Scripture Verse

A great multitude, which no man could number. Revelation 7:9

Introduction

portrait
J. Varley Roberts (1822–1877)

Words: From a 15th Cen­tu­ry Karls­ru­he ma­nu­script (Quis­quis va­let nu­me­ra­re), at­trib­ut­ed by some to Tho­mas à Kem­pis. Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Tho­mas B. Poll­ock in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1889.

Music: Mo­de­na (Ro­berts) J. Var­ley Ro­berts, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1889 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

portrait
Thomas B. Pollock (1836–1896)

Lyrics

Who the mul­ti­tudes can num­ber
In the man­sions of the blest,
He can weigh the joys eter­nal
By those ran­somed ones pos­sessed;
Exiled now on earth no long­er,
They have gained the home of rest.

Happily at last de­live­red
From the mourn­ful vale of tears,
Sweet is now their re­col­lect­ion
Of the sad and trou­bled years;
While ful­filled in all per­fect­ion
God’s eter­nal plan ap­pears.

They be­hold their tempt­er fall­en,
Bound in ev­er­last­ing chain;
Praising Christ their gra­cious Sav­ior,
All unite in joy­ful strain,
Christ the great re­ward and por­tion
Which ador­ing spi­rits gain.

Now in sha­dow and in fi­gure,
Mirrored in im­perfect light;
Then, as we are known, our know­ledge
Shall be clear, un­veiled, and bright;
For on God’s un­cloud­ed glo­ry
We shall gaze with cleans­èd sight.

Then the Tri­ni­ty of Per­sons
We shall face to face be­hold,
And the uni­ty of sub­stance
Shall its mys­te­ry un­fold;
As the won­drous tri­une God­head
We adore in bliss un­told.

Courage, man, be strong, be faith­ful,
Whatsoe’er thy bur­den be,
For un­boun­ded are the glo­ries
Which thy sor­rows work for thee;
Soon the light of light for­ev­er
Shall thine eyes with rap­ture see.

God the Fa­ther, fount of be­ing,
Thee, most high­est, we adore;
God the Son, our praise and hom­age
We pre­sent Thy throne be­fore;
Glorious Pa­ra­clete, we wor­ship,
And we bless Thee ev­er­more.