3 And, as the rapid sands run down,
Our virtue still improve;
Till each receive the glorious crown
Of never-fading love.
What though our bodies part,
To different climes repair,
Inseparably joined in heart
The friends of Jesus are!
The vineyard of their Lord
Before his labourers lies;
And lo! we see the vast reward
Which waits us in the skies.
O let our heart and mind
Continually ascend,
That haven of repose to find,
Where all our labours end!
Where all our toils are o'er,
Our suffering and our pain:
Who meet on that eternal shore
Shall never part again.
O happy, happy place,
Where saints and angels meet! There shall we see each other's face,
And all our brethren greet.
We shall our time beneath
Live out in cheerful hope,
And fearless pass the vale of death,
And gain the mountain-top.
7 To gather home His own
God shall His angels send,
And bid our bliss, on earth begun,
In deathless triumph end.
1 Thou framer of the light and dark! Steer through the tempest Thine own ark! Amid life's ever changeful sea
We go secure, if we have Thee.
2 If some poor wandering child of Thine
Have spurned, to-day, the voice divine,
O Lord! guide Thou his course aright,
Let all do all as in Thy sight.
3 Watch by the sick: enrich the poor
With blessings from Thy boundless store:
Be every mourner's sleep this night
Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.
4 Be near and gird us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take:
Till in the ocean of Thy love
We lose ourselves in heaven above.
1 Glory to Thee, my God! this night,
For all the blessings of the light!
Keep me, oh keep me, King of kings!
Under Thine own almighty wings.
2 Forgive me, Lord! through Thy dear Son,
The ill that I this day have done;
That with the world, myself, and Thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
3 O let my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep my eyelids close;
Sleep that may me more vigorous make
To work Thy will when I awake.
4 Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed;
Teach me to die, that so I may
With joy behold the judgment-day.
5 Praise God, from whom all blessings flow:
Praise Him, all creatures here below!
Praise Him, ye heavenly hosts above!
Praise Him, my soul! for all His love.
God that madest earth and heaven,
Darkness and light!
Who the day for toil hast given,
For rest the night!
May Thine angel guards defends us!
Slumber sweet Thy mercy send us!
Holy dreams and hopes attend us!
This livelong night!
1 Slowly by Thy hand unfurled,
Down around the weary world
Falls the darkness: O how still
Is the working of Thy will!
2 Mighty Maker! here am I,
Work in me as silently.
Veil the day's distracting sights;
Show me Heaven's eternal lights.
3 From the darkened sky come forth
Countless stars. A wondrous birth!
So may gleams of glory dart
From this dim abyss, my heart!
4 Living worlds to view be brought,
In the boundless realms of Thought;
High and infinite Desires,
Flaming like those upper fires!
5 Holy Truth, Eternal Right,
Let them break upon my sight!
Let them shine, serene and still,
And with light my being fill!
6 Let my soul attuned be
To the heavenly harmony;
May the perfect peace of God,
Here, as there, be shed abroad!
1 Source of light and life divine!
Thou didst cause the light to shine;
Thou didst bring Thy sunbeams forth
O'er Thy new-created earth.
2 Shade of night, and morning ray,
Took from Thee the name of day:
Now again the shades are nigh,
Listen to our mournful cry!
3 May we ne'er, by guilt depressed,
Lose the way to endless rest;
May no thoughts corrupt and vain
Draw our souls to earth again..
4 Rather lift them to the skies,
Where our much-loved treasure lies;
Help us in our daily strife,
Make us struggle into life!
1 Holiest ! whose present might
Never man invoked in vain,
Be about my bed this night;
Vain and evil thoughts restrain;
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