Scripture Verse

The Child grew, and waxed strong in Spir­it, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:40

Introduction

portrait
William Gardiner (1770–1853)
British Museum

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Words: Re­gi­nald He­ber, in the Chris­tian Ob­serv­er, 1812.

Music: Bel­mont Sac­red Me­lo­dies Will­iam Gar­di­ner, 1812 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Reginald Heber (1783–1826)

Lyrics

By cool Si­lo­am’s sha­dy rill
How fair the li­ly grows!
How sweet the breath, be­neath the hill,
Of Sha­ron’s dewy rose!

Lo! such the child whose ear­ly feet
The paths of peace have trod,
Whose sec­ret heart, with in­flu­ence sweet,
Is up­ward drawn to God.

By cool Si­lo­am’s sha­dy rill
The li­ly must de­cay;
The rose that blooms be­neath the hill
Must short­ly fade away.

And soon, too soon, the win­try hour
Of man’s ma­tur­er age
Will shake the soul with sor­row’s pow­er
And stor­my pass­ion’s rage.

O Thou, whose in­fant feet were found
Within Thy Fa­ther’s shrine,
Whose years with change­less vir­tue crowned,
Were all alike di­vine.

Dependent on Thy boun­te­ous breath,
We seek Thy grace alone,
In child­hood, man­hood, age, and death
To keep us still Thine own.