Scripture Verse

Ye know not what shall be on the morrow. James 4:14

Introduction

portrait
Giovanni Paisiello (1741–1816)

Words: Phi­lip Dodd­ridge (1702–1751). Pub­lished post­hu­mous­ly in Hymns Found­ed on Va­ri­ous Texts in the Ho­ly Scrip­tures, by Job Or­ton (Shrop­shire, Eng­land: Jo­shua Ed­dowes & John Cot­ton, 1755), num­ber 329: The va­ni­ty of world­ly schemes in­ferred from the un­cer­tain­ty of life.

Music: Vigil (Al­bans), ar­ranged from Gio­van­ni Pai­si­el­lo (1741–1816), in the St. Al­bans Tune Book, 1875 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

portrait
Philip Doddridge (1702–1751)

Lyrics

Tomorrow, Lord, is Thine
Lodged in Thy so­ver­eign hand;
And if its sun arise and shine,
It shines by Thy com­mand.

The pre­sent mo­ment flies,
And bears our life away;
O make Thy ser­vants tru­ly wise,
That they may live to­day.

Since on this wing­èd hour
Eternity is hung,
Waken by Thine al­migh­ty pow­er,
The ag­èd and the young.

One thing de­mands our care,
O be it still pur­sued;
Lest, slight­ed once, the sea­son fair
Should ne­ver be re­newed.

To Je­sus may we fly
Swift as the morn­ing light,
Lest life’s young gold­en beam should die
In sud­den, end­less night.