Sun of righteousness

When rose that Sun of Righteousness
With rays so warm and true,
Greatly had we need of them,
As woe in each place grew;
The folk that long in darkness lay
From God and His just law,
As those in their self-righteousness
Looked down when grace they saw.

When rose that Sun, the heavenly host
Triumphant did rejoice
That part of them had come to tell,
With gladness in their voice,
To shepherds as they tended flocks,
That God's Sun's saving grace
Now shone on earth for every tribe,
And all the human race.

Beneath that Sun of Righteousness
God's warmth and peace will grow;
It drives away the spoiling frost
And makes the heart to glow;
It drives out sin and ignorance,
And all that would destroy;
It readies us for everything
Within the Land of Joy.

O God of mercy, look on me
In love my soul to fill;
With thine own Spirit poured on me,
Preserve me from each ill;
Reveal to me that glorious Sun
Which rose in Bethlehem's town;
And may those gracious sunlight beams
Shine ever on me down.

Words by John MacLean, Bard to The MacLean of Coll (1787-1849), translated by Kenneth MacKinnon © 1982, 1993.
Music (tune "Glen Bard") traditional, arranged by Paul McDowell © 1992.

Words and music may not be reproduced without permission from the copyright owner.