Scripture Verse

God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. Genesis 1:16

Introduction

Words: Laur­ence Hous­man, in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 16.

Music: New­bu­ry tra­di­tion­al Eng­lish tune (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Laurence Housman (1865–1959)

Lyrics

The Mak­er of the sun and moon,
The Mak­er of our earth,
Lo! late in time, a fair­er boon,
Himself is brought to birth!

How blest was all cre­ation then,
When God so gave in­crease;
And Christ, to heal the hearts of men,
Brought right­eous­ness and peace!

No star in all the heights of hea­ven
But burned to see Him go;
Yet un­to earth alone was giv­en
His hu­man form to know.

His hu­man form, by man de­nied,
Took death for hu­man sin:
His end­less love, through faith des­cried,
Still lives the world to win.

O per­fect love, out­pass­ing sight,
O light be­yond our ken,
Come down through all the world to­night,
And heal the hearts of men!