Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!
All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.
Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.
by Henry J. Van Dyke
A beautiful hymn that I've always enjoyed. Thank you -- now that will resonate in my mind. It fits well with a verse in Pastor's sermon this morning:
ReplyDeleteSpeaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
(Ephesians 5:19 KJV)
This will be the melody in my heart for hours.
I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for stopping back by! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Charity,I was blessed singing the words to this beautiful song....I love the beautiful cape you knitted for your grandmother...it turned out wonderfully...I am certain your dear grandmother will love it and be blessed from the warmth of it....handmade gifts are most certainly the best.....hope your week is very blessed....
ReplyDeleteI've always overlooked this hymn because I don't like the melody out of Beethoven's original context (I've heard too many horrible junior high orchestra renditions of it) but I really enjoyed reading the words. Thanks for posting them! It's nice to see them separated from the music. It really made a difference to me.
ReplyDelete