Scripture Verse

I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him. Revelation 3:20

Introduction

Words: S. E. Hen­drick, in Make His Praise Glo­ri­ous, ed­it­ed by Ed­win O. Ex­cell (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: E. O. Ex­cell, 1900), num­ber 128.

Music: J. W. Wil­kin­son (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

When my life with sin was filled,
In my wick­ed heart I willed
That I’d serve with all my pow­er the prince of sin;
But a voice did me im­plore,
There is some­one at the door;
Will you let the bless­èd sun­shine in?

Refrain

O the sun­shine, bless­èd sun­shine,
How it fills with joy this hap­py heart of mine;
For I’ve cleared the dark­ened win­dows,
I have op­ened wide the door,
And I’ve let the bless­èd sun­shine in.

Yielding not my stub­born will,
Tho’ the call came loud­er still,
Till I saw my­self an out­cast, vile with­in;
Then I could hold out no more,
So I op­ened wide the door,
And I let the bless­èd sun­shine in.

Refrain

Now my faith has strong­er grown,
I ap­proach the heav’n­ly throne,
And I have the Spir­it wit­ness­ing with­in;
And the clear and per­fect light
Makes my path­way ev­er bright,
For I’ve let the bless­èd sun­shine in.

Refrain

In this bright and shin­ing way,
I’m re­joic­ing ev­ery day,
For I have no fears, but all is joy with­in;
And the Sav­ior is my light,
Guiding all my steps aright,
Since I’ve let the bless­èd sun­shine in.

Refrain