Hymn 102. Christ Dying and Rising

Come tune, ye saints, your noblest strains,

Your dying, rising Lord to sing,

And echo to the heavenly plains

The triumphs of your Saviour-King.

In songs of grateful rapture tell                                                             

How he subdu’d your potent foes,

Subdu’d the powers of Death and Hell,

And, dying, finish’d all your woes.

Then to his glorious throne on high

Return’d, while hymning angels round,                                               

Through the bright arches of the sky,

The God, the conquering God, resound.

Almighty love!  victorious power!

Not angel-tongues can e’er display

The wonders of that dreadful hour,                                                                  

The joys of that illustrious day.

Then well may mortals try in vain,

In vain their feeble voices raise;

Yet Jesus hears the humble strain,

And kindly owns our wish to praise.

Dear Saviour, let thy wonderous grace

Fill every heart and every tongue,

Till the full glories of thy face

Inspire a sweeter, nobler song.

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 1, pp. 157-58; Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 102 (all stanzas); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 184-85; MS, Steele Collection, STE 3/1/1 no. 104, Angus Library, Regents Park College,  Oxford.