SAINTS' DAYS: ST. MATTHIAS
Note.—A higher setting of this tune will be found at Hymn 341.
ST. MATTHIAS
THE highest and the holiest place
Guards not the heart from sin;
The Church that safest seems without
May harbour foes within.
2 Thus in the small and chosen band,
Beloved above the rest,
One fell from his apostleship,
A traitor-soul unblest
3 But not the great designs of God
Man’s sins shall overthrow;
Another witness to the truth
Forth to the lands shall go
4 The soul that sinneth, it shall die;
Thy purpose shall not fail;
The word of grace no less shall sound,
The truth no less prevail.
5. Righteous, O Lord, are all thy ways;
Long as the worlds endure,
From foes without and foes within
Thy Church shall stand secure.
301