The Land Before Them, Where to Choose?

Representative Text

1 The land before them, where to choose—
They may not dwell at one—
Lay far and wide, on either side,
Beneath the morning sun.

2 Here homes of rest, like Eden dressed,
And there, beyond the skies,
The City stands not made with hands,
Nor seen with mortal eyes.

3 Who pitched his tent where sinners went,
Still keeps his spirit whole;
Nor eye nor ear lets that way near,
Defilement to the soul.

4 The Lord knows how the sainted brow
To fence with holy shame,
Sweet angel guest, unknown, but blest,
To pull us from the flame.

5 Straight to his noon, with staff and shoon,
The pilgrim climbs the hills;
And see the star of Christ afar,
Dim through the twilight’s chills.

6 There, like a pall, o’er field and wall,
The furnace hangs its breath;
And Jordan’s waves those cities’ graves
Heap with a sea of death.


Source: The Cyber Hymnal #10767

Author: Anonymous

In some hymnals, the editors noted that a hymn's author is unknown to them, and so this artificial "person" entry is used to reflect that fact. Obviously, the hymns attributed to "Author Unknown" "Unknown" or "Anonymous" could have been written by many people over a span of many centuries. Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: The land before them, where to choose
Title: The Land Before Them, Where to Choose?
Author: Anonymous
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Source: Occasional Hymns by Herbert Kynaston (London: R. Clay, Son & Taylor, 1862)
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

MARTYRDOM (Wilson)

MARTYRDOM was originally an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad "Helen of Kirkconnel." Hugh Wilson (b. Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, c. 1766; d. Duntocher, Scotland, 1824) adapted MARTYRDOM into a hymn tune in duple meter around 1800. A triple-meter version of the tune was fir…

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The Cyber Hymnal #10767
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The Cyber Hymnal #10767

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