Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.
Romans 12:1
Words: William J. L. Sheppard, 1896. Published in the Church Missionary Society’s Gleaner, January 1897, page 3.
Music: Zadok Charles H. Forrest, circa 1902 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Sheppard or Forrest (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
In the cleansèd temple,
On the festal day,
When the whole burnt offering
On the altar lay,
Then the priestly trumpets
Echoed loud and long,
Then ten thousand voices
Sang the Lord’s own song,
When this lost world’s Savior
Left His Father’s home,
Offered His burnt offering,
Saying, Lo, I come,
Then the wondering shepherds
Heard the angel throng
Give God highest glory
In their glad new song.
When the body, purchased
With Christ’s ransom price,
Is to God presented,
Living sacrifice,
Then the tide of gladness,
Rises high and strong;
Then the heart, rejoicing,
Sings the glad new song.
When from dawn to sunset
Christ shall worshiped be,
And the same pure offering
Every place shall see,
When again He cometh
Who has tarried long,
Then shall peal the welcome
Of the glad new song.
Grant us, blessèd Master,
So to yield to Thee
Body, soul, and spirit,
Our burnt offering free,
That in Thine own temple,
With the white-robed throng,
We may join for ever
In the glad new song.