Scripture Verse

The star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. Matthew 2:9

Introduction

Words: Charles W. Ray, Spi­cy Breez­es (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1883), page 143.

Music: Big Bend Charles W. Ray, 1883 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Star of Beth­le­hem, thy glo­ry
Long has been the lof­ty theme
Of sub­lim­est song and story
Of our Lord and king su­preme;
Still thy ra­di­ance seems to lin­ger
In the east­ern ev­en­ing sky,
And with bright pro­phet­ic fin­ger
Points to bliss­ful realms on high.

Star of Beth­le­hem, blest em­blem,
Of the Prince of life and light,
Seen of wise men, thou didst guide them
Thro’ the long and cheer­less night;
Resting o’er the low­ly man­ger,
Where the Sav­ior’s bed was made,
Shepherd Jew and Gen­tile stran­ger,
At His feet their of­fer­ings laid.

Star of Beth­le­hem! How glo­ri­ous!
Herald of the in­fant King,
Who, o’er sin and death vic­to­ri­ous,
Shall His saints to glo­ry bring;
Star of hope for ev­ery n­ation,
Let thy beams each soul in­flame;
Light and life, and full sal­va­tion,
Dwell with­in thy sac­red name.