O Day Of Rest And Gladness
O Day of Rest and Gladness
O day of rest and gladness,
O day of joy and light,
O balm of care and sadness,
Most beautiful, most bright:
On thee the high and lowly,
Through ages joined in tune,
Sing holy, holy, holy,
To the great God Triune.
On thee, at the creation,
The light first had its birth;
On thee for our salvation
Christ rose from depths of earth;
On thee our Lord victorious
The Spirit sent from heaven,
And thus on thee most glorious
A triple light was given.
Today on weary nations
The heavenly manna falls;
To holy convocations
The silver trumpet calls,
Where Gospel light is glowing
With pure and radiant beams,
And living water flowing
With soul-refreshing streams.
New graces ever gaining
From this our day of rest,
We reach the rest remaining
To spirits of the blest.
To Holy Ghost be praises,
To Father, and to Son;
The Church her voice upraises
To Thee, blest Three in One.
IT IS THE FIRST DUTY of a hymn,” said Christopher Wordsworth, “to teach sound doctrine and thence to save souls.” He opposed the trend of nineteenth-century hymnists to write about personal experiences. As the nephew of the noted English poet William Wordsworth, he might have been expected to be a poet as well. But after distinguishing himself as a scholar and athlete at Cambridge, he went into the ministry, eventually becoming a Church of England bishop. He was a recognized Greek scholar and wrote a commentary on the entire Bible as well as a hymnal including 117 original hymns. The second stanza of this hymn is a good example of the way Wordsworth used his hymns to teach doctrine. On the first day of the week God created light; on the first day of the week, Christ arose; and on the first day of the week the Holy Spirit was given. Thus, Sunday is a day honored three times.
This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
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