Blest Be the Tie That Binds

560 Blest Be the Tie That Binds

1 Blest be the tie that binds
   our hearts in Christian love;
   the fellowship of kindred minds
   is like to that above.

2 Before our Father's throne
   we pour our ardent prayers;
   our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
   our comforts and our cares.

3 We share our mutual woes,
   our mutual burdens bear,
   and often for each other flows
   the sympathizing tear.

4 From sorrow, toil, and pain,
   and sin, we shall be free;
   and perfect love and friendship reign
   through all eternity.
                         John Fawcett
                         Hymns for the Family of God

<idle musing>
Wow. Most hymns I've been posting lately have only occurred in at most a couple hundred hymnals. This one clocks in at more than 2300!

Hymnary.org inserts couple of verses:

4 When we are called to part,
   it gives us inward pain;
   but we shall still be joined in heart,
   and hope to meet again.

5 This glorious hope revives
   our courage by the way;
   while each in expectation lives
   and waits to see the day.

By the way, I've mentioned it before, but you really should read the author's biography in the link above. I doubt very many pastors today would respond the way he did to a better offer elsewhere...
</idle musing>