The River of God

There is an an­cient riv­er

Whose streams des­cend in light

From nev­er-fail­ing fount­ains

Beyond all earth­ly sight;

It ran through all the ages

And

where­soe’er it flowed

Up rose the Ho­ly Ci­ty

The Lord’s elect abode.

The riv­er still is flow­ing

But now with full­er stream;

And still the light is fall­ing

But now with bright­er beam;

Of old the Song of Mos­es

Soared as it swept along

But now the name of Je­sus

Is made its sweet­er song.

Its ra­diance lights us on­ward

Its chant­ing wa­ters cheer;

Blest is the eye be­hold­ing

Blest is the hear­ing ear;

For as the earth clouds dark­en

The glo­ry clear­er grows

And glad­der for life’s tumult

The stream of mu­sic flows.

God’s River! The One Spir­it

Grace of the mys­tic Se­ven!

Drink

Ho­ly Church

these wa­ters

Thine ear­nest here of Heav­en;

So joy

and peace

and plea­sure

Shall feed thy life with­in

So pow­er with­out shall guard thee

Against the world of sin.

O Beau­ti­ful

the Riv­er!

We wait up­on thy shore

In bliss of ex­pec­ta­tion

Abiding ev­er­more

Till at some ho­ly ev­en

We pass up­on thy breast

From fore­taste into full­ness

From wait­ing un­to rest.