Jesus, our Savior, with God in the highest residing, And by the Spirit the wants of Thy people providing, Be Thou our life, Shield and defender in strife, Always among us abiding. Then shall Thy people as Lord of the nations restore Thee, Even by us shall a pathway be straightened before Thee Till everywhere, Bending in worship and prayer, All shall as Savior adore Thee. The kingdom of God is the most wonderful thing on earth. Most wonderful of all things is The kingdom Jesus founded. Its glory, treasure, peace and bliss No tongue has fully sounded. Invisible as mind and soul, And yet of light the fountain, It sheds its light from pole to pole Like beacons from a mountain. Its secret is the word of God, Which works what it proposes, Which lowers mountains high and broad And clothes the wastes with roses. Though foes against the kingdom rage With hatred and derision, God spreads its reign from age to age, And brings it to fruition. Its glory rises like a morn When waves at sunrise glitter, Or as in June the golden corn While birds above it twitter. It is the glory of the King Who bore affliction solely That he the crown of life might bring To sinners poor and lowly. And when His advent comes to pass, The Christian's strife is ended, What now we see as in a glass Shall then be comprehended. Then shall the kingdom bright appear In glory true and vernal, And usher in the golden year Of peace and joy eternal. But the kingdom of God here on earth is represented by the Christian church, wherein Christ works by the Spirit through His word and sacraments. Of Grundtvig's many splendid hymns of the church, the following, in the translation of Pastor Carl Doving, has become widely known in all branches of the Lutheran church in America. Pastor Doving's translation is not wholly satisfactory, however, to those who know the forceful and yet so appealing language of the original, a fate which, we are fully aware, may also befall the following new version. Built on a rock the church of God Stands though its towers be falling; Many have crumbled beneath the sod, Bells still are chiming and calling, Calling the young and old to come, But above all the souls that roam, Weary for rest everlasting. God, the most high, abides not in Temples that hands have erected. High above earthly strife and sin, He hath his mansions perfected. Yet He, whom heavens cannot contain, Chose to abide on earth with man Making their body His temple. We are God's house of living stones, Built for the Spirit's indwelling. He at His font and table owns Us for His glory excelling. Should only two confess His name, He would yet come and dwell with them, Granting His mercy abounding.