Lead into my heart that river,
Which with grace redeeming cleanses
Heart and soul of all offences,
Blotting out my guilt and shame.
Lord, Thy life for sinners giving,
Let in Thee me find my living
So for Thee my heart is beating,
All my thoughts in Thee are meeting,
Finding there their light and joy.
Though all earthly things I cherish
Like the flowers may fade and perish,
Thou, I know, wilt stand beside me;
And from death and judgment hide me;
Thou hast paid the wage of sin.
Yes, my heart believes the wonder
Of Thy cross, which ages ponder!
Shield me, Lord, when foes assail me,
Be my staff when life shall fail me;
Take me to Thy Paradise.
Grundtvig’s Easter hymns strike the triumphant note, especially such hymns as
“Christ Arose in Glory”, “Easter Morrow Stills Our Sorrow”, and the very popular,
Move the signs of gloom and mourning[10]
From the garden of the dead.
For the wreaths of grief and yearning,
Plant bright lilies in their stead.
Carve instead of sighs of grief
Angels’ wings in bold relief,
And for columns, cold and broken,
Words of hope by Jesus spoken.
His Easter hymns fail as a whole to reach the height of his songs for other church festivals. In this respect, they resemble the hymnody of the whole church, which contains remarkably few really great hymns on the greatest events in its history.
It is as though the theme were too great to be expressed in the language of man.
Grundtvig wrote a number of magnificent hymns on the themes of our Lord’s ascension and His return to judge the quick and the dead. Of the latter, the hymn given below is perhaps the most favored of those now available in English.
Lift up thy head, O Christendom!
Behold above the blessed home
For which thy heart is yearning.
There dwells the Lord, thy soul’s delight,
Who soon with power and glory bright
Is for His bride returning.
And when in every land and clime,
All shall behold His signs sublime,
