Hymn
Sometimes a light surprises
Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings;
It is the Lord who rises
With healing in His wings.
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain.
In holy contemplation
We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God's salvation,
And find it ever new:
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
Even let the unknown to-morrow
Bring with it what it may,
It can bring with it nothing.
But He will bear us through;
Who gives the lilies clothing
Will clothe His people too:
Beneath the spreading heavens,
No creature but is fed;
And He who feeds the ravens,
Will give His children bread.
Though vine nor fig-tree neither
Their wonted fruit shall bear.
Though all the field should wither,
Nor flocks nor herds be there;
Yet, God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For while in Him confiding,
I cannot but rejoice.
Sometimes a light surprises — Text from Methodist Hymn and Tune Book, 1917. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/sometimes-a-light-surprises
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Questions about this hymn
Who wrote Sometimes a light surprises?
The words of Sometimes a light surprises were written by William Cowper; the version here was published in 1917. The library holds 16 more hymns by William Cowper, including Exhortation to Prayer and The Bible, the light of the world.
Is Sometimes a light surprises public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from Methodist Hymn and Tune Book, published in 1917. Works published before 1931 are out of copyright in the United States, so you can print, project, perform and record this hymn freely. How we source and check every hymn.
What is the metre of Sometimes a light surprises?
Sometimes a light surprises is in 7.6.7.6. Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, O Happy Band of Pilgrims, O that the Lord's salvation and The Voice that Breathed Over Eden.