Text by: Thomas Hastings 1832
Tune: Wesley by: Lowell Mason 1833
- Hail to the brightness of Zion’s glad morning!
Joy to the lands that in darkness have lain!
Hushed be the accents of sorrow and mourning;
Zion in triumph begins her mild reign.2. Hail to the brightness of Zion’s glad morning!
Long by the prophets of Israel foretold!
Hail to the millions from bondage returning!
Gentiles and Jews the blest vision behold.3. Lo, in the desert rich flowers are springing,
streams ever copious are gliding along;
loud from the mountain tops echoes are ringing,
wastes rise in verdure, and mingle in song.4. See, from all lands, from the isles of the ocean,
praise to the Savior ascending on high;
fallen the engines of war and commotion;
shouts of salvation are rending the sky.
Every day, without fail, the sun rises and morning begins. And with the dawning of a new year, much like the dawning of a new day there is hope and joy in what is about to happen. The moment before the dawn begins to break is full of darkness and with the first hints of brightening a new day is born. With each new day we have the opportunity to put the sorrows of the proceeding day and night away and live the new day with joy.
Zion’s morning is not unexpected. Just like our mornings do not surprise us, they can be predicted to the second, Zion’s morning has been foretold by the ancient prophets of Israel. It is a morning which brings freedom to nations and untold millions of Jews and Gentiles alike.
As the Earth groans under the weight of sin, Zion’s morning brings forth a desert full of flowers, streams full of water and mountains resounding with song. For it is the Savior who has come!
Just as we often use the beginning of a new year to attempt to reset of lives with resolutions which rarely live out the first week, we should see the dawning of each new day as an opportunity to remember the brightness of Zion’s morning and the first coming of our Savior.
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