Alexander Crawford, from Luke 1, John 1, 3 and 5, and the Benedictus
Tune: Mach’s mit mir Gott (NEH 122) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp1KvXXZ3DY
We raise our voice in praise of John,
Great Baptist and Forerunner.
Old prophets dreamed of things to come;
This Prophet saw his Saviour:
The Lamb of God, come to restore,
That all may worship and adore!
God sent this burning, shining boy*
To turn the lost from darkness;
In dark of womb, he leapt with joy
To greet the Dayspring’s brightness:
The Dawn to break upon the poor,
Set free to worship and adore.
Sent to prepare the way of God,
The crooked paths to straighten,
Baptizing to reveal his Lord
And rescue the forsaken;
To call the sinful, and implore
To turn to worship, and adore.
Great Prophet, he must now decrease,
His work, by Christ perfected.
With joy fulfilled, from trials released,
A martyr’s crown accepted;
To serve his Lord for evermore,
In heav’n to worship and adore.
And now with joy we see, like John,
The Lamb of God in glory;
With hearts renewed and sins undone
We feast on his blest body!
O may we come to know him more,
For ever worship and adore!
*John 5. 35: “[John] was a burning and shining lamp”
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