WHAT lies beyond that canopy of blue,
Where hang those restless, ever-changing clouds?
What wondrous visions there are hid from view,
As when earth’s scenes are veiled by misty shrouds?
Somewhere up there is my eternal home,
Where joy and peace for evermore shall reign;
And though awhile o’er earth’s dark waste I roam,
That mansion fair I yet shall surely gain.
Here sin and pain and sorrow compass me,
And tend to cast me down in sad despair;
Up there no pain nor sorrow e’er shall be,
Nor sin shall mar that glorious world so fair.
Up there are loved ones in eternal rest—
Their earthly toil and suffering past for aye;
They stand in Christ’s own glorious beauty dressed,
And praise the Lamb through everlasting day.
Somewhere up there is God’s eternal throne,
Where my Redeemer intercedes for me;
Up there the merits of His blood are shown—
That blood which from my sins has set me free.
Up there He tarries till He comes again
To catch His watching saints from earth away,
And bring His sleeping ones from death’s dark reign
To realms of bliss and everlasting day.
Up there we’ll sing, with loud and glad accord,
The praise of Him Who washed us in His blood;
Up there we’ll cry, “Thou, Thou art worthy, Lord,
Who past redeemed our souls from sin to God.”
J. C. J.