Scripture Verse

Go quickly, and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and, behold, He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him: lo, I have told you. And they departed quickly from the sepulcher with fear and great joy. Matthew 28:7–8

Introduction

portrait
William Gardiner (1770–1853)
British Museum
cc-license

Words: Ben­ja­min Wall­in, Ev­an­ge­li­cal Hymns and Songs 1750. This hymn has been re­pub­lished (and al­tered) ma­ny times, in­clud­ing a ver­sion that be­gins, When I the ho­ly grave sur­vey.

Music: Ger­ma­ny Sac­red Me­lo­dies, by Will­iam Gar­di­ner, 1815 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

Lyrics

When I the lone­ly tomb sur­vey,
Where once Christ’s bo­dy was se­cured,
I see ful­filled what pro­phets say,
And on my foes de­struc­tion poured.

This emp­ty tomb shall now pro­claim
How weak the bands of con­quered death!
Sweet pledge, that all who trust His name
Shall rise and draw im­mor­tal breath.

Our sure­ty freed, so we are free,
For whose of­fenses He was seized;
In His re­lease our own we see,
And joy to view Je­ho­vah pleased.

Our Sav­ior now hath left the dead,
And lives and reigns, to die no more,
But lives in Hea­ven for those to plead
For whom the pains of death He bore.

Thy ris­en Head, my soul, be­hold,
And see the glo­ri­ous crown He wears;
The like, too, with a harp of gold,
Shall thee adorn when He ap­pears.

Dear Lord, I im­pa­tient­ly long
To see the hour when Thou shalt come;
Then shall I join the end­less song
Of the re­deemed by Thee brought home.