"To Thee, O Lord, Our Hearts We Raise"
                              by William C. Dix, 1837-1898              
                                       Text From:
                           THE HANDBOOK TO THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL
                     (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1942)p.408



        1. To Thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise
        In hymns of adoration,
        To Thee bring sacrifice of praise
        With shout of exultation.
        Bright robes of gold the fields adorn,
        The hills with joy are ringing,
        The valleys stand so thick with corn
        That even they are singing.

        2. And now, on this our festal day,
        Thy bounteous hand confessing,
        Upon Thine altar, Lord, we lay
        The first-fruits of Thy blessing.
        By Thee the souls of men are fed
        With gifts of grace supernal;
        Thou who dost give us earthly bread,
        Give us the Bread eternal.

        3. We bear the burden of the day,
        And often toil seems dreary;
        But labor ends with sunset ray,
        And rest comes for the weary.
        May we, the angel-reaping o'er,
        Stand at the last accepted,
        Christ's golden sheaves forevermore,
        To garners bright elected.

        4. Oh, blessed is that land of God
        Where saints abide forever,
        Where golden fields spread fair and broad,
        Where flows the crystal river.
        The strains of all its holy throng
        With ours today are blending;
        Thrice blessed is that harvest-song
        Which never hath an ending.

        

        Notes:
        Hymn #573 from _The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal_
        Text: Ps. 65: 12
        Author: William C. Dix, 1864        
        Tune: "Harvest Hymn"
        1st Published in: _St. Gallen Gesangbuch_, 1863, ad.        
        

        

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