Scripture Verse

There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth. Luke 15:10

Introduction

portrait
William O. Cushing (1823–1902)

Words: Will­iam O. Cush­ing, 1866.

Music: George F. Root, Cha­pel Gems (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Root & Ca­dy, 1866) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a bet­ter pho­to of Cush­ing,

illustration
The Prodigal Son
Gustave Doré (1832–1883)

The me­lo­dy ran in my head all day long, chim­ing and flow­ing in its sweet mu­sic­al ca­dence. I wished great­ly that I might se­cure the tune for use in the Sun­day-school and for oth­er Chris­tian pur­pos­es.

When I heard the bells of hea­ven ring­ing of some sin­ner that had re­turned, it seemed like a glad day. Then the words, Ring the bells of hea­ven at once flowed down in­to the wait­ing me­lo­dy.

Sankey, p. 226

Lyrics

Ring the bells of Hea­ven! There is joy to­day,
For a soul, re­turn­ing from the wild!
See, the Fa­ther meets him out up­on the way,
Welcoming His wea­ry, wan­der­ing child.

Refrain

Glory! Glo­ry! How the an­gels sing:
Glory! Glory! How the loud harps ring!
’Tis the ran­somed army, like a migh­ty sea,
Pealing forth the an­them of the free.

Ring the bells of Hea­ven! There is joy to­day,
For the wan­der­er now is re­con­ciled;
Yes, a soul is res­cued from his sin­ful way,
And is born anew a ran­somed child.

Refrain

Ring the bells of Hea­ven! Spread the feast to­day!
Angels, swell the glad tri­um­phant strain!
Tell the joy­ful tid­ings, bear it far away!
For a pre­cious soul is born again.

Refrain