2 Oh that our thoughts and thanks may rise,
As grateful incense to the skies!
And draw from heaven that calm repose
Which none but he who feels it knows.
3 In holy duties let the day,
In holy pleasures, pass away;
How sweet a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of one that ne'er shall end!
HINE earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love,
But there's a nobler rest above;
To that our longing souls aspire,
With cheerful hope and strong desire.
2 No more fatigue, no more distress,
Nor sin nor death shall reach the place;
No groans shall mingle with the songs
Which warble from immortal tongues.
3 No rude alarms of raging foes;
No cares to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no clouded sun;
But sacred, high, eternal noon!
4 O long-expected day, begin!
Dawn on these realms of woe and sin;
Fain would we leave this weary road,
And sleep in death, to rest with God.
E Ihaste to seek thy face:
ARLY, my God, without delay,
My thirsty spirit faints away,
Without thy cheering grace.
2 So pilgrims on the scorching sand,
Beneath a burning sky,
Long for a cooling stream at hand,
And they must drink or die.
3 Not life itself, with all its joys,
Can my best passions move,
Or raise so high my cheerful voice,
As thy forgiving love.
4 Thus, till my last expiring day,
I'll bless my God and King;
Thus will I lift my hands to pray,
And tune my lips to sing.
THOU, who art enrobed with light,
How pure the soul must be,
When, placed within thy searching sight,
It shrinks not, but with calm delight
Can live and look on thee!
2 Lord, how can I, whose native sphere
Is dark, whose mind is dim,
Before thy radiant light appear,
And on my naked spirit bear
Thine uncreated beam?
3 Is there a way for man to rise
To that sublime abode?
Thine off'ring and thy sacrifice,
Thy pains, and groans, and tears, and cries,
Thy death, O Lamb of God !---
4 These, these prepare us for the sight
Of Majesty above;
The sons of ignorance and night
Can dwell in the eternal Light,
Through the eternal Love.
REQUENT the day of God returns
To shed its quickening beams;
And yet, how slow devotion burns!
How languid are its flames!
2 Accept our faint attempts to love;
Our follies, Lord, forgive:
We would be like thy saints above,
And praise thee while we live.
3 Increase, O Lord, our faith and hope,
And fit us to ascend
Where the assembly ne'er breaks up,
And Sabbaths never end;—
4 Where we shall breathe in heavenly air,
With heavenly lustre shine;
Before the throne of God appear,
And feast on love divine.
To thy temple I repair;
Lord, I love to worship there,
When within the vail I meet
Thee before the mercy seat.
2 While thy glorious praise is sung,
Touch my lips, unloose my tongue;
That my joyful soul may bless
Thee, the Lord, our righteousness.
3 While the prayers of saints ascend,
God of love! to mine attend:
Hear me, for thy Spirit pleads;
Hear, for Jesus intercedes.
4 From thine house when I return,
May my heart within me burn;
And at evening let me say,
"I have walked with God to-day."
LORD! We come before thee now;
At thy feet we humbly bow;
Oh! do not our suit disdain ;-
Shall we seek thee, Lord, in vain?
2 Lord! on thee our souls depend,
In compassion, now descend:
Fill our hearts with thy rich grace;
Tune our lips to sing thy praise.
3 Send some message from thy word,
That may joy and peace afford;
Let thy Spirit now impart
Full salvation to each heart.
"The peace of God." Phil. 4: 7.
OFTLY fades the twilight ray
Of the holy Sabbath day:
Gently as life's setting sun,
When the Christian's course is run.
2 Peace is on the world abroad;
'Tis the holy peace of God;
Symbol of the peace within,
When the spirit rests from sin.
3 Still the Spirit lingers near
Where the evening worshiper
Seeks communion with the skies,
Pressing onward to the prize.
4 Saviour, may our Sabbaths be
Days of peace and joy in thee!
Till in heaven our souls repose,
Where the Sabbath ne'er shall close.
"The night cometh."
OFTLY now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away:
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord! I would commune with thee.
2 Soon for me the light of day
Shall forever pass away;
Then, from sin and sorrow free,
Take, me, Lord! to dwell with thee.
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