How Sweet and Awesome is the Place Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

ST. COLUMBA (C.M.) Old Irish Hymn Melody

How sweet and awe-some is the place
   With Christ with-in the doors,
While ev-er-last-ing love dis-plays
   The choic-est of her stores.

Here ev-ery bow-el of our God
   With soft com-pas-sion rolls;
Here peace and par-don bought with blood
   Is food for dy-ing souls.

While all our hearts and all our songs
   Join to ad-mire the feast,
Each of us cries, with thank-ful tongue,
   "Lord, why was I a guest?'

Why was I made to hear Thy voice,
   And en-ter while there's room,
When thou-sands make a wretch-ed choice,
   And ra-ther starve than come?

'Twas the same love that spread the feast
   That sweet-ly forced us in;
Else we had still re-fused to taste,
   And per-ished in our sin.

Pit-y the na-tions, O our God,
   Con-strain the earth to come;
Send Thy vic-tor-ious Word a-broad,
   And bring the strang-ers home.

We long to see Thy chur-ches full,
   That all the cho-sen race
May, with one voice and heart and soul,
   Sing Thy re-deem-ing grace.