Who is this who stands a sojourner
Hated by the world she sees
Longing here for her Beloved?
It is He she longs to please.
He is Christ the world’s Savior—
And His love will never cease
Evermore and evermore.
This the bride whom Christ has taken
Washing white each darkened spot.
Paying dear the price to wed her—
Though His love she never sought.
Paying out not gold or silver,
By His blood she has been bought
Evermore and evermore.
Great His joy when He shall greet her—
One so pure and full of grace.
Waiting now for the procession,
Just to see her radiant face.
From her sins His blood has cleansed her—
Gathered from the human race
Evermore and evermore.
Our gaze fixed on Christ our Savior,
We His bride for whom He waits,
His arms ever to embrace us,
Opened wide His heavenly gates
For that feast which has no ending
And this age will consummate
Evermore and evermore.
Suggested tune: DIVINUM MYSTERIUM (LSB 384)
Rev. Justin Whitmore serves as pastor of Saint John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church and White Creek Lutheran School in rural Columbus, Indiana, where he lives with his wife and nine children. Before being called to serve in Columbus, Pastor Whitmore served the dual parish of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Clarinda, Iowa, and Trinity Lutheran Church in Shenandoah, Iowa.
