In hope we lift our wishful, longing eyes,
Waiting to see the Morning Star arise;
How bright, how gladsome will His advent be,
Before the Sun shines forth in majesty.

How will our eyes to see His face delight,
Whose love has cheered us through the darksome night!
How will our ears drink in His well-known voice,
Whose faintest whispers make our souls rejoice!

No stain within; no foes or snares around;
No jarring notes shall there discordant sound;
All pure without, all pure within the breast;
No thorns to wound, no toil to mar our rest.

If here on earth the thoughts of Jesus’ love
Lift our poor hearts this weary world above;
If even here the taste of heavenly springs
So cheers the spirit, that the pilgrim sings;

What will the sunshine of His glory prove?
What the unmingled fulness of His love?
What hallelujahs will His presence raise?
What but one loud eternal burst of praise?

Called from above, and heavenly men by birth
(Who once were but the citizens of earth),
As pilgrims here, we seek a heavenly home,
Our portion in the ages yet to come.

Where all the saints of every clime shall meet,
And each with all shall all the ransomed greet,
But oh! the height of bliss, my Lord, shall be
To owe it all, and share it all with Thee.

Thou vast "the image," in man’s lowly guise,
Of the invisible to mortal eyes;
Come from His bosom, from the heavens above,
We see in Thee incarnate, "God is love."

Thy lips the Father’s name to us reveal;
What burning power in all Thy words we feel,
When to our raptured hearts we hear Thee tell
The heavenly glories which Thou know’st so well.

No curse of law, in Thee was sovereign grace,
And now what glory in Thine unveiled face!
Thou didst attract the wretched and the weak,
Thy joy the wand’rers and the lost to seek.

That precious stream of water and of blood
Which from Thy pierced side so freely flowed,
Has put away our sins of scarlet dye,
Washed us from every stain, and brought us nigh.

We are but strangers here, we do not crave
A home on earth, which gave Thee but a grave:
Thy cross has severed ties which bound us here,
Thyself our treasure in a brighter sphere.

Soon will the Master come: soon pass away
Our times of conflict, grief, and suffering here;
Our nights of weeping end in cloudless day
And sorrow’s moment like a dream appear;
Eternity–with Jesus–in the skies–
How soon that Sun of righteousness may rise!

We shall behold Him, whom not seen we love,
We shall be with Him, whom we long to see;
We shall be like Him, fit for realms above,
With Him, and like Him, for eternity!
Is now to sit at Jesus’ feet our choice?
How will fruition then our souls rejoice!

And is it so! I shall be like Thy Son,
Is this the grace which He for me has won?
Father of glory, though beyond all thought,
In glory, to His own blest likeness brought.

Oh, Jesus, Lord, who loved me like to Thee?
Fruit of Thy work, with Thee, too, there to see
Thy glory, Lord, while endless ages roll,
Myself the prize and travail of Thy soul.

Yet it must be, Thy love had not its rest
Were Thy redeemed not with Thee fully blest;
That love that gives not as the world but shares
All it possess with its loved co-heirs.

Nor I alone, Thy loved ones all, complete
In glory, round Thee there with joy shall meet,
All like Thee, for Thy glory like Thee, Lord,
Object supreme of all, by all adored.

Oh! what a Savior is Jesus the Lord,
Well might His name by His saints be adored!
He has redeemed us from hell by His blood,
Saved them for ever, and brought them to God.

Now in the glory He waits to impart
Peace to the conscience and joy to the heart–
Waits to be gracious, to pardon and heal
All who their sin and their wretchedness feel.

Thousands have fled to His spear-pierced side,
Welcome they all have been, none are denied;
Weary and laden, they all have been blest,
Joyfully now in the Savior they rest.