Scripture Verse

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He will send forth laborers. Matthew 9:38

Introduction

Words: J. Wake­field Mac­Gill (1829–1902).

Music: James E. Stew­art, ar­ranged by G. W. & E. M. (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know when this song was writ­ten, the ar­ran­gers’ full names, or where to get good pic­tures of them or Stew­art (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
J. Wakefield MacGill
(1829–1902)

Lyrics

Lord, Thou hast gone two thou­sand years,
Yet they have ne­ver heard
Tidings of Thy re­deem­ing love,
Or seen Thy ho­ly Word.
Sleeping and still Thy Church has lain,
Heedless of the high com­mand—
Go forth to ev­ery tribe and tongue,
To ev­ery dist­ant land.

Refrain

Send them, O Lord, to speak of Thee,
Telling of Thy love and grace;
Send them, O Lord, to tell of Thee,
To ev­ery tribe and race.

Once o’er this bright and fa­vored land
Lay there the pall of night—
Gloom of a sa­vage hea­then­dom,
With foul and bloody rite.
Brave ones arose and came to us,
Bringing o’er the tid­ings sweet,
Then cru­el men bent low to Thee,
And wor­shiped at Thy feet.

Refrain

So would we do for oth­er lands
Lying in deep­est death,
Sinking to meet their aw­ful doom
With ev­ery pass­ing breath.
Hear, Je­sus, hear our fer­vent pray­er,
Wake Thy sleep­ing Church to know
Her hour of pri­vi­lege and pow­er,
And bid her rise and go.

Refrain