Scripture Verse

Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the brightness of Thy rising. Isaiah 60:3

Introduction

Words: Tho­mas Cot­ter­ill, A Se­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns for Pub­lic and Pri­vate Use, eighth edi­tion, 1819.

Music: Duke Street, at­trib­ut­ed to John Hat­ton, 1793 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Cot­ter­ill (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Lo, in the east ap­pears a star,
In east­ern skies un­seen be­fore;
And an­cient sag­es from afar
Hasten the mys­te­ry to ex­plore.

These an­cient sag­es, led from far,
Began their doubt­ful, an­xious way;
Nor rest­ed till the wan­der­ing star
Stood o’er the place where Je­sus lay.

They came, they saw, and they ad­ored;
Each cost­ly trea­sure they un­fold,
And of­fer to their in­fant Lord,
Their myrrh, their frank­in­cense and gold.

That star to us its light im­parts:
May we its guid­ing rays pur­sue,
And with the hom­age of our hearts
To Je­sus come, and wor­ship too.

May we through life its guid­ance trace,
And mark its path o’er earth­ly things,
Until it leads us to the place,
Where Je­sus reigns the King of kings.

Light of the world, O Sav­ior, rise;
Nor cease to shed Thy cheer­ing ray,
Till o’er the lands be­neath the skies
Thy glo­ry shines in per­fect day.