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THE FISH IN WAVE, THE BIRD ON WING

Scripture Verse

God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth. Genesis 1:20

Introduction

portrait
Charles Coffin (1676–1749)

Words: Charles Cof­fin, in the Pa­ris Bre­vi­ary, 1736 (Iis­dem cre­ati fluc­ti­bus). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by John Chand­ler and the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern.

Music: St. Fla­vi­an Day’s Psal­ter, 1563 (🔊 ).

portrait
John Chandler (1806–1876)
National Portrait Gallery

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Lyrics

The fish in wave, the bird on wing,
God bade the wa­ters bear;
Each for our mor­tal body’s food
His gra­cious hands pre­pare.

But oth­er food, of rich­er cost,
The im­mor­tal spir­it needs;
By faith it lives on ev­ery word
That from His mouth pro­ceeds.

Faith spring­ing from the blood of Christ,
Has flowed o’er ev­ery land;
And sin­ners through the van­quished world
Bow down to its com­mand.

Its light the joy of Heav’n re­veals
To hearts made pure with­in;
And bids them seek by wor­thy deeds
Eternal crowns to win.

By faith the saints of old were strong
The li­on’s wrath to tame;
By faith they spurned the ty­rant’s threats,
And scorned the rag­ing flame.

Lord, grant that we the path may tread
Whereon its light doth shine;
And ga­ther, as we on­ward go,
The fruits of love di­vine.

O praise the Fa­ther; praise the Son,
On whose most pre­cious blood
Rests all our faith; and praise to Him
Who with Them both is God.