
Behold, and vic­to­ry im­part!
Thine, ev­er Thine, shall be our heart!