On Jordan's Stormy Banks I Stand

1  

On Jordan's stormy banks I stand,  

And cast a wishful eye  

To Canaan's fair and happy land,  

Where my possessions lie.  

2  

O'er all those wide extended plains  

Shines one eternal day;  

There God the Son forever reigns,  

And scatters night away.  

3  

No chilling winds or poisonous breath  

Can reach that healthful shore;  

Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,  

Are felt and feared no more.  

4  

When I shall reach that happy place,  

I'll be forever blest,  

For I shall see my Father's face,  

And in his bosom rest.  

Refrain:  

We will rest in the fair and happy land by and by  

Just across on the ever green shore  

Sing the song of Moses and the Lamb by and by  

And dwell with Jesus ever more.

  

Hymn lyrics: Samuel Stennett (1787)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rg4lvzAi0Uc&list=RDRg4lvzAi0Uc&start_radio=1

Revelation 15:2 And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. 3 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.    

 The hymn writer imagines himself in the place of Old Testament Israel, about to cross the Jordan River into the land God had promised Abraham, a land flowing with milk and honey. In many hymns and gospel songs the image of "crossing the Jordan" is symbolic for passing from this earthly life into the heavenly realm.    

 Joshua 3:14 And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; 15 And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,) 16 That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho. 17 And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan…    

Joshua 4:17 Joshua therefore commanded the priests, saying, Come ye up out of Jordan. 18 And it came to pass, when the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord were come up out of the midst of Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up unto the dry land, that the waters of Jordan returned unto their place, and flowed over all his banks, as they did before.    

 There are two versions of this song in my memory. One is the version we sang at the Watervliet Church of Christ -- the one cited above -- with the refrain "We will rest in the fair and happy land by and by". The other version is one we sang at Harding College, which had a somewhat more sedate tune and the refrain "I am bound for the promised land..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPAxha7VMkA&list=RDQPAxha7VMkA&start_radio=1