Hymns by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette

A hymn for the First Sunday of Advent, Year C

A hymn for the First Sunday of Advent, Year C
The Days are Coming, Said the Lord
CAROL (8.6.8.6 D) ("It Came Upon the Midnight Clear")

"The days are coming," said the Lord to people beaten down,
"The days are coming in this world when justice will abound.
My people, you will sing and dance, and hope will blossom forth,
For I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up on the earth."

O God, you sent the prophets here to people long oppressed;
You told your children, filled with fear, that one day they'd be blessed.
You said to cities lost, destroyed by violence, sin or war,
That they would soon receive the joy that they were longing for.

You promised justice in the land to those who were enslaved;
You said that one day, by your hand, your cities would be saved.
As sure as dawn would turn to day and as the sun would set,
Your children there could trust your way; you were not finished yet.

The days are coming, loving Lord, to sing of Jesus' birth;
Yet cries for justice still are heard throughout this sinful earth.
In Advent, may we work and wait, do justice, share and pray,
And so prepare to celebrate your joyful, coming day.

Biblical Reference: Jeremiah 33:14-16
Tune: Richard Storrs Willis, Church Chorals and Choir Studies, 1850 ("It Came Upon the Midnight Clear")
Text: Copyright © 2012 by Carolyn Winfrey Gillette. All rights reserved.
Email: bcgillette@comcast.net     New Hymns: www.carolynshymns.com/

The Presbyterian Outlook magazine commissioned this hymn and sells it ($9.95) with the hymn text and music together as a downloadable bulletin insert. Your purchase helps support this excellent religious magazine.

 
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