Waiting for Christ

Fear not, little flock, 'tis your Father's good pleasure

No. 867
Metre 12s & 11s.
Tune LITTLE FLOCK.
Words F. E. Belden.
Music F. E. Belden.
Key G major
Singing key F major
Time 4/4
4 stanzas

Words

Fear not, little flock, 'tis your Father's good pleasureTo give you the glorious kingdom above;To grant you the precious and eternal treasureOf life everlasting,—a gift of his love.

No more shall ye suffer for Christ, tribulation,No more shall ye rudely be scattered and torn;Your trials and sorrows, your fears and temptations,Will shortly be over; no more shall ye mourn.

Earth has not the bliss which in heaven is offered,And knows not the joys that await all the blest;The saints are the heirs to the kingdom that's proffered,—The kingdom of righteousness, kingdom of rest.

Then fear not, ye flock, for your Shepherd, returning,Shall gather his sheep in his heavenly fold;Shall lead you in pastures for which ye are yearning,And shelter you safe in the city of gold.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «WAITING FOR CHRIST—CLOSING WORK.» (top of p. 289); hymn number «867» (large), tune name «LITTLE FLOCK. 12s & 11s.» centred over the music, «F. E. BELDEN.» at the right (capitals and small capitals); no copyright note. Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, with «1.» before «Fear»: «1. Fear not, little flock, 'tis your Father's good pleasure To give you the glorious kingdom above;» / «To grant you the precious and e - ter-nal treasure Of life ev - er-lasting,—a gift of his love.» Stanzas 2–4 are printed as text in two columns below the music (stanza 2 and the first two lines of stanza 3 in the left column; the last two lines of stanza 3 at the top of the right column, then stanza 4), under the reference line «971, 425.» in italic figures (= the words may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 971 or 425), numbered «2»–«4» without periods (written «2.»–«4.» here, as in the other deliveries of this book); lines 2 and 4 of each stanza indented; «F. E. Belden.» in italics after stanza 4. The long verse lines are broken for width in the print («and / torn ;», «temp- / tations,», «ye / mourn.», «is / offered,», «the / blest ;», «that's / proffered,—», «kingdom / of rest.», «Shepherd, / returning,», «are / yearning,»); each verse line is one line here, and «temp-tations» is joined. The print sets a thin space before «;» («torn ;», «over ;»); it is closed up here. Apostrophes are written straight («'tis», «Father's», «that's»). Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.