JESUS CHRIST >> SECOND ADVENT
SDAH 212
‘Tis almost time for the Lord to come,
I hear the people say;
The stars of heaven are growing dim,
It must be the breaking of the day.
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For Worship Leaders
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Hymn Spotlight: ’Tis Almost Time for the Lord to Come
With a sense of urgency and longing, this hymn by G. W. Sederquist reminds us that earth’s night is almost over and the dawn of Christ’s return is near. Drawing from Genesis 32:24, it paints a picture of wrestling through the night until the breaking of eternal day. The simple, chord-based tune emphasizes the message: Jesus is coming—soon. May this hymn stir us to readiness and faith as we await the coming of our Lord.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Both words and music were written by G. W. Sederquist, who flourished around 1902 and about whom nothing is known. He has taken a phrase, “the breaking of the day,” from Jacob’s experience at Peniel when he wrestled with the angel: “There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day” (Gen. 32:24). This dawn of the day is used metaphorically in the hymn to apply to the end of earth’s long night of sin, which will break into the glorious dawn of the second advent of Christ.
The tune and harmony are based mainly on the three chords of tonic, dominant, and subdominant, in an unusual meter in order to fit the words.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Stanza:
2 – Luke 21:25
3 – Matthew 25:7
4 – Luke 14:21
R – Genesis 32:24
Text
1
’‘Tis almost time for the Lord to come,
I hear the people say;
The stars of heaven are growing dim,
It must be the breaking of the day.
Refrain
O it must be the breaking of the day!
O it must be the breaking of the day!
The night is almost gone,
The day is coming on;
O it must be the breaking of the day!
2
The signs foretold in the sun and moon,
In earth and sea and sky,
Aloud proclaim to all mankind,
The coming of the Master draweth nigh.
3
It must be time for the waiting church
To cast her pride away,
With girded loins and burning lamps,
To look for the breaking of the day.
4
Go quickly out in the streets and lanes
And in the broad highway,
And call the maimed, the halt, and blind,
To be ready for the breaking of the day.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(b) Luke 21:25 (c) Matt 25:7 (d) Luke 14:21 (r) Gen 32:24
Author
G.W. Sederquist
Year Published
c. 1902
Metrical Number
9.6.8.9.Ref.
Composer
G.W. Sederquist
Recommended Reading
George Washington Sederquist was born in Lower Granville, Nova Scotia on September 10, 1838. He was baptised into the Baptist faith when he was 25 years old, and was a member of this church for a few years.
At 33 years old, Sederquist moved to the United States and set up his home in Lynn, Massachusetts. It was here that he heard about the messages of premillenialism. Finally in 1902, he accepted the Adventist faith, that is the Sunday-keeping Adventism.
