This is one of my favorite songs about the Savior. We sang it at Ricks for the Christmas concert my first year up there. It is just so beautiful. The Lord invites us to come and take of the waters of life freely. We just need to come and partake. Every time I hear it, I end up with tears rolling down my cheeks.
The lyrics come from Revelations:
THE REVELATION
OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE
CHAPTER 22
The saints shall reign in celestial splendor—Christ shall come and men shall be judged—Blessed are they who do his commandments.OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE
CHAPTER 22
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him:
4 And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads.
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done.
7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.
8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
4 comments:
I'm glad you included the text - I haven't read it for years. It is a great song. Thanks for sharing.
This is the final chorus of Robert Cundick's work, The Redeemer, which was commissioned for BYU while I was a member of the Oratorio Choir. I was priveledged to participate in the premier performance in the De Jong Concert Hall, under the direction of Ralph Woodward. It was a very spritual experience.
During the postlude, the choir knelt on the risers facing the person who had sung the role of the Savior. We all had tears streaming down our faces. It felt as if we were actually kneeling at the Savior's feet. What happened next was not rehearsed. At the conclusion of the postlude, we could not move--it was at least fifteen minutes before, a few at a time, the choir left the stage.
Following is a link to an article by Robert Cundick's son which gives insight into how this masterpiece came to be. Creation of a Masterpiece
Thank you, Tamara, for sharing your love for this great music and your testimony of the Savior.
Wow, Dad. Thanks for sharing your experience. That must have been such an amazing experience to get to sing the whole work. How beautiful.
I enjoyed the article by Robert Cundick's son. Thanks for the link and thanks for sharing your love of the Savior in both word and action. Your reverence speaks aloud.
Mom, did you see Sister Gunnerson? Were you sure to only point her out twice? he he he. (I'm always so excited when I see her. I know someone famous and she's one of my mom's best friends!)
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