Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16
Words: Edwin P. Hood. The words were suggested by a tune heard at vespers in Fontainbleau Church, and first published in Bye Path Meadow, 1870.
Music: Avondale (Cawthorne) George F. Cawthorne, in The Primitive Methodist Hymnal Supplement with Tunes, edited by George Booth (London: Primitive Methodist Publishing House, 1912), number 56 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good photo of Cawthorne (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Sing a hymn to Jesus when the heart is faint,
Tell it all to Jesus, comfort or complaint.
If the work is sorrow, if the way is long,
If thou dread’st the morrow, tell it Him in song;
Though thy heart be aching for the crown and palm,
Keep thy spirits waking with a thankful psalm.
Jesus, we are lowly, Thou art very high;
We are all unholy, Thou art purity;
We are frail and fleeting, Thou art still the same;
All life’s joys are meeting in Thy blessèd name.
Sing a hymn to Jesus when the heart is faint,
Tell it all to Jesus, comfort or complaint.
All His words are music, though they make me weep,
Infinitely tender, infinitely deep.
Time can never render all in Him I see;
Infinitely tender, human deity.
Sing a hymn to Jesus when the heart is faint,
Tell it all to Jesus, comfort or complaint.
Jesus, let me love Thee, infinitely sweet,
What are the poor odors I bring to Thy feet?
Yet I truly love Thee; come into my heart,
And ere long remove me to be where Thou art.
Thus I sing to Jesus when my heart is faint;
So I tell to Jesus comfort or complaint.