The Church Has Waited Long (feat. Katie Sexton)

from Centerpiece Volume II: Shelter and Shade by Stephen McNeill

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lyrics

The Church has waited long
Her absent Lord to see;
And still in loneliness she waits,
A friendless stranger she.

Age after age has gone,
Sun after sun has set,
And still, in weeds of widowhood,
She weeps, a mourner yet.

Saint after saint on earth
Has lived, and loved, and died;
And as they left us one by one,
We laid them side by side.

We laid them down to sleep,
But not in hope forlorn—
We laid them but to ripen there
Until that glorious morn.

The serpent’s brood increase,
The powers of hell grow bold,
The conflict thickens, faith is low,
And love is waxing cold.

How long, O Lord our God,
Holy and true and good,
Wilt Thou not judge Thy suffering church,
Her sighs and tears and blood?
We long to hear Thy voice,
To see Thee face to face,
To share Thy crown and glory then,
As now we share Thy grace

Should not the loving bride
The absent Bridegroom mourn?
Should she not wear the weeds of grief
Until her Lord return?

Come, Lord, and wipe away
The curse, the sin, the stain,
And make this blighted world of ours
Thine own fair world again.

credits

from Centerpiece Volume II: Shelter and Shade, released November 29, 2019
“The Church Has Waited Long”
Words by Horatius Bonar
Music by Stephen McNeill

Katie Sexton and S.M.- lead and harmony vocals