The Cyber Hymnal ‎#17002

17002. Sabbath Bells

1. Sweet and calm the breez­es steal­ing
O’er the qui­et Sab­bath day;
Loud and long the church bells peal­ing,
Haste to wor­ship, haste away.
List their notes of mu­sic swell­ing,
Hark, what tones of me­lo­dy!
Man’s re­demp­tion they are tell­ing;
Haste to wor­ship, haste away.

2. Now the six days’ la­bor end­ed
Temporal du­ties laid aside,
With our hearts and voic­es blend­ed,
In His courts to­day ab­ide.
Since the ho­ly law was brok­en
From His fold, we’ve gone as­tray,
But the par­don­ing word was spok­en;
Erring one, re­trace thy way.

3. With the Fa­ther in­ter­ced­ing
For a sin-ac­curs­èd race,
Hands and feet and side all pleading,
Jesus saves us by His grace.
Sinners, list—the bells are ring­ing,
’Tis the Gospel’s pre­cious sound;
Infant tongues His prais­es sing­ing,
Come, and in His courts be found.

4. In His pro­mise trust­ing, ne­ver
Backward cast thy long­ing eyes;
Upward, on­ward press­ing ev­er,
Till the fi­nal morn arise.
List, the bells are loud­ly call­ing,
Will you heed the call to­day?
On whose ear the sound is fall­ing,
Haste to wor­ship, haste away.

Text Information

• First Line: Sweet and calm the breezes stealing
• Title: Sabbath Bells
• Author: Josephine D. Heard
• Meter: 87.87 D
• Language: English
• Source: Morning Glories (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:1890), pages 35-36

Tune Information

• Name: ERIE
• Composer: Charles C. Converse (1868)
• Meter: 87.87 D
• Key: F Major or modal