Rejoice for a brother deceased;
Our loss is his infinite gain;
A soul out of prison released,
And freed from its bodily chain;
With songs let us follow his flight,
And mount with his spirit above,
Escaped to the mansions of light,
And lodged in the Eden of love.Our brother the haven hath gained,
Out-flying the tempest and wind;
His rest he hath sooner obtained,
And left his companions behind,
Still tossed on a sea of distress,
Hard toiling to make the blest shore,
When all is assurance and peace,
And sorrow and sin are no more.There all the ship’s company meet,
Thomas Kelly
Who sailed with the Saviour beneath,
With shouting each other they greet,
And triumph o’er trouble and death:
The voyage of life’s at an end,
The mortal affliction is past;
The age that in heaven they spend,
Forever and ever shall last.
This hymn is from J. C. Ryle’s little book Spiritual Songs, published in 1849, when he was rector of Helmingham, Suffolk. The hymns Ryle selected were not found in the most common hymnbooks of the day.
Suggested tune: David.
Download a .pdf file of the hymnal.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Philippians 1:21
