The Restitution

1. Oh, spare Your people, Lord,
    And bring them full salvation;
Fulfill Your faithful word,
    Awake the sleeping nation;
Your voice, oh God, shout from on high;
    The signal give for reaping;
Come now and reap the harvest dry;
    Oh, gather all the sleeping;
Spare now the remnant Lord,
    The foe does yet pursue them.
Oh, for Your blessed word,
    To strengthen and renew them.

2. Oh, may Your kingdom come,
    All power and dominion;
Bring now the faithful home,
    On bright seraphic pinion:
We’re tried, oh, come and take us home,
    And give us crowns of glory;
We feel like those who weary roam
    About some ruin hoary:
Oh, may Your will be done,
    On earth as ’tis in heaven;
May now the glorious Sun
    Of righteousness be given.

3. Oh! may the City come
    Down from the op’ning heaven;
The New Jerusalem,
    Oh, may it now be given;
Its gates of pearl, its streets of gold,
    Blaze with Your brightest glory:
The holy seers have raptur’d told
    The New Creation’s story;
Oh, may it now descend,
    The City of foundations,
In triumph ne’er to end,
    Now rule the angry nations.

Playback

Instrumental – Sampled Sounds

Congregation – from Germany

Congregation (#2) – from Germany

Download
MP3 – Congregation (from Germany)
MP3 – Congregation (#2) (from Germany)

This anonymous masterpiece of apocalyptic poetry comes from James White’s collection, Hymns for Second Advent Believers (1852).

Every line pulls from a different thread of Bible prophecy and weaves them all together into a magnificent cry of faith and longing to see Christ’s kingdom finally established on this earth.

About the tune
The “ancient” quality of the tune derives from the fact that it is written in the Dorian mode, which is a scale not used much today. The system of “modes” goes back to Greece, but was refined for church use during the Middle Ages. Most modern music is written in major or minor scales, which correspond to the Ionian and Aeolian modes. But there are at least six other modes that could be used as well. So our modern musical palette is a bit restricted!

Tags: Glory, Kingdom, Persecution, Resurrection, Second Advent