Scripture Verse

All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field. The grass withers and the flowers fall, because the breath of the Lord blows on them. Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of our God endures forever. Isaiah 40:6–8

Introduction

portrait
William Gardiner (1770–1853)
British Museum
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Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems (Bris­tol, Eng­land: Fe­lix Far­ley, 1742), pag­es 2–3.

Music: Ger­ma­ny Sac­red Me­lo­dies, by Will­iam Gar­di­ner, 1815 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

Withering as grass is humankind,
And fleeting as the short lived flower;
The goodliness today we find
Tomorrow fades, and is no more.

Man, foolish man, his virtue shows,
Which for a moment charms our eyes;
The sin-convincing Spi­rit blows,
Withers the flower, and fades, and dies.

Die the gay flower of human pride:
The Word of God shall stand secure;
The Word of God shall still abide,
And firm from age to age endure.

Sion, as­cend the mountain top,
Jerusalem, the grace pro­claim;
Herald of God, thy voice lift up,
And strongly shout the Sav­ior’s name.

Good tidings show to Judah’s race,
Publish throughout the earth abroad
Good tidings of redeeming grace,
And cry to all, Behold your God!

Behold, the Lord your God shall come,
And bow the world to His command;
His outstretched arm shall make Him room:
Who can His outstretched arm withstand?

Lo! an exceeding great reward,
Himself, to humbled souls He gives;
He fills whom first He has prepared,
And all in all for ever lives.

Shepherd of souls, His tender care
Shall kindly for His flock provide;
The lambs He in His arms shall bear,
And sweetly in His bosom hide.

His sheep He shall protect, and feed,
Bind up the maimed, support the weak;
The great with young shall gently lead,
And seek the lost, and heal the sick.