Skip to content

A copy of Advent Hymnals. Open this page on adventhymnals.org →

Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 11

Jesus, we look to thee

Music: George F. HandelTune: St. ThomasS.M.

Studio

1Jesus, we look to thee,
Thy promised presence claim;
Thou in the midst of us shalt be,
Assembled in thy name.

2Thy name salvation is,
Which here we come to prove;
Thy name is life, and health, and peace,
And everlasting love.

3Not in the name of pride
Or selfishness we meet;
From nature's paths we turn aside,
And worldly thoughts forget.

4We meet the grace to take
Which thou hast freely given;
We meet on earth for thy dear sake,
That we may meet in heaven.

Meter
S.M.

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
6.6.8.6 · as printed
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 70% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABAC

Could also be sung to Laudes Domini, Boylston, Dennis, Dove, Radea · same meter and stresses; not printed with these words, so try it first.

Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary · * a word sung short, as “heav’n”

Verse 1

Jesus, we look to thee,/˘˘/˘/6A
Thy promised presence claim;//˘/˘/6B
Thou in the midst of us shalt be,/˘˘/˘˘/˘8A
Assembled in thy name.˘/˘˘//6B

Verse 2

Thy name salvation is,//˘/˘˘6A
Which here we come to prove;˘/˘/˘/6B
Thy name is life, and health, and peace,//˘/˘/˘/8C
And everlasting love.˘/˘/˘/6D

Verse 3

Not in the name of pride˘˘˘/˘/6A
Or selfishness we meet;˘/˘˘˘/6B
From nature's paths we turn aside,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
And worldly thoughts forget.˘/˘/˘/6C

Verse 4

We meet the grace to take˘/˘/˘/6A
Which thou hast freely given;˘///˘/6B*
We meet on earth for thy dear sake,˘/˘/˘///8A
That we may meet in heaven.˘˘˘/˘/6C*

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.