Scripture Verse

Let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let Thy saints rejoice in goodness. 2 Chronicles 6:41

Introduction

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Words: Verses 1–2, Charles Wes­ley, Short Hymns (Bris­tol, Eng­land: E. Far­ley, 1762), vol­ume 1, num­ber 656. Vers­es 3–6 ap­peared, with their au­thor un­named (Wes­ley?), in A Se­lect­ion of Hymns, from Va­ri­ous Au­thors, De­signed as a Sup­ple­ment to the Me­tho­dist Pock­et Hymn Book, first edi­tion (New York: 1808), alt.

Music: Brown Will­iam B. Brad­bu­ry, 1844 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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William Bradbury
(1816–1868)

Lyrics

Jesus, the word of mer­cy give,
And let it swift­ly run,
And let the priests them­selves be­lieve,
And put sal­va­tion on.

Clothed in the Spir­it’s ho­li­ness
May all Thy peo­ple prove
The ple­ni­tude of Gos­pel grace
The joy of per­fect love.

Jesus, let all Thy lov­ers shine,
Illustrious, as the sun;
And bright with bor­rowed rays di­vine,
Their glo­ri­ous cir­cuit run.

Beyond the reach of mor­tals spread
Their light wher­e’er they go;
Heavenly in­flu­ence may they shed
On all the world be­low.

As gi­ants may they run their race,
Exulting in their might:
As burn­ing lu­mi­nar­ies chase
The gloom of hell­ish night.

As the bright Son of Right­eous­ness
Their heal­ing wings dis­play;
And let their luster still in­crease
Unto the per­fect day.