Thursday, March 07, 2024

Lord of the living harvest

401 Missionary Hymn. 7. 6. 7. 6. D.

1 Lord of the living harvest
   That whitens o'er the plain,
   Where angels soon shall gather
   Their sheaves of golden grain;
   Accept these hands to labor,
   These hearts to trust and love,
   And deign with them to hasten
   Thy kingdom from above.

2 As laborers in Thy vineyard,
   Send us, O Christ, to be
   Content to bear the burden
   Of weary days for Thee;
   We ask no other wages,
   When Thou shalt call us home,
   But to have shared the travail
   Which makes Thy kingdom come.

3 Be with us, God the Father,
   Be with us, God the Son,
   And God the Holy Spirit,
   Eternal Three in One!
   Make us a royal priesthood,
   Thee rightly to adore,
   And fill us with Thy fullness
   Now and for evermore.
                         John S. B. Monsell
                         The Methodist Hymnal 1939 edition

<idle musing>
Well, I don't recall this hymn at all, and it doesn't seem to be very popular, only occurring in a about 125 hymnals. The author of the hymn penned over 300 hymns, but as I looked through the list, I didn't recognize any of them. Apparently some of them were quite popular in the 1800s.
</idle musing>

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