Christ My Song - 492
All the earth this day is crying - The Cry of the Needy
(Horatius Bonar/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The Cry of the Needy.
(The annual intercession.)
1. All the earth this day is crying
to the Lord of all the earth;
all thy churches, Lord, are pleading,
as they wait the glorious birth, –
birth of the new earth and heavens,
long deferred, but promised long, –
birth of nations to the glory
that shall fill all lands with song. PDF - Midi
2. Never was the world more needy,
human hearts more sad and poor;
crying blindly for a healer,
seeking not the heavenly cure.
Never was the harvest greater;
yet the reapers, where are thy?
Far and few, where most are needed,
fainting in the heat of day.
3. Never did the world shine brighter,
with its beauty and its love,
drawing souls within its circle
from the joys and songs above.
Never did the great ensnarer
spread his spells with wiser skill,
turning light to darkness, mingling
sweet and bitter, good and ill.
4. Father, in this day of weakness,
weary hand, and fainting knee,
in this hour of fear and darkness,
now for help we turn to thee!
Let the sighing of the needy
come into thy listening ear;
let thy people, in their pleading,
know thee gracious, find thee near!
5. These our cries of sin and weakness
on thy mercy-seat we lay,
to thy heavenly love appealing,
there we leave them, Lord, this day.
There the sprinkled blood shall own them
as we lay them at thy feet,
perfumed with the priestly fragrance,
incense ever pure and sweet.
6. Golden vials full of odours,
sending up their fragrant breath,
bear into thy heavenly temple
these our broken cries beneath.
From that temple where he dwelleth,
he our Priest and King above,
let the never-ending answer
daily come in joy and love.
7. For the earth, with all its kingdoms
far and near, this day we cry;
Light of light, dispel the darkness
with the Dayspring from on high!
For thy Church of every nation,
for each saint on earth we plead;
give the fullness of thy Spirit,
give the life and light we need.
8. Unto him, then, who is able
thus to do for us this day
far beyond what we can ask for,
unto him be praise for aye.
Praise to the Eternal Father,
praise to the Eternal Son,
praise to the Eternal Spirit,
praises to the Three in One!
Horatius Bonar, Hymns of the Nativity, 1879, 46-48.