“Hark, the name of Jesus sounded
Loud from golden harps above;
On that rock our hopes are founded;
Sovereign grace, and sovereign love. 
We shall conquer through his blood,
Kings and priests be made to God.” 
NEWTON

HEAVEN.

To be where thou my Saviour art,
To see, and be conformed to thee,
Perfect in holiness this heart;
This; this is heaven itself to me.

To see thee in thy glory, Lord,
Thy Father’s glory and thy own;
The eternal, the incarnate Word,
Adored upon his Father’s throne.

To see as seen, to know as known,
My Saviour in my flesh and blood;
To be made like him, with him one,
I in him, and he in God.

The holy, holy, holy One,
Who was, and is, and is to come,
The earth his footstool, heaven his throne,
The church his bride, he her Bridegroom.

Angels and elders, earth and heaven,
Are summoned to unseal the book;
But silent all, no answer given,
None worthy found therein to look.

But Judah’s Lion, David’s Son,
And David’s Root, the great I AM,
Appears upon his Father’s throne,
As slain for sacrifice, the Lamb.

He takes the book he can unseal;
He worthy is, and he has power
God’s secret counsels to reveal,
And to fulfil each in its hour.

The heavenly host united fall
In humble worship at his feet;
One glorious theme inspires them all,
The joy is full, the concert sweet.

New odors to the throne ascend,
In accents new their praises soar;
Each finds in each a glowing friend,
And all the God of all adore.

And shall I join that prostrate throng,
In love’s ecstatic heaven-taught lays,
With powers expanded, that new song
Hymn to the Lamb’s exalted praise?

“Worthy art thou to take the book,
And loose the seals, and read therein,
God’s holy mysteries to unlock;
Worthy art thou, for thou wast slain.

“Thou hast redeemed us with thy blood,
From every nation of the earth;
And made us kings and priests to God,
And sharers of a heavenly birth.”

Myriads of angels stand around,
Uniting in the loud acclaim;
And fill the temple with the sound
Of our Redeemer’s gentle name.

“Worthy the Lamb that once was slain,
A sacrifice for every sin,
All power and glory to obtain,
And universal empire win.”

Heaven, earth, and sea shall swell the tone
Of fervent universal praise;
And grateful joy around the throne,
Its voice from age to age shall raise.

In all these myriads, is there one
Who had on earth so much forgiven? 
And shall I reach their highest tone
Of love to Jesus?  THIS IS HEAVEN.

And when this breast to heave shall cease,
And heart and lungs are hushed to peace,
Some friendly hand the eyelids close,
And leave the clay to short repose.