I stand at the door, and knock.
Revelation 3:20
Words: James V. Blake, 1880.
Music: Nicaea John B. Dykes, 1861 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Blake (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Father, Thou art calling,
Calling to us plainly;
To the spirit comes Thy
Loving message evermore;
Holy One, uplift us,
Nor forever vainly
Stand calling us
And waiting at the door.
In the whirling tempest
And the storm Thou livest,
In the rain, and in the sweetness
Of the afterglow;
Summer’s golden bounty,
Winter’s snow, Thou givest,
And blooming meadows
Where sweet waters flow.
Clearer still and dearer
Is Thy voice appealing,
Deep within the spirit’s
Secret being speaking low:
Enter, O our Father!
Truth and life revealing;
From every evil
Free us as we go.
In Thee living, moving,
Unto Thee uprearing
All the hope and joyfulness
And trust that fill the soul,
Father, we adore Thee,
Asking naught nor fearing;
We cannot wander
From Thy dear control.