Scripture Verse

The Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light. Isaiah 60:19

Introduction

portrait
Thomas Binney
1798–1874

Words: Tho­mas Bin­ney, 1826.

Music: New­cas­tle (Mor­ley) Hen­ry K. Mor­ley, 1875 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

Origin of the Hymn

It was set to mu­sic and pub­lished by Pow­er, of the Strand, on be­half of some cha­ri­ta­ble ob­ject to which the pro­fits went. It was some lit­tle time since set to mu­sic by Mr. Bur­nett, of High­gate. It has ap­peared, I be­lieve, in one or two books of sac­red po­et­ry, and in a mu­ti­lat­ed state in a hymn-book in Am­er­ica.

Thomas Bin­ney, in Mill­er’s Sing­ers and Songs, 1866, p. 457

Lyrics

Eternal Light! eter­nal Light!
How pure the soul must be
When, placed within Thy search­ing sight,
It shrinks not, but with calm de­light
Can live, and look on Thee!

The spi­rits that sur­round Thy throne
May bear the burn­ing bliss;
But that is sure­ly theirs alone,
Since they have ne­ver, ne­ver known
A fall­en world like this.

O how shall I, whose na­tive sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before the In­ef­fable appear,
And on my nak­ed spi­rit bear
That un­cre­at­ed beam?

There is a way for man to rise
To that sub­lime abode:
An of­fer­ing and a sac­ri­fice,
A Ho­ly Spi­rit’s en­er­gies,
An ad­vo­cate with God.

These, these pre­pare us for the sight
Of ho­li­ness above;
The sons of ig­nor­ance and night,
May dwell in the eter­nal Light,
Through the eter­nal Love.