Behold a Sower! from afar

Representative Text

1 Behold a Sower! from afar
He goeth forth with might;
The rolling years His furrows are,
His seed, the growing light;
For all the just His Word is sown,
It springeth up alway;
The tender blade is hope’s young dawn,
The harvest, love’s new day.

2 O Lord of life, to Thee we lift
Our hearts in praise for those,
Thy prophets, who have shown Thy gift
Of grace that ever grows,
Of truth that spreads from shore to shore,
Of wisdom’s widening ray,
Of light that shineth more and more
Unto Thy perfect day.

3 Shine forth, O Light, that we may see,
With hearts all unafraid,
The meaning and the mystery
Of things that Thou hast made;
Shine forth, and touch the darkling past
Beneath Thy beam grow bright;
Shine forth, and touch the future vast
With Thine untroubled light.

4 Light up Thy Word; the fettered page
From killing bondage free:
Light up our way; lead forth this age
In love’s large liberty.
O Light of light! within us dwell,
Through us Thy radiance pour,
That word and life Thy truths may tell,
And praise Thee evermore.

AMEN.


Source: The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal: official hymnal of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church #356

Author: Washington Gladden

Washington Gladden (1836-1918) was called to the First Congregational Church in Columbus, OH in 1882 and remained there for 32 years. In 1883-84 he was known for his success in fighting the corrupt Tweed Ring, for arbitrating the Telegraphers' Strike and the Hocking Valley Coal Strike. He attacked John D. Rockefeller, Sr. for giving $100,000 of "tainted money" to the Congregational Church's Foreign Missions program. Throughout his ministry he emphasized applying the gospel to life in America. He wrote "O Master, let me walk with thee" in 1879. Mary Louise VanDyke… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Behold a Sower! from afar
Author: Washington Gladden (1904)
Meter: 8.6.8.6 D
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

ELLACOMBE

Published in a chapel hymnal for the Duke of Würtemberg (Gesangbuch der Herzogl, 1784), ELLACOMBE (the name of a village in Devonshire, England) was first set to the words "Ave Maria, klarer und lichter Morgenstern." During the first half of the nineteenth century various German hymnals altered the…

Go to tune page >


PETERSHAM


FOREST GREEN

FOREST GREEN is an English folk tune associated with the ballad "The Ploughboy's Dream." Ralph Vaughan Williams (PHH 316) turned FOREST GREEN into a hymn tune for The English Hymnal (1906), using it as a setting for "O Little Town of Bethlehem." Shaped in rounded bar form (AABA), FOREST GREEN has th…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #659
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 2 of 2)
TextPage Scan

The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #356

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #659

Include 28 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us