The Church — Zeal and Union

O, it is joy for those to meet

No. 1020
Words Anon.
Singing key G major
5 stanzas

Words

O, it is joy for those to meetWhom one communion blends,Council to hold in converse sweet,And talk as Christian friends.

'T is joy to think the angel train,Who in heaven's temple shine,To seek our earthly temples deign,And in our anthems join.

But chief 't is joy to think that HeTo whom his church is dear,Delights her gathered flock to see,Her joint devotions hear.

Then who would choose to walk abroad,While here such joys are given?"This is indeed the house of God,And this the gate of heaven!"

And if on earth a scene like thisOur mortal love inspires,'T will be more sweet to taste the blissOf heaven's pure desires.

About this hymn

As printed Words only. As printed: hymn number «1020» (large) in the right column of p. 349, below stanza 6 of hymn 1019 and «Horatius Bonar.», with the reference line «399, 794, 354.» in italic figures beside it (sing to the tunes of hymns 399 HARVEY'S CHANT, 794 ZERAH or 354 WOODLAND, all C. M.; no meter is printed — the lines 8.6.8.6 are C. M.). Stanzas numbered «1»–«5» without periods (written «1.»–«5.» here, as in the other deliveries of this book); lines 2 and 4 indented; «Anon.» in italics, right-aligned after stanza 5. In this copy an ink blot covers «n c» of «in converse» in stanza 1, line 3. «Council» (st. 1) is the print's spelling. The elisions are printed with a thin space — «'T is» (st. 2), «'t is» (st. 3), «'T will» (st. 5) — and kept so; apostrophes and quotation marks are written straight. The print sets a thin space before «?» and «!» («given ?», «heaven !»); it is closed up here. Spelling, punctuation and capitals («He», «God») are the print's.