Scripture Verse

The Lord hath need of them. Matthew 21:3

Introduction

Words: Ophel­ia G. Brown­ing, 1889. Some hym­nals give the au­thor as F. G. Bur­roughs, Brown­ing’s pseu­do­nym.

Music: John J. Hood (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Brown­ing or Hood (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Gifts we bring to our king,
Every heart an of­fer­ing—
Loving deeds for Je­sus’ sake
Are the best gifts we can make:
For our gifts the Lord hath need;
He will bless each lov­ing deed,
He will bless each lov­ing deed,
And the child­ren’s of­fer­ing heed.

Praise we bring to our king,
And of God’s great love-gift sing,
While the sto­ry we repeat
Of the Christ­mas Babe so sweet!
For our praise the Lord hath need;
When we love in truth and deed,
When we love in truth and deed
Children’s prais­es He will heed.

Gifts we bring to our king,
While the mer­ry chime-bells ring,
Kind words from our lips shall fall,
Cheerful smiles we’ll give to all:
For our gifts the Lord hath need;
He will bless each kind­ly deed,
He will bless each kind­ly deed,
And the words of child­ren heed.