104. Mortal Body, Take Thy Rest

1. Mortal body, take thy rest,
In this grace, serenely sleeping;
For thy spirit now is blest,
Safe in thy redeemer’s keeping;
Thou wilt leave these earthbound walls
On the day when Jesus calls.

2. Therefore, rest here peacefully
In this quiet little chamber;
Till we also follow thee,
Sharing in thy blessed slumber.
Here within the grave we lay
All our earthly cares away.

3. Jesus wills, that ‘mid earth’s strife,
We should still a pilgrims tarry!
All who sought the crown of life,
All who bore the yoke we carry,
Waited for the time to come
Until Jesus called them home.

4. Jesus also tarried here,
In this vale of tears sojourning,
Suffering far, far more than we
Ere unto His home returning.
Firm and true, Lord, let us be
With our vision fixed on Thee.

5. O how brief is this our life,
With its parting and its meeting,
As against eternity!
Yet upon its day so fleeting
Rests, O God of mystery,
Either death or life with Thee.

6. Truly life is ours by faith,
O Thou Life of all the living!
When our eyelids close in death,
We from Thee will be receiving
That full peace which here began,
Son of God and Son of Man!

7. Not the world’s are we but Thine
And from death Thou shalt awake us –
Let this star of hope, Lord, shine
When the pangs of death o’ertake us!
Living, we believe in Thee;
Dying, let us blesséd be!