The countless stars of heaven

1 The countless stars of heaven,
the sands beside the sea:
to Abraham God promised
'So shall your children be'.
The patriarch believed it,
for God could do no less;
that act of faith was counted
as perfect righteousness.

2 So they became his people
and he became their God;
his promise gave direction,
his presence lit their road.
Committed to his covenant,
marked by his chosen sign,
to cross unknown horizons
he walked the path divine.

3 Lord Jesus, we have heard you
affirming Abram's faith,
and found the life eternal
that follows from your death:
so all who humbly enter
the kingdom of your heaven
are children of the promise,
baptized, set right, forgiven.

4 O let the world believe it!
The promise is for all;
for us and for our children
the Lord our God will call:
and those marked out as holy,
saved by one Man alone,
are one in Christ for ever,
adopted as his own.

5 Praise God our first Beginning;
praise Christ, the firstborn Son;
praise Father, Saviour, Spirit,
all-glorious Three-in-One
creating from all nations
one new, beloved race:
the people of the covenant
to serve the God of grace.

CCL# 3241820