1 Come, Lord, and tarry not!
Bring the long-looked for day!
O why these years of waiting here,
These ages of delay?
2 Come, for your saints still wait;
Daily ascends their sigh;
The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!"
Do you not hear the cry?
3 Come, for creation groans
With longing for your stay,
Worn out with these long years of ill,
These ages of decay.
4 Come, and make all things new;
Build up this ruined earth;
Restore our faded paradise,
Creation's second birth.
5 Come, and begin your reign
Of everlasting peace;
Come, take the kingdom to yourself,
Great King of Righteousness!
Source: Lead Me, Guide Me (2nd ed.) #242
Horatius Bonar was born at Edinburgh, in 1808. His education was obtained at the High School, and the University of his native city. He was ordained to the ministry, in 1837, and since then has been pastor at Kelso. In 1843, he joined the Free Church of Scotland. His reputation as a religious writer was first gained on the publication of the "Kelso Tracts," of which he was the author. He has also written many other prose works, some of which have had a very large circulation. Nor is he less favorably known as a religious poet and hymn-writer. The three series of "Hymns of Faith and Hope," have passed through several editions.
--Annotations of the Hymnal, Charles Hutchins, M.A. 1872… Go to person page >| First Line: | Come, Lord, and tarry not |
| Author: | Horatius Bonar (1846) |
| Meter: | 6.6.8.6 |
| Language: | English |
| Copyright: | Public Domain |
Come, Lord, and tarry not. H.Bonar. [Second Advent desired.] Printed in May, 1846, at the end of one of the Kelso Tracts, and again in his Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1857. It is in 14 stanzas of 4 lines, with the heading "Come, Lord," and the motto from St. Augustine, "Senuit mundus." Centos, varying in length and construction, but all beginning with stanza i., are in extensive use in America. In Great Britain it is less popular. A cento, beginning with stanza ii., "Come, Lord; Thy saints for Thee," is also given in Kennedy, 1863, No. 22.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
My Starred Hymns