The Cyber Hymnal ‎#16195

16195. The Two Advents

1 He came not with His heav’nly crown,
His scepter clad with power;
His coming was in feebleness,
The infant of an hour.
A humble manger cradled first
The virgin’s holy birth,
And lowing herds companioned there
The Lord of Heav’n and earth.

2 He came not in His robe of wrath,
With arm outstretched to slay;
But, on the darkling paths of earth,
To pour celestial day,
To guide in peace the wandering feet,
The broken heart to bind;
And bear upon the painful cross
The sins of human kind.

3 And Thou hast borne them, Savior meek!
And therefore unto Thee
In humbleness and gratitude,
Our hearts shall offered be;
And greenly, as the festal bough
That on Thy altar lies,
Our souls, our bodies, all be Thine,
A living sacrifice!

4 Yet once again Thy sign shall be
Upon the heav’ns displayed,
And earth and its inhabitants,
Be terribly afraid;
For not in weakness clad Thou com’st
Our woes, our sins, to bear,
But girt with all Thy Father’s might,
His vengeance to declare.

5 The terrors of that awful day,
Oh! who shall understand?
Or who abide, when Thou in wrath
Shall lift Thy holy hand?
The earth shall quake, the sea shall roar,
The sun in heav’n grow pale,
But Thou hast sworn, and wilt not change,
Thy faithful shall not fail!

6 Then grant us, Savior! so to pass
Our time in trembling here,
That when, upon the clouds of heav’n,
Thy glory shall appear,
Uplifting high our joyful heads,
In triumph we may rise,
And enter, with Thy angel train,
Thy temple in the skies!

Text Information

• First Line: He came not with His heav’nly crown,
• Title: The Two Advents
• Author: George W. Doane
• Meter: CMD
• Language: English
• Source: Songs by the Way (New York: D. Appleton, 1860)
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Alternate tunes: ALL SAINTS by Henry S. Cutler, AMESBURY by Uzziah C. Burnap, ANCYRA by Benjamin C. Unseld

Tune Information

• Name: BETHLEHEM
• Composer: Gottfried Wilhelm Fink (1842)
• Meter: CMD
• Key: B♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain