We Would Be Building
- Words:
- Purd E. Deitz
- Music:
- Jean Sibelius
Sheet music
- 1We would be building; temples still undoneO’er crumbling walls their crosses scarcely lift,Waiting till love can raise the broken stone,And hearts creative bridge the human rift;We would be building;Master, let Thy planReveal the life thatGod would give to man.
- 2Teach us to build; upon the solid rockWe set the dream that hardens into deed,Ribbed with the steel that time and change doth mock,Th’unfailing purpose of our noblest creed;Teach us to build;O Master, lend us sightTo see the towers gleaming in the light.
- 3O keep us building,Master; may our handsNe’er falter when the dream is in our hearts,When to our ears there come divine commandsAnd all the pride of sinful will departs;We build with Thee;O grant enduring worthUntil the heav’enlyKingdom comes on earth.Amen.
In the hymnals
- Written in 1935, the words are in 36 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The sheet music and words are from PDHymns.com. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.