SAVIOUR, breathe an evening blessing,
Ere repose our spirits seal;
Sin and want we come confessing,

Thou canst save, and thou canst heal. 2 Though the night be dark and dreary, Darkness cannot hide from thee; Thou, our Shepherd, never weary, Watchest where thy people be.

3 Though destruction walk around us,
Though the arrows past us fly,
Angel-guards from thee surround us,
We are safe, if thou art nigh.

4 Should swift death this night o'ertake And our couch become our tomb, [us, May the morn in heaven awake us,

Clad in light and deathless bloom.
5 Father, to thy holy keeping
Humbly we ourselves resign;
Saviour, who hast slept our sleeping,
Make our slumbers pure as thine.

6 Blessed Spirit, brooding o'er us,
Chase the darkness of our night,
Till the perfect day before us
Breaks in everlasting light.

James Edmeston and E. H. Bickersteth,

SUN of my soul, thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if thou be near;
O may no earthborn cloud arise,
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes.
2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.

3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without thee I dare not die.

4 If some poor wandering child of thine
Have spurned to-day the voice divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.

5 Watch by the sick, enrich the poor
With blessings from thy boundless store;
Be every mourner's sleep to-night,
Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.

6 Come near and bless 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.

ANOTHER day is at an end,

And night doth now its shade extend;
To thee, O Lord, our hearts we raise,
And thee for every mercy praise.

2 Yet we are of defects aware;
Forgive them, Lord; thy children spare:
Our souls be precious in thy sight,
Take us into thy care this night.

3 Now we'll lie down and sweetly sleep,
Lord Jesus, in thy fellowship;
Thus, under thy protection blest,
Will soul and body safely rest.

P. Klattendorffer and E. Neumeister.
1180.
T. 14.

THE hour of sleep is now at hand,
My spirit calls for rest;

O that my pillow may be found

The dear Redeemer's breast.

2 This night my longing soul with Christ Would take up her abode,

I gladly would myself divest
Of everything but God.

ALL praise to thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light;
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Beneath thine own almighty wings.
2 Forgive me, Lord, for 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 Teach me to live, that I may dread
The grave as little as my bed;
Teach me to die, that so I may
Rise glorious at the judgment-day.

4 O may my soul on thee repose,
And may sweet sleep my eyelids close,
Sleep that may me more vigorous make,
To serve my God when I awake.

When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts supply:
Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.

Th. Ken, 1637-1711.

AUTHOR of the whole creation,
Light of light, eternal Word,
Soul and body's preservation

I commit to thee, O Lord:
My Redeemer, dwell in me,
Let me sleep and wake with thee,
And perceive thy benediction
Both in joy and in affliction.

2 When I close mine eyes in slumber,
And my senses are asleep,
Let my waking heart the number
9

Of thy mercies tell and keep; Fill me with thy sacred love, That I dream of things above, And bestow on me the favour Of thy presence, gracious Saviour. 3 Pardon, Jesus, each transgression, Whether open or unknown, Thus removing that oppression

Under which I else should groan :
I confess the guilt of sin,

But thy blood can make me clean;
Hear, O Lord, my supplication,
Grant me joy and consolation.

Jacobi all

6137. 1185.

Johann Rist, 1607-67.

T. 22.

AT even, ere the sun was set,
The sick, O Lord, around thee lay;
O in what divers pains they met,

O with what joy they went away!
2 Once more 'tis eventide, and we,
Oppressed with various ills, draw near;
What if thy form we cannot see;

We know and feel that thou art here.

3 O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel ; For some are sick, and some are sad; And some have never loved thee well; And some have lost the love they had. 4 And some are pressed with worldly

care;

And some are tried with sinful doubt; And some such grievous passions tear, That only thou canst cast them out.

5 And some have found the world is vain, [free; Yet from the world they break not And some have friends who give them pain,

Yet have not sought a friend in thee. 6 And none, O Lord, have perfect rest, For none are wholly free from sin; And they who fain would love thee best Are conscious most of wrong within.

O Saviour Christ, thou too art man ; Thou hast been troubled, tempted, tried ;

Thy kind but searching glance can scan The very wounds that shame would hide.

8 Thy touch has still its ancient power;
No word from thee can fruitless fall;
Hear, in this solemn evening hour,
And in thy mercy heal us all.

1186.*

Henry Twells, b. 1823.
T. 164.

IN peace will I lie down to sleep;
O faithful Lord and Saviour,

Me under thy protection keep;
Let me enjoy thy favour:
E'en death I need not fear,
If thou to me art near;

For who with Jesus shuts his eyes,
He also shall with Jesus rise.

2 As oft this night as my pulse beats,
My spirit would embrace thee;
Oft as my heart its throbs repeats,
May I adore and praise thee:
Thus I can go to rest

In thy communion blest,
United unto thee by faith;

Thou art my joy in life and death.
Christian Scriver, 1629-93.

O my Lord, what shall I render
Unto thee?-Thou shalt be
This night my defender.

2 Thou, my Rock, my Strength & Tower,
While I sleep,-deign to keep
Watch from hour to hour:
Visit me with thy salvation;
Be thou near,-that thy care
Guard my habitation.

3 Leave me not, but ever love me ;
Let thy peace-be my bliss,
Till thou hence remove me:
Then aroused from peaceful slumber,
Let me rise-with the wise,
Counted in their number.

ABIDE with me: fast falls the eventide; The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:

When other helpers fail, & comforts flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's littl day; [away Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass Change and decay in all around I see; O thou, who changest not, abide with me. 3 Come not in terrors, as the King of kings, [wings; But kind and good, with healing in thy Tears for all woes, a heart for every plea ; [with me. Come, Friend of sinners, thus abide 4 I need thy presence every passing hour: [power? What but thy grace can foil the tempter's Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? [with me. Through cloud and sunshine, O abide

5 I fear no foe, with thee at hand to bless: [ness:

Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterWhere is death's sting; where, grave,

thy victory?

I triumph still, if thou abide with me. 6 Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes;

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies; [vain shadows flee; Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Henry Francis Lyte, 1793-1847.

3 How much better thou'rt attended
Than the Son of God could be,
When from heaven he descended,

And became a child like thee.
4 Soft and easy is thy cradle,
Coarse and hard thy Saviour lay,
When his birthplace was a stable,
And his softest bed was hay.

5 See the joyful shepherds round him,
Telling wonders from the sky;
Where they sought him, there they found
With his virgin-mother by. [him,

6 Mayst thou live to know and fear him,
Trust and love him all thy days;
Then go dwell for ever near him,
See his face and sing his praise.
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748.