Scripture Verse

They now desire a better place—a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:16

Introduction

Words & Mu­sic: Phi­lip P. Bliss, 1871 (🔊 pdf nwc). De­di­cat­ed to D. L. Moody.

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Philip P. Bliss (1838–1876)
Wikipedia

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[Bliss’] first Sun­day school sing­ing-book was The Charm, which had just got­ten in­to mar­ket when the great Chi­ca­go fire de­stroyed the plates and dimmed its lus­tre, at least in the eyes of the au­thor.

Mr. Bliss, im­me­di­ate­ly af­ter the fire, in com­pa­ny with Mr. Moody, start­ed on a trip to Bos­ton, and oth­er east­ern ci­ties, and held Fire meet­ings, in aid of the suf­fer­ing ones of the strick­en ci­ty. While on this tour he missed the train of cars at Al­ba­ny, and then wrote the Fire Song, Roll On, O Bil­low of Fire.

Long, pp. 48–51

Lyrics

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Great Chicago Fire, 1871

Hark! the alarm, the clang of the bells!
Signal of dan­ger, it rises and swells;
Flashes like light­ning il­lum­ine the sky,
See the red glare as the flames mount on high.

Refrain

Roll on, roll on, O bil­low of fire!
Dash, with thy fu­ry-waves high­er and high­er;
Ours is a mans­ion abid­ing and sure;
Ours is a king­dom eter­nal, se­cure.

Oh, like a fiend in its tow­er­ing wrath,
On, and de­struct­ion alone points the path;
Mercy, O Hea­ven, the suf­fer­ers wail,
Feeble hu­ma­ni­ty naught can avail.

Refrain

Thousands are home­less, and quick to their cry,
Heaven-born cha­ri­ty yields a sup­ply;
Upward we glance in our ter­ri­ble grief,
Give us this day, brings the pro­mised relief.

Refrain

Treasures have van­ished, and rich­es have flown,
Hopes for the earth-life are blast­ed and gone;
Courage, O bro­ther, yield not to des­pair:
God is our re­fuge, His king­dom we share.

Refrain