To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise

524 To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise

1 To thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise
   in hymns of adoration,
   to thee bring sacrifice of praise
   with shouts of exultation:
   bright robes of gold the fields adorn,
   the hills with joy are ringing,
   the valleys stand so thick with corn
   that even they are singing.

2 And now, on this our festal day,
   thy bounteous hand confessing,
   upon thine altar, Lord, we lay
   the first-fruits of thy blessing:
   by thee the hungry soul is fed
   with gifts of grace supernal;
   thou who dost give us earthly bread,
   give us the bread eternal.

3 O blessed is that land of God,
   where saints abide for ever;
   where golden fields spread far and broad,
   where flows the crystal river:
   the strains of all its holy throng
   with ours today are blending;
   thrice blessed is that harvest-song
   which never hath an ending.
                         William C. Dix
                         The Methodist Hymnal, 1964 edition

<idle musing>
This hymn occurs in about 110 hymnals. Hymnary.org inserts a third verse:

3 We bear the burden of the day,
   and often toil seems dreary;
   but labour ends with sunset ray,
   and rest comes for the weary:
   may we, the angel-reaping o'er,
   stand at the last accepted,
   Christ's golden sheaves for evermore
   to garners bright elected.

</idle musing>