Proclaimer Blog
Asleep in Jesus
Getting to the end of my first draft for a short book on sleep, and so it's time to write the conclusion. I've been doing that this morning and saving up this Victorian gem. A bit sentimental you might think, but actually it describes the reality of final sleep very well indeed. Margaret MacKay (the authoress) was lived from 1802-1887.
Asleep in Jesus! blessed sleep!
From which none ever wakes to weep;
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the last of foes.
Asleep in Jesus! Oh, how sweet
To be for such a slumber meet;
With holy confidence to sing
That death has lost its painful sting!
Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest!
Whose waking is supremely blest;
No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour
That manifests the Saviour's power.
Asleep in Jesus! Oh, for me
May such a blissful refuge be;
Securely shall my ashes lie,
Waiting the summons from on high.
Asleep in Jesus! Though far it seems
Your kindred and their graves may be;
But there is still a blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep.[i]
[i] A hymn by English hymnwriter Margaret MacKay. It appeared first in The Christian's Annual published in 1832 and can be found in many Victorian hymnbooks.