Home Above

Galatians 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.

The first hymn is found in The Sacred Harp. It appears with Home Above, a tune by J. L. Hinton, No. 441b in The Sacred Harp, 1870. This common meter text is unattributed.

Home Above
Oh for a light to guide my feet
In heav’n’s alluring way,
To that celestial bright retreat,
Where smiles can ne’er decay.
Eternal Father, Shine around
And spread thy silken love,
And flit all o’er this spacious mound,
To bring us home above.

This following hymn is credited to Elder Aaron Brooks Whatley in The Pilgrim’s Hymnal by W. H. Crouse in 1908. It has the same first line, but is not the same hymn as the one in The Sacred Harp.

Prayer and Praise
O for a light to guide my feet,
While in this world below;
And in my Saviour be complete,
His love and mercy know.

O may he guide me in his truth,
His grace to me impart;
His righteousness to me impute,
Dwell richly in my heart.

By faith I’ll mount on eagle’s wings,
And soar away on high;
My Saviour’s love and mercy sing,
With rapture till I die.

Then from this world I’ll take my flight,
To reign with Christ above;
And wear a robe of spotless white,
With the redeemed in love.