458

On him alone we build:

With his true saints alone

6.6.6.6.8.8

The courts of heaven are filled;
On his great love our hopes we place,
Of present grace and joys above.

2 O then with hymns of praise

These hallowed courts shall ring; Our voices we will raise

The Three in One to sing, And thus proclaim in joyful song, Both loud and long, that glorious Name.

3 Here, gracious God, do thou

For evermore draw nigh;
Accept each faithful vow,

And mark each suppliant sigh;
In copious shower on all who pray,
Each holy day thy blessings pour.

4 Here may we gain from heaven
The grace which we implore;
And may that grace, once given,
Be with us evermore;

Until that day when all the blest
To endless rest are called away. Amen.

Latin, 7th cent.; Tr. John Chandler, 1857

459

J

L.M.

ESUS! where'er thy people meet, There they behold thy mercy-seat; Where'er they seek thee, thou art found, And every place is hallowed ground.

2 And since within no walls confined,
Thou dwellest in the humble mind:
Let all within thy house who come,
Departing, take thee to their home.

3 Yet everywhere thou guid'st thine own
To raise for thee an earthly throne;
And where thy Name thou dost record,
There thou wilt come and bless them,
Lord!

4 Great Shepherd of thy chosen few,
Thy former mercies here renew;
And here to wayward hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving Name!

5 Here may we prove the might of prayer,
To strengthen faith and sweeten care:
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heaven before our eyes!

6 Here to the babe newborn on earth,
Grant thou the newer, better birth;
By water and the Holy Ghost
Restoring all that Adam lost.

7 Here to the weary, hungry soul,
Give thou the gift that maketh whole;
The bread that is Christ's Flesh, for food,
The wine that is the Saviour's Blood.

8 Lord, we are few, but thou art near;
Nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear;
O rend the heavens, come quickly down,
And make a thousand hearts thine own!
Amen.

William Cowper, 1769, alt.

460

A

L.M.

LL things are thine; no gift have we,
Lord of all gifts, to offer thee;
And hence with grateful hearts to-day
Thine own before thy feet we lay.

2 Thy will was in the builders' thought;
Thy hand unseen amidst us wrought;
Through mortal motive, scheme, and plan,
Thy wise eternal purpose ran.

3 In weakness and in want we call

On thee for whom the heavens are small;
Thy glory is thy children's good,
Thy joy thy tender Fatherhood.

4 O Father, deign these walls to bless;
Fill with thy love their emptiness;
And let their door a gateway be
To lead us from ourselves to thee.

Amen.

John G. Whittier, 1872

461

NGEL voices, ever singing
Round thy throne of light:

8.5.8.5.8.7

Angel harps, for ever ringing,
Rest not day nor night;
Thousands only live to bless thee,

And confess thee Lord of might.

2 Yea, we know that thou rejoicest
O'er each work of thine;

Thou didst ears and hands and voices
For thy praise combine;

Craftsman's art and music's measure
For thy pleasure didst design.

3 In thy house, great God, we offer
Of thine own to thee;

And for thine acceptance proffer,
All unworthily,

Hearts and minds, and hands and voices, In our choicest melody.

4 Honour, glory, might, and merit, Thine shall ever be!

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

Blessed Trinity!

Of the best that thou hast given,

Earth and heaven render thee. Amen.

Francis Pott, 1861, alt.

Also the following

202 Spirit divine, attend our prayers

464 The Church's one foundation

465 We love the place, O God 466 Rise, crowned with light

467 Pleasant are thy courts above

468 Glorious things of thee are spoken 508 Blessed city! heavenly Salem

462

THE BURIAL GROUND

Six 8's

THOU in whom thy saints repose, When life's brief conflict finds its close,

Behold us met before thy face

To hallow this their resting-place:

Safe are the souls whom thou dost keep; And safely here their dust shall sleep.

2 Thou knowest, Lord, for thou hast wept Beside the tomb where Lazarus slept, What tears must flow, what hearts must bleed,

When here we sow the precious seed:
Thou still rememberest, on thy throne,
Thy garden grave and sealed stone.

3 Bid then thy hosts encamp around
This chosen spot of holy ground:
Here let calm hope with memory dwell,
And faith of heavenly comfort tell:
No thought of ill, no footstep rude,
Profane the sacred solitude.

4 Here when thy mourners shall repair
In lonely grief and trembling prayer,
Lift thou sad hearts and streaming eyes
To those fair glades of Paradise,
Where safe within the guarded gate
Thy ransomed souls in patience wait.

5 And when the valley, thick with corn,
Shall laugh to see thy harvest-morn,
Here may the angel reapers find
Full many a sheaf for thee to bind,
And in thy golden garner store,
Our fruit of tears for evermore.

Amen.

John Ellerton, 1870

Also the following

166 The grave itself a garden is