Scripture Verse

Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. Song of Solomon 2:10

Introduction

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, 1755. Wes­ley wrote this hymn for his wife’s birth­day, titl­ing it On the Birth­day of a Friend.

Music: Mid­dle­bu­ry from The Sou­thern Har­mo­ny and Mu­sic­al Com­pan­ion, by Will­iam Wal­ker (New York: Hast­ings House, 1835). Ar­ranged by Li­land Bra­jant Ros’, 2000 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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William Walker (1809–1875)

Lyrics

Come away to the skies,
My be­lov­èd, arise
And re­joice in the day thou wast born;
On this fes­tiv­al day, come ex­ult­ing away,
And with sing­ing to Zi­on re­turn.

We have laid up our love
And our trea­sure above,
Though our bo­dies con­tinue be­low.
The re­deemed of the Lord will re­mem­ber His Word,
And with sing­ing to pa­ra­dise go.

Now with sing­ing and praise
Let us spend all the days
By our hea­ven­ly Fa­ther be­stowed,
While His grace we re­ceive
From His boun­ty, and live
To the hon­or and glo­ry of God!

For the glo­ry we were
First cre­at­ed to share,
Both the na­ture and king­dom di­vine,
Now cre­at­ed again that our lives may re­main
Throughout time and eter­ni­ty Thine.

We with thanks do ap­prove the de­sign
Of that love that hath joined us to Je­sus’ name;
Now unit­ed in heart, let us ne­ver more part,
Till we meet at the feast of the Lamb.

There, Oh! there at His feet,
We shall all like­wise meet,
And be part­ed in bo­dy no more;
We shall sing to our lyres, with the hea­ven­ly choirs,
And our Sav­ior in glo­ry adore.

Hallelujah! we sing
To our Fa­ther and king,
And His rap­tur­ous prais­es repeat:
To the Lamb that was slain, Hal­le­lu­jah again!
Sing all Hea­ven and fall at His feet!