Classic Poem

HYMN V.

Thus was the great Redeemer plung'd
In Jordan's swelling flood;
To shew he'd one day be baptiz'd
In tears, in sweat, and blood.

Thus was his sacred body laid
Beneath the yielding wave:
Thus was his sacred body rais'd
Out of the liquid grave.

When lo! from realms of light and bliss
The heavenly dove comes down,
Lights on his venerable head,
Which rays of glory crown.

While his eternal father's voice
An awful joy excites;
" This is my well-beloved son,
" In whom my soul delights.

The mystick rite his death describ'd,
His burial did foreshew
The quickening of his sacred flesh,
His resurrection too.

Lord, thy own precept we obey,
In thy own footsteps tread,
We die, are bury'd, rise with thee
From regions of the dead.

O may the spirit of truth and love
His power on us display,
Approve our vows, and seal our souls
To the redemption-day!