87 (2)Psalm 87 Version 28 7. 8 7. D
(based on Psalm 87 and Isaiah 33:20-21)
GLORIOUS things of thee are spoken,
   Zion, city of our God!
He Whose word cannot be broken,
    Formed thee for His own abode:
On the Rock of Ages founded,
    What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
    Thou mayest smile at all thy foes.
 
2  See! the stream of living waters,
    Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
    And all fear of want remove:
Who can faint while such a river
    Ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Grace, which, like the Lord, the giver,
    Never fails from age to age.
 
3  Round each habitation hovering,
    See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a covering,
    Showing that the Lord is near:
Blest inhabitants of Zion,
    Washed in the Redeemer’s blood,
Jesus, Whom their souls rely on,
    Makes them kings and priests to God.
 
4  Saviour, if of Zion’s city,
    I through grace a member am,
Let the world deride or pity,
    I will glory in Thy name:
Fading is the worldling’s pleasure,
    All his boasted pomp and show!
Solid joys and lasting treasure,
    None but Zion’s children know.
 
John Newton, 1725-1807