Scripture Verse

I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee. Exodus 25:22

Introduction

Words: Anonymous, in A Se­lect Col­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns, fifth edi­tion, by Laur­ence Cough­lan (Lon­don, Eng­land: W. Gil­bert, 1779), num­ber 21.

Music: Ha­mul Lo­well Ma­son, The Mo­dern Psalm­ist (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: John H. Wil­kins & Ri­chard B. Car­ter, 1839), page 55 (🔊 pdf nwc) (re­peats last line of each verse).

Alternate Tune:

  • Shinar Lo­well Ma­son, The Mo­dern Psalm­ist (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: John H. Wil­kins & Ri­chard B. Car­ter, 1839), page 55 (🔊 pdf nwc) (omit one stan­za if us­ing this tune).

If you know the au­thor, or where to get a good pic­ture of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Lowell Mason (1792–1872)

Lyrics

’Tis the fair dawn of heav’n­ly day,
To heav’n­ly bliss the shin­ing way;
When to His tem­ple God des­cends,
And there con­vers­es with His friends.

At His right hand our Sav­ior stands,
With gold­en cen­sers in His hands,
To lift our ser­vic­es on high,
Perfumed with His own frag­ran­cy.

These are the dear­est hours I know,
The sweet­est joys of all be­low;
Here I would choose my first ab­ode,
And dwell for ev­er near my God.

One gra­cious smile, my Lord, from Thee,
One glimpse of what Thy glo­ries be,
Will yield my soul more so­lid mirth
Than all the trif­ling joys of earth.

And were the world at my com­mand,
For one dear hour at Thy right hand,
The migh­ty in­ter­est I’d re­sign,
And count th’ad­van­tage great­ly mine.