Lyrics
How sweet and awful is the place
With Christ within the doors,
While everlasting love displays
The choicest of her stores!
Here every kindness of our God
With soft compassion rolls;
Here peace and pardon
Bought with blood
Is food for dying souls.
While all our hearts and
All our songs
Join to admire the feast,
Each of us cry,
With thankful tongues,
"Lord, why was I a guest?
"Why was I made to
Hear Thy voice,
And enter while there's room,
When thousands make
A wretched choice,
And rather starve than come?"
'Twas the same love
That spread the feast
That sweetly drew us in;
Else we had still
Refused to taste,
And perished in our sin.
Pity the nations,
O our God!
Constrain the earth to come;
Send Thy victorious
Word abroad,
And bring the strangers home.
We long to see
Thy churches full,
That all the chosen race
May with one voice,
And heart and soul,
Sing Thy redeeming grace.
Song History & Meaning
Composer / Hymnodist: Isaac Watts
To step into the presence of Christ is to experience a wondrous mix of sacred awe and profound sweetness. At His table, we are met not with judgment, but with a feast of gentle compassion and undeserved mercy—all secured through His precious blood. As we draw near, our weary hearts are reminded that we are fully known and deeply loved. May this song draw you into reverent worship, inviting you to rest in the peace and pardon Jesus freely offers today.
📖 Related Scripture Passages:
- Psalm 16:11: “You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.”
- Romans 5:8: “But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Hebrews 9:22: “According to the law, nearly everything is cleansed with blood, and apart from shedding of blood there is no remission.”