DOCTRINES >> ETERNAL LIFE
SDAH 434
We speak of the realms of the blest,
That country so bright and so fair,
And oft are its glories confessed-
But what must it be to be there!
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For Worship Leaders
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Hymn Spotlight: We Speak of the Realms
Elizabeth Mills wrote this hymn with heaven in her heart—just three weeks before she herself went to rest in Christ. Inspired by the thought, “We speak of heaven, but oh, to be there!” she invites us to imagine the beauty, joy, and worship of the New Jerusalem. Every line points us to our true home, where faith becomes sight and the sweetest songs on earth will be surpassed by the praise of eternity.
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Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Elizabeth Mills was reading a commentary by Bridges on Psalm 119:44: “So shall I keep thy law continually for ever.” Bridges had made the note, “We speak of heaven, but oh, to be there!” These words gave her the inspiration to write this hymn on the glories of the New Jerusalem. Originally there were six stanzas of four lines each, but in Stevenson’s Hymns for Children, 1877, he includes only five; he gives the fifth, omitted in SDAH, in a footnote, which also tells of the origin of the hymn. This stanza is:
We speak of its anthems of praise,
With which we can never compare
The sweetest on earth we can raise –
But what must it be to be there?
Elizabeth Mills, née King, was born in Stoke Newington, north London, in 1805. She died in Finsbury Place, London, on April 21, 1829, only three weeks after writing the hymn, giving particular poignancy to lines three and four of the fourth stanza.
CONTRAST is attributed to Lewis Edson (1784-1820) and is so named because it was used for a hymn by John Newton that had several contrasts in its text. It is an early American melody for a secular Ye Green Fields and Sweet Groves” of about the year 1772. It appeared later entitled “Farewell, song in several shaped-note tune books. Edson, a blacksmith of Massachusetts and Connecticut, conducted singing schools, and was himself a well-known singer.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
We speak of the realms of the blest,
That country so bright and so fair,
And oft are its glories confessed-
But what must it be to be there!
We speak of its pathway of gold-
Its walls decked with jewels so rare,
Its wonders and pleasures untold-
But what must it be to be there!
2
We speak of its freedom of sin,
From sorrow, temptation and care,
From trials without and within—
But what must it be to be there!
We speak of its service of love,
Of the robes which the glorified wear,
Of the church of the Firstborn above-
But what must it be to be there!
3
Our mourning is all at an end,
When, raised by the lifegiving word,
We see the new city descend,
Adorned as a bride for her Lord;
The city so holy and clean,
No sorrow can breathe in the air;
No gloom of affliction or sin,
No shadow of evil, is there.
4
Do Thou, midst temptation and woe,
For heaven my spirit prepare;
And shortly I also shall know
And feel what it is to be there.
Then o’er the bright fields we shall roam,
In glory celestial and fair,
With saints and with angels at home,
And Jesus Himself will be there.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) Rev 21:21, 19 (b) Rev 21:4, 19:8; Heb 12:23 (c) Rev 21:2
Author
Elizabeth Mills (1805-1829)
Hymn Tune
CONTRAST
Metrical Number
L.M.D.
Composer
Lewis Edson (1784-1820)
Tune Source
Early American Melody
