Scripture Verse

I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Genesis 9:13–15

Introduction

portrait
Uzziah C. Burnap (1834–1900)

Words: Ben­ja­min Bed­dome (1717–1795). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Adapt­ed to Pub­lic Wor­ship (Lon­don: Bu­rton & Briggs, 1818), num­ber 727, alt. Threat­en­ing Rain.

Music: De­witt Uz­zi­ah C. Bur­nap, 1870 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

illustration
Noah Giving Thanks
Holy Trinity Cathedral
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Lyrics

Raise not Thy hand in judg­ment, Lord,
[originally, Enter not into jud­gment, Lord]
 With us, a guil­ty race;
Thy need­ful suc­cor now af­ford,
And help us in dis­tress.

Let not the wa­ter­spouts des­cend,
Nor burst upon our plains;
But in Thy mer­cy con­des­cend
To stay the sweep­ing rains.

Command the cloud­ed sun to shine,
And shed a con­stant ray;
Directed by a hand di­vine,
Our night shall turn to day.

Oh let its fruc­ti­fy­ing beam,
The pre­cious grain ma­ture;
And we Thy good­ness will pro­claim,
Whose pro­mise shall en­dure.

Wonder and love shall tune our tongues,
For all Thy kind­ness shown,
While thank­ful we in joy­ful songs,
Thy gra­cious hand will own.