Hymn
The Memorial of Our Absent Lord
Jesus is gone above the skies,
Where our weak senses reach him not;
And carnal objects court our eyes,
To thrust our Saviour from our thought.
He knows what wandering hearts we have,
Apt to forget his lovely face;
And, to refresh our minds, he gave
These kind memorials of his grace.
Let sinful sweets be all forgot,
And earth grow less in our esteem;
Christ and his love fill every thought;
And faith and hope be fixed on him.
While he is absent from our sight,
'Tis to prepare our souls a place,
That we may dwell in heavenly light,
And live for ever near his face.
The Memorial of Our Absent Lord — Text from Laudes Domini, 1888. Public domain. https://yeshuanow.com/hymns/the-memorial-of-our-absent-lord
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Questions about this hymn
Who wrote The Memorial of Our Absent Lord?
The words of The Memorial of Our Absent Lord were written by Isaac Watts; the version here was published in 1888. The library holds 248 more hymns by Isaac Watts, including Join All the Glorious Names and The Wisdom of God in His Works.
Is The Memorial of Our Absent Lord public domain?
Yes. The words here are taken from Laudes Domini, published in 1888. 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 The Memorial of Our Absent Lord?
The Memorial of Our Absent Lord is in Long Metre (8.8.8.8). Hymns in the same metre can usually be sung to the same tunes — for example, The Gospel is the Power of God to Salvation, Awake, My Tongue and Life, the Day of Grace.