O GOD, unseen yet ever near,
Thy presence may we feel,
And, thus inspired with holy fear,
Before Thine altar kneel.
Here may Thy faithful people know
The blessings of Thy love,
The streams that through the desert flow, The manna from above.
We come, obedient to Thy word,
To feast on heavenly food;
Our meat, the body of the Lord,
Our drink, His precious blood.
Thus would we all Thy word obey,
For we, O God, are Thine,
And go rejoicing on our way,
Renewed with strength divine.
BREAD of the world, in mercy broken,
Wine of the soul, in mercy shed;
By whom the words of life were spoken,
And in whose death our sins are dead;
Look on the heart by sorrow broken,
Look on the tears by sinners shed;
And be Thy feast to us the token
That by Thy grace our souls are fed.
MY God, and is Thy table spread,
And doth Thy cup with love o'erflow?
Thither be all Thy children led,
And let them all Thy sweetness know.
Hail, sacred feast, which Jesus makes,
Rich banquet of His flesh and blood!
Thrice happy he who here partakes
That sacred stream, that heavenly food.
Why are its dainties all in vain
Before unwilling hearts displayed?
Was not for us the Victim slain ?
Are we forbid the children's bread?
O let Thy table honoured be
And furnished well with joyful guests;
And may each soul salvation see,
That here its sacred pledges tastes.
Let crowds approach, with hearts prepared,
With hearts inflamed let all attend;
Nor, when we leave our Father's board,
The pleasure or the profit end.
Revive Thy dying churches, Lord,
And bid our drooping graces live;
And more that energy afford,
A Saviour's blood alone can give.
PHILIP DODDRIDGE, d. 1751.
FORGIVE, O Lord, our wanderings past;
Henceforth we would obey Thy call;
Our sins far from us may we cast,
And turn to Thee devoutly all:
Then with archangels we shall sing
High praise to heaven's eternal King.
Hear us, O Lord, in mercy hear;
With sorrow we our guilt deplore;
Pity our grief, and calm our fear,
And give us grace to sin no more:
Then with archangels we shall sing
High praise to heaven's eternal King.
While at Thy table, Lord, we kneel,
And of Thy holy rite partake,
Our pardon there vouchsafe to seal,
For Jesus our Redeemer's sake:
Then with archangels we shall sing
High praise to heaven's eternal King.
ANON. (Foundling Collection), circ. 1796, varied by J. KEMPTHORNE, 1810.
BREAD of heaven, on Thee we feed,
For Thy flesh is meat indeed:
Ever may our souls be fed
With this true and living bread;
Day by day with strength supplied,
Through the life of Him who died.
Vine of heaven, Thy blood supplies
This blest cup of sacrifice;
Lord, Thy wounds our healing give;
To Thy cross we look and live.
Jesu, may we ever be
Grafted, rooted, built in Thee.
Varied from JOSIAH CONDER, 1824.
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