Scripture Verse

Thou wilt show me the path of life: in Thy presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11

Introduction

Words: El­la S. Ar­mi­tage, 1875. This hymn was writ­ten at Wa­ter­head, Old­ham, Eng­land, for the op­en­ing of a new Sun­day school, and was pub­lished in The Gar­den of the Lord, 1881.

Music: West­gate J. M. Gib­son, in Hymns and Tunes for School, ed­it­ed by Her­bert B. Tur­ner (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1908), page 226 (🔊 pdf nwc) .

Alternate Tune:

If you know Gib­son’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him or Ar­mi­tage (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

O Lord of life, and love, and power,
How joyful life might be,
If in Thy service every hour
We lived and moved with Thee;
If youth in all its bloom and might
By Thee were sanctified,
And manhood found its chief delight
In working at Thy side!

’Tis ne’er too late, while life shall last,
A new life to begin;
’Tis ne’er too late to leave the past,
And break with self and sin;
And we this day, both old and young,
Would earnestly aspire
For hearts to nobler purpose strung,
And purified desire.

Nor for ourselves alone we plead,
But for all faithful souls
Who serve Thy cause by word or deed,
Whose names Thy book enrolls:
O speed Thy work, vic­to­ri­ous King,
And give Thy workers might,
That thro’ the world Thy truth may ring,
And all men see Thy light.