Venite, exultemus
| 1 |
Sing to the Lord Jehovah’s name, and in His strength rejoice: when His salvation is our theme, exalted be our voice. With thanks approach His awful sight, and psalms of honor sing; the Lord’s a God of boundless might, the whole creation’s King. |
| 2 |
Let princes hear, let angels know how mean their natures seem, those gods on high, and gods below, when once compared with Him. Earth with its caverns dark and deep lies in His spacious hand; He fixed the seas what bound to keep, and where the hills must stand. |
| 3 |
Come, and with humble souls adore; come, kneel before His face; O may the creatures of His power be children of His grace! Now is the time: He bends His ear, and waits for your request: Come, lest He rouse His wrath and swear, “Ye shall not see My rest.” |
| 4 |
The God of mercy be adored, Who calls our souls from death, Who saves by His redeeming Word and newcreating Breath. To praise the Father, and the Son, and Spirit all divine, the One in Three, and Three in One: let saints and angels join. |
Information
| Text | Isaac Watts (1674-1748) |
| Tune | The Third Tune Thomas Tallis (1505?-1585) |
O come, let us sing unto the Lord; *
let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and show ourselves glad in him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are all the corners of the earth, *
and the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and he made it, *
and his hands prepared the dry land.
O come, let us worship and fall down, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is the Lord our God, *
and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand.
Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts *
as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness;
When your fathers tempted me, *
proved me, and saw my works.
Forty years long was I grieved with this generation, and said, *
It is a people that do err in their hearts, for they have not known my ways.
Unto whom I sware in my wrath, *
that they should not enter into my rest.
Come, let us sing to the Lord; *
let us shout for joy to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving *
and raise a loud shout to him with psalms.
For the Lord is a great God, *
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the caverns of the earth, *
and the heights of the hills are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, *
and his hands have molded the dry land.
Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, *
and kneel before the Lord our Maker.
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. *
Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice!
Harden not your hearts, as your forebears did in the wilderness, *
at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me.
They put me to the test, *
though they had seen my works.
Forty years long I detested that generation and said, *
"This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways."
So I swore in my wrath, *
"They shall not enter into my rest."