Scripture Verse

Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark 1:1

Introduction

Words: Mar­ga­ret E. Tup­per, in Ly­ra Bri­tan­ni­ca, by Charles Ro­gers (Lon­don: Long­mans, Green, 1867), pag­es 564–65.

Music: Mer­ton (Monk) Will­iam H. Monk, in The Par­ish Choir, 1850 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

portrait
William Monk (1823–1889)

Lyrics

Son of God! all glo­ri­ous Sav­ior,
Coming to us from above!
What were we to find such fa­vor?
What were we to gain such love?

We had sinned—Thy laws for­sak­en,
All Thy just com­mands with­stood:
Evil for our choice had tak­en
When Thou free­ly gav­est good.

In our dark­ness we were ly­ing,
From Thy glo­ri­ous pre­sence hurled;
Alien from Thy light, a dy­ing,
Guilty, cursed, and rui­ned world!

When the voice came down from Hea­ven,
Woke once more a ho­ly morn—
“Unto you a son is giv­en,
Unto you a child is born.

“All alone, with love far spread­ing,
He shall bear the wrath of God,
All alone the wine­press tread­ing,
Clothed in gar­ments dyed with blood;

All alone in mor­tal ang­uish
Wrestle down and con­quer sin,
Death and hell shall taste and van­quish,
And eter­nal life shall win.

By His grace and love vic­to­ri­ous
Up that path the Sav­ior trod;
We are brought again all glo­ri­ous
To the pre­sence of our God.

What are we, that Thou shouldst love us
With such won­drous love as this?
Leaving all Thy heav’ns ab­ove us,
Worlds of pu­ri­ty and bliss!

For this blot up­on cre­ation,
For this wan­der­ing sin­ful one,
Freely giv­ing us sal­va­tion
For the ev­il we had done!

Shield us, Lord! as Thou hast par­doned,
Help us through this dai­ly strife,
Keep us from the world un­hard­ened,
Living Thy true life in life.

Till from earth in light and glo­ry,
Dangers, death and sha­dows past,
Purified we stand be­fore Thee,
Unto Thee made like at last.