Praise, my soul, the Lord in glory
For His boundless grace!
For His Word, the sacred story,
That His love conveys!
I its truth embrace.

Christ has all my sins forgiven,
Peace and light bestowed.
He thro’ sin and death was driven,
And made way to God.
He made way to God.

None can justly now me censure,
Christ me chose for bride.
To His loving heart I venture,
Hiding at His side;
At His loving side.

Now, my heart, be full of gladness,
Sing with joyful sound!
Let your cheer subdue all sadness;
May your joy abound;
Let your joy resound!

When our Bridegroom comes from glory
We no joy will miss!
All the saved He’ll give, as dowry,
His eternal bliss;
Yes, eternal bliss!

-Alfred Steinmetz, 1855

How lovely are Thy dwellings, O Lord of Hosts!
My soul longeth, yea fainteth, for the courts of the Lord:
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house,
And the swallow a nest, where she may lay her young,
Even Thine altars, even Thine altars,
O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.

O Lord God of Hosts, hear my prayer.
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God,
Than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand.

How lovely are Thy dwellings, O Lord of Hosts!
My soul longeth, yea fainteth, for the courts of the Lord:
My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Yea, the sparrow hath found her a house,
And the swallow a nest, where she may lay her young,
Even Thine altars, even Thine altars,
O Lord of Hosts, my King and my God.

-Samuel Liddle
Text: Psalm 84:1-3,10

When I was in Bible School I sang this hymn with our Girls’ Choir. It’s been on my mind the past couple of days, but couldn’t remember all the words and I knew some were different than the Psalm. I was glad to find them online so I could post them here. (Didn’t catch the misspelling of altars before I posted it.) The hymn has a gorgeous, prayerful melody. Wish I had a recording of our choir singing it!

I’d rather have Jesus than silver or gold;
I’d rather be His than have riches untold;
I’d rather have Jesus than houses or lands,
I’d rather be led by His nail pierced hand.

Refrain:
Than to be a king of a vast domain
Or be held in sin’s dread sway,
I’d rather have Jesus than anything
This world affords today.

I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause;
I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause;
I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame,
I’d rather be true to His holy name.

He’s fairer than lilies of rarest bloom;
He’s sweeter than honey from out of the comb;
He’s all that my hungering spirit needs,
I’d rather have Jesus and let Him lead.

-Rhea F. Miller

My song shall bless the LORD of all,
My praise shall climb to his abode;
Thee, Savior, by that name I call,
The great Supreme, the mighty GOD.

Without beginning, or decline,
Object of faith, and not of sense;
Eternal ages saw him shine,
He shines eternal ages hence.

As much, when in the manger laid,
Almighty ruler of the sky;
As when the six days’ works he made,
Filled all the morning–stars with joy.

Of all the crowns JEHOVAH bears,
Salvation is his dearest claim;
That gracious sound well–pleased he hears,
And owns EMMANUEL for his name.

A cheerful confidence I feel,
My well–placed hopes with joy I see;
My bosom glows with heav’nly zeal
To worship him who died for me.

As man, he pities my complaint,
His pow’r and truth are all divine;
He will not fail, he cannot faint,
Salvation’s sure, and must be mine.

-William Cowper

Hark, my soul, it is the Lord!
’Tis thy Savior, hear His Word;
Jesus speaks, and speaks to thee,
“Say, poor, sinner, lovest thou Me?”

“I delivered thee when bound,
And, when bleeding, healed thy wound;
Sought thee wandering, set thee right,
Turned thy darkness into light.

“Can a woman’s tender care
Cease toward the child she bare?
Yes, she may forgetful be,
Yet will I remember thee.

“Mine is an unchanging love,
Higher than the heights above,
Deeper than the depths beneath,
Free and faithful, strong as death.

“Thou shalt see My glory soon,
When the work of grace is done;
Partner of My throne shalt be:
Say, poor sinner, lovest thou Me?”

Lord, it is my chief complaint
That my love is weak and faint;
Yet I love Thee, and adore:
O for grace to love Thee more!

-William Cowper, 1768

Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
’Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.

Bold shall I stand in Thy great day;
For who aught to my charge shall lay?
Fully absolved through these I am
From sin and fear, from guilt and shame.

The holy, meek, unspotted Lamb,
Who from the Father’s bosom came,
Who died for me, e’en me to atone,
Now for my Lord and God I own.

Lord, I believe Thy precious blood,
Which, at the mercy seat of God,
Forever doth for sinners plead,
For me, e’en for my soul, was shed.

Lord, I believe were sinners more
Than sands upon the ocean shore,
Thou hast for all a ransom paid,
For all a full atonement made.

When from the dust of death I rise
To claim my mansion in the skies,
Ev’n then this shall be all my plea,
Jesus hath lived, hath died, for me.

This spotless robe the same appears,
When ruined nature sinks in years;
No age can change its glorious hue,
The robe of Christ is ever new.

Jesus, the endless praise to Thee,
Whose boundless mercy hath for me—
For me a full atonement made,
An everlasting ransom paid.

O let the dead now hear Thy voice;
Now bid Thy banished ones rejoice;
Their beauty this, their glorious dress,
Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness.

-Nikolaus L. von Zinzendorf, 1739
Translated from German to English by John Wesley, 1740

Come, ye souls by sin afflicted,
Bowed with fruitless sorrow down;
By the broken law convicted,
Through the cross behold the crown;
Look to Jesus; mercy flows through Him alone.

Take His easy yoke and wear it;
Love will make obedience sweet;
Christ will give you strength to bear it,
While His wisdom guides your feet
Safe to glory, where His ransomed captives meet.

Blessed are the eyes that see Him,
Blest the ears that hear His voice;
Blessed are the souls that trust Him,
And in Him alone rejoice;
His commandments then become their happy choice.

Sweet as home to pilgrims weary,
Light to newly opened eyes,
Or full springs in deserts dreary,
Is the rest the cross supplies;
All who taste it shall to rest immortal rise.

-Joseph Swain, 1792

O God, most holy are thy ways,
And who like thee deserves my praise?
Thou only doest wondrous things,
The whole wide world thy glory sings;
Thine outstretched arm thy people saved,
Though sore distressed and long enslaved.

O God, from thee the waters fled,
The depths were moved with mighty dread,
The swelling clouds their torrents poured,
And o’er the earth the tempest roared;
‘Mid lightning’s flash and thunder’s sound
Great trembling shook the solid ground.

Thy way was in the sea, O God,
Through mighty waters, deep and broad;
None understood but God alone,
To man thy footsteps were unknown;
But safe thy people thou didst keep,
Almighty Shepherd of thy sheep.

-The Psalter, 1912