To Thee, O Lord Our Hearts We Raise

 

"And you shall keep the Feast of Harvest (Pentecost), acknowledging the
firstfruits of your toil, of what you sow in the field. And third you shall 
keep the Feast of Ingathering (Booths or Tabernacles) at the end of
the year, when you gather in the fruit of your labors from the field."
(Exodus 23:16)

Harvesters

(1905)

Anna Ancher

(1859-1935)

Danish artist

To Thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise

In hymns of adoration,

To Thee bring sacrifice of praise

With shouts of exultation.

Bright robes of gold the fields adorn,

The hills with joy are ringing,

The valleys stand so thick with corn

That even they are singing.

And now, on this our festal day,

Thy bounteous hand confessing,

Upon Thine altar, Lord, we lay

The firstfruits of Thy blessing.

By Thee all human souls are led

With gifts of grace supernal;

Thou, who gives us our daily bread,

Give us the bread eternal.

We bear the burden of the day,

And often toil seems dreary;

But labor ends with sunset ray,

And rest comes for the weary.

May we, the angel reaping o'er,

Stand at last accepted,

Christ's golden sheaves, forevermore

To garners bright elected.

O blessed is that land of God

Where saints abide forever,

Where golden fields spread fair and broad,

Where flows the crystal river.

The strains of all its holy throng

With ours today are blending;

Twice blessed is that harvest song

Which never hath an ending.

"To Thee, O Lord Our Hearts We Raise"
(1861)
William Chatterton Dix
(1837-1898)
English writer of hymns and Christmas carols
including "What Child Is This?"