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(8.7.8.7 D., Iambic.)

Written by the Bishop of Wakefield and set to music by Arthur Sullivan (by Request), this hymn was "ordered to be sung in all Chapels and Churches in England and Wales and in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed upon Sunday the twentieth day of June 1897" to mark the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria.

1 O King of Kings, Whose reign of old 2 For every heart made glad by Thee,
    Hath been from everlasting,     With thankful praise is swelling;
  Before Whose throne their crowns of gold   And every tongue with joy set free,
    The white-rob’d saints are casting;     Its happy theme is telling.
  While all the shining courts on high   Thou hast been mindful of Thine own,
    With Angel songs are ringing,     And lo! we come confessing —
  Oh let Thy children venture nigh,   ’Tis Thou hast dower’d our queenly throne
    Their lowly homage bringing.     With sixty years of blessing.
           
3 Oh Royal heart, with wide embrace 4 Lead on, O Lord, Thy people still,
    For all her children yearning!     New grace and wisdom giving,
  Oh happy realm, such mother-grace   To larger love, and purer will,
    With loyal love returning!     And nobler heights of living.
  Where England’s flag flies wide unfurl’d,   And, while of all Thy love below
    All tyrant wrongs repelling;     They chant the gracious story,
  God make the world a better world   Oh teach them first Thy Christ to know,
    For man’s brief earthly dwelling!     And magnify His glory.
           
          William Walsham How, 1823-97 .

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