Jesus, Thy church with longing eyes
For Thine expected coming waits:
When will the promised Light arise,
And glory beam from Zion’s gates?

E’en now, when tempests round us fall,
And wintry clouds o’ercast the sky,
Thy words with pleasure we recall,
And deem that our redemption’s nigh.

Come, gracious Lord, our hearts renew,
Our foes repel, our wrongs redress,
Man’s rooted enmity subdue,
And crown Thy Gospel with success.

O come, and reign o’er every land;
Let Satan from his throne be hurled;
Let nations bow to Thy command,
And grace revive a dying world.

Teach us in watchfulness and prayer
To wait for the appointed hour;
And fit us for Thy grace to share
The triumph of Thy conquering power.

There is a mighty question we ask when nations rage:
Just when will be Christ’s coming, the ending of the age?
Take care, said Jesus clearly, for many will appear;
They’ll claim to be Messiah, yet people should not fear.

For in the days of Noah, the people went along
In eating and in drinking, in merriment and song—
Then suddenly the world changed with great, surprising power;
So too will be Christ’s coming, and no one knows the hour.

So keep awake and watchful; salvation is at hand!
Our hope is in Christ Jesus, and by God’s grace we stand.
The night is almost over, we wait for God’s new day,
And through the Holy Spirit, we follow Jesus’ way.

Be ready in your living, for when you feed the poor,
Or give to thirsty children the water they long for,
And when you welcome strangers and help the ones in need,
Christ says: “Receive my kingdom, for you are serving me.”

’Tis almost time for the Lord to come,
I hear the people say;
The stars of heaven are growing dim,
It must be the breaking of the day.

Refrain

O it must be the breaking of the day!
O it must be the breaking of the day!
The night is almost gone,
The day is coming on;
O it must be the breaking of the day!

The signs foretold in the sun and moon,
In earth and sea and sky,
Aloud proclaim to all mankind,
The coming of the Master draweth nigh.

Refrain

It must be time for the waiting church
To cast her pride away,
With girded loins and burning lamps,
To look for the breaking of the day.

Refrain

Go quickly out in the streets and lanes
And in the broad highway,
And call the maimed, the halt, and blind,
To be ready for the breaking of the day.

Refrain

I have tried to count His blessings, and I fail to understand
Why the Lord should so richly reward;
Could I count the stars of heaven, add to them earth’s grains of sand,
Still His blessings are more, praise the Lord!

Refrain

And the end is not yet, praise the Lord,
And the end is not yet, praise the Lord;
Blessings new He’s still bestowing,
And my cup is overflowing,
And the end is not yet, praise the Lord!

Like an army I behold them pass before me in review,
O what joy doth the sight now afford!
Tho’ they may be long in passing, still they come, battalions new,
And the end is not yet, praise the Lord!

Refrain

Surely goodness, love and mercy have been mine along life’s way,
And my weak heart to strength is restored;
And my cup of joy and gladness keeps o’erflowing, day by day,
And the end is not yet, praise the Lord!

Refrain

Omnipotent Lord, my Savior and King,
Thy succor afford, Thy righteousness bring;
Thy promises bind Thee compassion to have,
Now, now let me find Thee almighty to save.

Rejoicing in hope, and patient in grief,
To Thee I look up for certain relief;
I fear no denial, no danger I fear,
Nor start from the trial, while Jesus is near.

I every hour in jeopardy stand;
But Thou art my power, and holdest my hand;
While yet I am calling, Thy succor I feel,
It saves me from falling, or plucks me from hell.

O who can explain this struggle for life!
This travail and pain, this trembling and strife!
Plague, earthquake, and famine, and tumult, and war,
The wonderful coming of Jesus declare.

For every fight is dreadful and loud,
The warrior’s delight is slaughter and blood,
His foes overturning, till all shall expire;
But this is with burning and fuel of fire.

Yet God is above men, devils, and sin,
My Jesus’ love the battle shall win,
So terribly glorious His coming shall be,
His love all victorious shall conquer for me.

He all shall break through; His truth and His grace
Shall bring me into the plentiful place,
Through much tribulation, through water and fire,
Through floods of temptation, and flames of desire.

On Jesus, my power, till then I rely,
All evil before His presence shall fly;
When I have my Savior, my sin shall depart
And Jesus for ever shall reign in my heart.

How happy are the little flock,
Who, safe beneath their guardian Rock,
In all commotions rest!
When war’s and tumult’s waves run high,
Removed above the storm they lie,
They lodge in Jesus’ breast,
They lodge in Jesus’ breast.

Such happiness, O Lord, have we,
By mercy gathered into Thee,
Before the floods descend:
And while the bursting clouds come down,
We mark the vengeful day begun,
And calmly wait the end,
And calmly wait the end.

The plague, and dearth, and din of war,
Our Savior’s swift approach declare,
And bid our hearts arise;
Earth’s basis shook confirms our hope;
Its cities’ fall but lifts us up,
To meet Thee in the skies,
To meet Thee in the skies.

Thy tokens we with joy confess:
The war proclaims the Prince of Peace,
The earthquake speaks Thy power,
The famine all Thy fullness brings,
The plague presents Thy healing wings,
And nature’s final hour,
And nature’s final hour.

Whatever ills the world befall,
A pledge of endless good we call,
A sign of Jesus near;
His chariot will not long delay,
We hear the rumbling wheels, and pray,
Triumphant Lord, appear!
Triumphant Lord, appear!

Appear with clouds on Zion’s hill,
Thy word and mystery to fulfill,
Thy confessors to approve,
Thy members on Thy throne to place,
And stamp Thy name on every face,
In glorious, heavenly love!
In glorious, heavenly love!