Lo, the day, the day approacheth

Lo, the day, the day approacheth
When the just shall rest in peace,
When the patient souls shall triumph,
And the vile from troubling cease.

Day of life, who can abide it?
Day of light, unseen before;
Death, the fell destroyer, dieth,
Night and darkness are no more.

See He comes whom ages longed for—
Long expected King of kings—
Now He tarries not, and with Him
All His great salvation brings.

O how blessed! O how joyful!
O what sweetness it shall be!
When the eyes of those who loved Him
Shall their Lord and Master see.

Jesus then with sweet affection,
And in tones of tenderest love,
Shall invite His faithful people
To the joys prepared above.

"Ye who held My truth unsullied,
Faithful stood in world of sin,
Suffered for the name ye honoured,
See the joys ye sought to win.

"See the heavenly kingdom promised,
Long reserved, but now revealed;
Now behold it, now possess it,
Now the princely sceptre wield."

O how sweet our earthly losses,
In the midst of gain like this!
O how vain the world's possessions,
At the cost of so much bliss!

O how blessèd then the mourners,
Who for Christ earth's sorrow bore,
By a scornful world neglected!
They shall reign for evermore.

Now no terror grim shall haunt them—
Tears and sorrows are no more;
Grinding want shall ne'er afflict them,
Crippled age nor weakness sore.

Peace eternal there abideth,
Hearts with festive gladness bound;
There is youth with perfect vigour,
And with bloom unfading crowned.

O just Judge! in boundless mercy
Call me heavenward by-and-by,
For my soul is faint with longing,
And I wait with tearful eye.