I have called you friends.
John 15:15
Words: Lewis C. Lockwood, in The Chorus, by A. S. Jenks and D. Gilkey (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: A. S. Jenks, 1858), pages 285–86, alt.
Music: Lilly Dale Henry S. Thompson, 1852 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Thompson (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
’Tis a calm, still night,
With the moon’s pale light
Shining soft over hill and vale;
But my heart, mute with grief,
Looks up for relief,
And a friend I in Jesus hail.
Refrain
O Jesus! dear Jesus! dear Jesus, hail!
Now my aching bosom has balm for woe,
As I pass through life’s lonely vale.
O the cheek that glowed,
As the rose tint blowed,
See the hand of disease turn pale;
And the death damp falls now,
On my fevered brow,
Yet a friend I in Jesus hail.
Refrain
With Him I’ll be blest,
In the land of rest,
When my heart and my flesh shall fail;
When this dust lieth low,
I to Heav’n shall go,
And a friend in my Jesus hail.
Refrain
When o’er my grave,
Flowers gently wave,
As the stream ripples through the vale,
Then with angels I’ll sing,
And make Heaven ring,
As a friend I in Jesus hail.
Refrain