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