Hark! Eastward and Westward

Hark! east­ward and west­ward

The mes­sage is wing­ing;

The Pro­mised of ag­es

Messiah

is born!

Oh

haste

let us find Him!

All Heav­en is sing­ing;

The choirs an­gel­ic

Proclaiming the morn!

Where sleeps He in pur­ple

Surrounded with splen­dor

This King out of Heav­en

Forsaking His throne?

The vir­gin

His mo­ther

What mon­archs at­tend her

To whom the Al­migh­ty

Such fa­vor hath shown?

Can this be His dwell­ing

His cra­dle

this man­ger?

Can this be His mo­ther

This maid­en so meek?

Comes He to His own in

This guise of a strang­er

Unsheltered and friend­less—

The Prince whom we seek?

Behold where He li­eth

In Beth­le­hem hid­den!

The Son of the High­est

Most low­ly His birth!

And no one to wel­come

Or serve Him is bid­den

Who count­eth as dust

All the pomp of the earth.

Oh! vast con­des­cen­sion!

Almighty

eter­nal

He stoops to the low­est

By ser­aphs ad­ored;

And

One with His Fa­ther

In glo­ry su­per­nal

Our flesh He hath tak­en

And hath not ab­horred!

His name is called Je­sus.

Yes

Thou art our Je­sus

Sweet Babe whose ap­pear­ing

The an­gels pro­claim!

From sin and from death

Thou art come to re­lease us;

Thou bear­est for us

That ad­or­able name!