When long ago of old, The Prophets spake, it was foretold That one would come in high degree, To set the captive free And from a bondage set at nought The evil that seduced our thought To win for us a loftier life, And save us from all toil and strife, One came, but oh! in humble state, The Giver of all, He would not take Upon Himself the Royal Decree Of a king of might and majesty. Then lowly from this humble shed Forth the Almighty King of kings was led As a little child in human form, Bearing the mark of lowly born, Shadowed by a crown of thorns. Anguish, shame and loss Wag His to bear upon the cross! Bereft of all He loved so well. No place, He knew not where to dwell, Nor where to lay His Sacred Head, From tempest fierce or foes oppressed; Scorned and rejected by a race Who knew not the love of a Saviour's grace. Oh! the suffering that was His to bear! Was ever man laden with sc great a share; Was ever a heart so crushed with woe, As the Man of sorrows who loved us so? Come let us look up to that Blessed One Who fought the victory and has won; Triumphant in the skies, He waits to fulfill The last command of His Father's will. Shall the Judge of all the earth then say: Vengeance is mine, I shall repay. Not so, oh Lord! Thy will be done, On earth, in Heaven, since the world begun.
