Lord of the living harvest
That whitens o’er the plain,
Where angels soon shall gather
Their sheaves of golden grain,
Accept these hands to labor,
These hearts to trust and love,
And deign with them to hasten
Thy kingdom from above.
As laborers in Thy vineyard,
Lord, send them out to be
Content to bear the burden
Of weary days for Thee.
To ask no other wages
When Thou shalt call them home
But to have shared the travail
Which makes Thy kingdom come.
Be with them, God the Father;
Be with them, God the Son;
And God the Holy Spirit,
Most Blessed Three in One.
Make them Thy faithful servants
Thee rightly to adore
And fill them with Thy fullness
Both now and evermore.
About the writer: John Samuel Bewley Monsell, a clergyman in the Church of England, was born in Londonderry, Ireland in 1811. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin. He took holy orders in 1834 and served in several offices of the Church of England. His death in 1875 was caused by his falling from the roof of his church, which was at the time under construction. He wrote a large number of hymns, some 300 in all being published in the six different volumes which he issued between 1837 and 1873.
Key Verse: These were his instructions to them: “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few. Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields. –Luke 10:2