Hymn 123. The Glorious Presence of Christ in Heaven

John 17.24.

O for a sweet inspiring ray,

To animate our feeble strains,

From the bright realms of endless day,

The blissful realms, where Jesus reigns!

There low before his glorious throne                                                               

Adoring saints and angels fall,

And with delightful worship own

His smile their bliss, their Heaven, their all.

Immortal glories crown his head,

While tuneful hallelujahs rise,                                                              

And love, and joy, and triumph spread

Through all th’ assemblies of the skies.

He smiles, and seraphs tune their songs

To boundless rapture while they gaze;

Ten thousand thousand joyful tongues                                               

Resound his everlasting praise.

There all the favorites of the Lamb

Shall join at last the heavenly choir;

O may the joy-inspiring theme

Awake our faith and warm desire.                                                        

Dear Saviour, let thy spirit seal

Our interest in that blissful place;

Till death remove this mortal veil,

And we behold thy lovely face.

Text: Timothy Whelan, gen. ed., Nonconformist Women Writers, 8 vols. (London: Pickering & Chatto, 2011), vol. 1, p. 145; Collection of Hymns Adapted to Public Worship, no. 123 (all stanzas); Poems, 1780, vol. 1, pp. 166-67; no MS copy, Angus Library, Regents Park College,  Oxford.