Thou, Jesu, Art Our King, Thy Ceaseless Praise We Sing
Thou, Jesu, art our King,
Thy ceaseless praise we sing:
Thou, Jesu, art our King,
Thy ceaseless praise we sing:
Praise shall our glad tongue employ,
Praise o’erflow our grateful soul,
While we vital breath enjoy,
While eternal ages roll.
Thou art the’ Eternal Light,
That shin’st in deepest night.
Wondering gazed the’ angelic train,
While Thou bowd’st the heavens beneath,
God with God wert man with man,
Man to save from endless death.
Thou for our pain didst mourn,
Thou hast our sickness borne:
All our sins on Thee were laid;
Thou with unexampled grace
All the mighty debt hast paid
Due from –Adam’s- helpless race.
Thou hast o’erthrown the foe,
God’s kingdom fix’d below.
Conqueror of all adverse power,
Thou heaven’s gates hast open’d wide:
Thou Thine own dost lead secure
In Thy cross, and by Thy side.
Enthroned above yon sky,
Thou reign’st with God Most High.
Prostrate at Thy feet we fall:
Power supreme to Thee is given;
Thee, the righteous Judge of all,
Sons of earth and hosts of heaven.
Cherubs with seraphs join
And in Thy praise combine:
All their choirs Thy glories sing:
Who shall dare with Thee to vie?
Mighty Lord, eternal King,
Sovereign both of earth and sky!
Hail, venerable train,
Patriarchs, first-born of men!
Hail, apostles of the Lamb,
By whose strength ye faithful proved!
Join to’ extol His sacred name
Whom in life and death ye loved.
The church through all her bounds
With Thy high praise resounds.
Confessors undaunted here
Unashamed proclaim their King;
Children’s feebler voices there
To Thy name Hosannas sing.
Midst danger’s blackest frown
Thee hosts of martyrs own.
Pain and shame alike they dare,
Firmly, singularly good;
Glorying Thy cross to bear,
Till they seal their faith with blood.
Even Heathens feel Thy power,
Thou suffering Conqueror!
Thousand virgins, chaste and clean,
From love’s pleasing witchcraft free,
Fairer than the sons of men,
Consecrate their hearts to Thee.
Wide earth’s remotest bound
Full of Thy praise is found:
And all heaven’s eternal day
With Thy streaming glory flames:
All Thy foes shall melt away
From the’ insufferable beams.
O Lord, O God of Love,
Let us Thy mercy prove!
King of all, with pitying eye
Mark the toil, the pains we feel:
‘Midst the snares of death we lie,
Midst the banded powers of hell.
Arise, stir up Thy power,
Thou deathless Conqueror!
Help us to obtain the prize,
Help us well to close our race;
That with Thee above the skies
Endless joys we may possess.
The Saviour Glorified by All
From the German
Translated by John Wesley