"O Day of Rest and Gladness"
                     by Christopher Wordsworth, 1808-1885
                                  Text From:
                        THE HANDBOOK TO THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL
                 (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1942)p.9



        1. O day of rest and gladness,
        O day of joy and light,
        O balm of care and sadness,
        Most beautiful, most bright,
        On thee the high and lowly
        Before th' eternal throne
        Sing, "Holy, holy, holy,"
        To the great Three in One.

        2. On thee at the Creation
        The light first had its birth;
        On thee for our salvation
        Christ rose from depth of earth;
        On thee our Lord victorious
        The Spirit sent from heaven,
        And thus on thee, most glorious,
        A threefold light was given.

        3. Thou art a cooling fountain
        In life's dry, dreary sand;
        From thee, like Nebo's mountain,
        We view our Promised Land;
        A day of sweet reflection,
        A day of holy love,
        A day of resurrection
        From earth to things above.

        4. Today on weary nations
        The heavenly manna falls;
        To holy convocations
        The silver trumpet calls,
        Where Gospel-light is glowing
        With pure and radiant beams
        And living water flowing
        With soul-refreshing streams.

        5. New graces ever gaining
        From this our day of rest,
        We reach the rest remaining
        To spirits of the blest.
        To Holy Ghost be praises,
        To Father, and to Son;
        The Church her voice upraises
        To Thee, blest Three in One.

        

        Notes:
        Hymn #9 from _The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal_
        Text: Ps. 118:24
        Author: Christopher Wordsworth, 1862, cento, alt.        
        Tune: "Ellacombe"
        1st Published in: _Gesangbuch d. Herzogl. Wuerttemberg.
		Hofkapelle_,1784     

           

Converted to HTML by Nelson Chin for the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.