A Poor Brother's Hymnal
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
  Let Earth and Heaven Combine
“[He] took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.” Philippians 2:7

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns for the Na­tiv­i­ty of Our Lord (Lon­don: Will­iam Stra­han, 1745), num­ber 5.

Music: St. John (Par­ish), Par­ish Choir, 1851; at­trib­ut­ed to Wil­liam H. Ha­ver­gal (MI­DI, score).


Chords (Joan of Arc): C G F C / D G D C G / G Dm F C G

Original Lyrics
Alternate (Joan of Arc)

Let earth and Heaven combine,
Angels and men agree,
To praise in songs divine
The incarnate Deity,
Our God contracted to a span,
Incomprehensibly made Man.

He laid His glory by,
He wrapped Him in our clay;
Unmarked by human eye,
The latent Godhead lay;
Infant of days He here became,
And bore the mild Immanuel’s Name.

See in that Infant’s face
The depths of deity,
And labor while ye gaze
To sound the mystery
In vain; ye angels gaze no more,
But fall, and silently adore.

Unsearchable the love
That hath the Savior brought;
The grace is far above
Of men or angels’ thought:
Suffice for us that God, we know,
Our God, is manifest below.

He deigns in flesh t’appear,
Widest extremes to join;
To bring our vileness near,
And make us all divine:
And we the life of God shall know,
For God is manifest below.

Made perfect first in love,
And sanctified by grace,
We shall from earth remove,
And see His glorious face:
His love shall then be fully showed,
And man shall all be lost in God.

And now, let earth and Heaven combine,
Bright angels and frail men agree,
Together praise in songs divine
The blessed, incarnate Deity,

Our God contracted to a span,
Infant of days He here became
Incomprehensibly made Man.
And bore the mild Immanuel’s Name.

See how He laid His glory by,
And wrapped Himself up in our clay;
And there, unmarked by human eye,
The latent, loving Godhead lay;

Infinity in Infant face
There dwelled the depths of Deity,
So greatly labor while ye gaze
To sound the sacred mystery

In vain; ye angels gaze no more,
Suffice for us that God, we know,
So fall, and silently adore.
Our God, our God is manifest below.

Unsearchable the holy love
That hath the holy Savior brought;
The holy grace is far above
Of mortal men or endless angels’ thought:

He deigns in frail flesh t’appear,
Thus the widest extremes to join;
To bring our vexed (or vicious) vileness near,
And then to make us all divine.

And we the life of God shall know,
His love shall then be fully showed,
For God was manifest below.
And man shall all be lost in God.

For we, made perfect first in love,
And perfect, sanctified by grace,
Shall from this veiled vale remove,
To gaze upon His glorious face.


Labels: , ,

 
Comments: Post a Comment



<< Home
All my favorite hymns. Most of them are from before the Reformation.

ARCHIVES
February 2006 / March 2006 / May 2006 / August 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / October 2007 / November 2007 / December 2007 / June 2008 / July 2008 / November 2008 / July 2011 /



Links of Interest: The Celtic Catholic Church | Sacred Space | 7 Deadly Sins, 7 Heavenly Virtues | My School | My Website (In Progress)


Links that will add fire to my already extended stay in Purgatory: Ambrose Bierce's Devil's Dictionary | The Devil's Dictionary X | The Brick Testament | Jesus of the Week | The Onion Dome | The Onion | Ship of Fools | The Daily Show