Scripture Verse

The everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27

Introduction

portrait
J. Lincoln Hall (1866–1930)

Words: Jo­hann L. K. Al­len­dorf, 1725 (Die Seele ruht in Je­su Arm­en). Found­ed on an ano­ny­mous hymn in 5 stan­zas be­gin­ning, Ich ruhe nun in Gott­es Arm­en, in­clud­ed as No. 655, in Part II, 1714, of Frey­ling­hau­sen’s Ge­sang-Buch (Ju­li­an, p. 50). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ca­the­rine Wink­worth, Ly­ra Ger­ma­ni­ca (Lon­don & New York: George Newnes & Charles Scrib­ner’s Sons, 1855), pag­es 188–90.

Music: Bo­dø J. Lin­coln Hall, 1902 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Al­len­dorf (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)

Lyrics

Now rests her soul in Je­su’s arms,
Her body in the grave sleeps well,
His heart her death-chilled heart re-warms,
And rest more deep than tongue can tell,
Her few brief hours of con­flict passed,
She finds with Christ, her friend, at last;
She bathes in tran­quil seas of peace,
God wipes away her tears, she feels
New life that all her lan­guor heals,
The glo­ry of the Lamb she sees.

She hath es­caped all dan­ger now,
Her pain and sigh­ing all are fled;
The crown of joy is on her brow,
Eternal glo­ries o’er her shed,
In gold­en robes, a queen, a bride,
She stand­eth at her so­ver­eign’s side,
She sees His face un­veiled and bright;
With joy and love He greets her soul,
She feels her­self made in­ly whole,
A less­er light amid His light.

The child hath now its Fa­ther seen,
And feels what kind­ling love may be,
And know­eth what those words may mean
Himself, the Fa­ther, lov­eth thee.
A shore­less ocean, an abyss
Unfathomed, filled with good and bliss,
Now breaks on her en­rap­tured sight;
She sees God’s face, she learn­eth there
What this shall be, to be His heir,
Joint-heir with Christ her Lord, in light.

The body rests, its la­bors over,
And sleeps till Christ shall bid it wake;
The dust that earth and dark­ness co­ver,
Then as a sun its tomb shall break.
Ah, with what joy it rises then
To meet the per­fect soul again!
Redeemed from death, no more to se­ver,
At that great mar­riage feast shall they
With all the saints their hom­age pay,
And wor­ship there the Lamb for ev­er.

We who yet wan­der through the waste,
In faith long aft­er Thee on high;
While here the bread of tears we taste,
We think upo­n that home of joy,
Where we (who knows how soon?) shall meet
With all the saints at Je­su’s feet,
And dwell with Him for ev­er there.
We shall see God; how deep the bliss
We know not yet that lies in this;
Lord Je­sus, come, our hearts pre­pare!