Hymnal: The Christian Hymn-Book
Date: 1829
Compiler: B W Stone and T Adams
Publisher/Printer: N L Finnell
First Line: How tedious and tasteless the hours
Topic: Rejoicing
Writer: <no first name given> <no last name given>
Composer:
Tune:
Hymn Number: 123
Page Number: 132, click to see hymnal pages
LyicsHow tedious and tasteless the hour,
When Jesus no longer I see
Sweet prospects, sweet birds & sweet flowers,
Have all lost their sweetness to me;
The mid-summer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay;
But when I am happy in him,
December's as pleasant as May.
His name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music his voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice;
I should, were he always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish, or to fear;
No mortal so happy as I,
My summer would last all the year.
Content with beholding his face,
My all to his pleasure resign'd;
No changes of season or place,
Would make any change in my mind;
While blest with a sense of his love,
A palace a toy would appear;
And prisons would palaces prove,
If Jesus would dwell with me.
Dear Lord, since indeed I am thine,
Since thou art my sun, and my song,
O why should I languish or pine?
And why should my winters be long?
O drive these dark clouds from my sky;
Thy soul-cheering presence restore,
Or take me up to thee on high,
Where winters and clouds are no more.