Come Lord and Tarry Not

Here is a great hymn by the Scottish poet Horatius Bonar to sing after meditating on Romans 8: 18-30. Bonar, mentored by the venerable mathematician/theologian Thomas Chalmers, had an incredible gift for making complex realities not only understandable, but singable! This hymn is a reminder that while God began making things new at Christs first coming, we are still desperately awaiting His return when all things will be set right completely and finally.

Come, Lord, and tarry not;
Bring the long looked for day;
O why these years of waiting here,
These ages of decay?

Come, for creation groans,
Impatient of Thy stay,
Worn out with these long years of ill,
These ages of delay.

Come, for love waxes cold,
Its steps are faint and slow;
Faith now is lost in unbelief,
Hope’s lamp burns dim and low.

Come, and make all things new,
Build up this ruined earth;
Restore our faded Paradise,
Creation’s second birth.

Come, and begin Thy reign
Of everlasting peace;
Come, take the kingdom to Thyself,
Great King of Righteousness.