Scripture Verse

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Isaiah 53:3

Introduction

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Arthur P. Stanley (1815–1881)

Words: Ar­thur P. Stan­ley, in Mac­mil­lan’s Ma­ga­zine, De­cem­ber 1872.

Music: Jor­dan Jo­seph Barn­by, 1872 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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Joseph Barnby (1838–1896)

Hymn for Advent. The ac­com­pa­ny­ing hymn is of­fered as a se­quel to the two which have al­rea­dy ap­peared in this Ma­ga­zine, Ap­ril 1870 [in­cor­rect; was June 1862], on the As­cen­sion, and the Trans­fi­gu­ra­tion [Ap­ril 1870].

The first four stan­zas run par­al­lel to the Gos­pels of the four Sun­days in Ad­vent, and the two last on the Gos­pels and Epis­tles for Christ­mas.

Arthur Stan­ley

Lyrics

The Lord is come! On Syr­ian soil,
The child of po­ver­ty and toil;
The Man of Sor­rows, born to know
Each va­ry­ing shade of hu­man woe:
His joy, His glo­ry, to ful­fill,
In earth and Heav’n, His Fa­ther’s will;
On lone­ly mount, by fes­tive board,
On bit­ter cross, des­pised, ad­ored.

The Lord is come! In Him we trace
The full­ness of God’s truth and grace;
Throughout those words and acts di­vine
Gleams of th’eter­nal splen­dor shine;
And from His in­most Spir­it flow,
As from a height of sun­lit snow,
The ri­vers of pe­ren­ni­al life,
To heal and sweet­en na­ture’s strife.

The Lord is come! In ev­ery heart
Where truth and mer­cy claim apart;
In ev­ery land where right is might,
And deeds of dark­ness shun the light;
In ev­ery church where faith and love
Lift earth­ward thoughts to things above;
In ev­ery ho­ly, hap­py home,
We bless Thee, Lord, that Thou hast come.