Waiting for Christ

I long to behold him arrayed

No. 840
Metre 8s. D.
Tune CONTRAST.
Words Charles Wesley.
Music Lewis Edson.
Key G major
Singing key F major
Time 6/8
3 stanzas

Words

I long to behold him arrayedWith glory and light from above;The King in his beauty displayed,His beauty of holiest love:I languish, and sigh to be there,Where Jesus hath fixed his abode;O, when shall we meet in the air,And fly to the mountain of God?

With him, I on Zion shall stand,For Jesus has spoken the word;The breadth of Immanuel's land,Survey, by the side of my Lord.But when, on thy bosom reclined,Thy face I am strengthened to see,My fullness of rapture I find,My heaven of heavens, in thee.

How happy the people whose homeIs found in the city of God!As pilgrims no more they shall roam,Nor travel a dangerous road.Physician divine, unto meThy soul-healing blessing now give,And keep me while waiting for thee,And then to that city receive.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «WAITING FOR CHRIST—CLOSING WORK.»; hymn number «840» (large), tune name «CONTRAST. 8s. D.» centred over the music (condensed capitals; the «D.» in a smaller size), «LEWIS EDSON.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, one line per system, with «1.» before «I»: system 1 = verse lines 1–2, system 2 = verse lines 3–4, system 3 = verse lines 5–6; verse lines 7–8 are printed in italics as a second line under system 2, preceded by «D. S.—», and are sung there after the «D. S.» at the end of system 3 (the music returns to the segno over «The» and ends at «Fine.» after «love:» / «God?»). Stanza 1 below is assembled in the order sung. «arrayed», «displayed,» and «languish,» are set unbroken under the staves; «be-hold», «beau-ty» (line 3) and «mount-ain» with a close hyphen, «glo - ry», «a - bove», «beau - ty» (line 4), «ho - li - est», «Je - sus», «a - bode» with spaced hyphens. The tune is the same as at Hymn 505 (p. 165). No reference line is printed for this hymn. Stanzas 2–3 follow as text in the left column, numbered «2», «3» without a full stop (numbered «2.» etc. here like stanza 1), with «Charles Wesley.» in italics after stanza 3. Lines 2, 4, 6, 8 of each stanza are indented in the print. The print sets a thin space before «;», «:», «!» and «?» («word ;», «love :», «a - bode ;», «God ?», «God !»); it is closed up here. The apostrophe of «Immanuel's» is written straight. Spelling («fullness»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.