EN 4873 The Church Has Waited Long
1Cor.13.12
Versi Version 1
1
The Church has waited long
Her absent Lord to see;
And still in loneliness she waits,
A friendless stranger she.
2
After after age has gone,
Sun after sun has set,
And still, in weeds of widowhood,
She weeps, a mourner yet.
3
Saint after saint on earth
Has lived, and loved, and died;
And as they left us one by one,
We laid them side by side.
4
We laid them down to sleep,
But not in hope forlorn—
We laid them but to ripen there
Till the last glorious morn.
5
The serpent’s brood increase,
The powers of hell grow bold,
The conflict thickens, faith is low,
And love is waxing cold.
6
How long, O Lord our God,
Holy and true and good,
Wilt Thou not judge Thy suffering church,
Her sighs and tears and blood?
7
We long to hear Thy voice,
To see Thee face to face,
To share Thy crown and glory then,
As now we share Thy grace.
8
Should not the loving bride
The absent Bridegroom mourn?
Should she not wear the weeds of grief
Until her Lord return?
9
Come, Lord, and wipe away
The curse, the sin, the stain,
And make this blighted world of ours
Thine own fair world again.

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