With Joy I Heard My Friends Exclaim

With joy I heard my friends ex­claim

Come

let us in God’s tem­ple meet;

Within thy gates

O Zi­on blest

Shall ev­er stand our will­ing feet.

How beau­ti­ful doth Zi­on stand

A ci­ty built com­pact and fair;

The peo­ple of the Lord unite

With joy and praise to wor­ship there.

They come to learn the will of God

To pay their vows

His grace to own;

For there is judg­ment’s roy­al seat

Messiah’s sure and last­ing throne.

For Zion’s peace let pray­er be made;

May all that love thee pros­per well;

Within thy walls let peace abide

And glad­ness with thy child­ren dwell.

For sake of friends and kin­dred dear

My heart’s de­sire is Zi­on’s peace;

And for the house of God

the Lord

My lov­ing care shall nev­er cease.