Scripture Verse

Well done, good and faithful servant. Matthew 25:23

Introduction

portrait
Ephraim T. Hildebrand
1866–1931

Words: W. Lo­max Child­ress, 1898.

Music: Eph­ra­im T. Hil­de­brand (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a bet­ter pho­to of Hil­de­brand,

portrait
W. Lomax Childress
1867–1936

Lyrics

When the lamp of faith has light­ed bright
The tra­vel­er to his goal,
And it falls upon the ri­ver,
And the waves be­gin to roll,
Lo, be­yond the Jor­dan bil­lows
Are the bright eter­nal strands;
What a glo­ry in the wel­come,
And the clasp­ing of the hands!

Refrain

What a glo­ry in the wel­come, in the wel­come,
And the clasp­ing of the hands, of the hands,
And the wel­come, of the Fa­ther,
In the sin­less sum­mer-lands, sum­mer-lands;
What a glo­ry in the king­dom,
When the toil of life is o’er!
What a glo­ry of the right­eous,
On the bright eter­nal shore!

All the loved of life shall meet us,
Who have gone the way be­fore,
And the mo­ther’s song shall greet us,
There upon the oth­er shore,
And the sis­ter and the bro­ther,
There among the an­gel bands,
And the lit­tle child that left us,
Sweet the clasp­ing of the hands!

Refrain

Oh, the hour is draw­ing near­er
To the day of peace and rest,
When the ship of God shall an­chor
In the har­bor of the blest,
And the good of all the ag­es
Meet us on the gold­en sands;
Oh, the glo­ry of the Fa­ther,
And the clasp­ing of the hands!

Refrain