4

I fear no foe with Thee at hand to bless;
Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness:
Where is death's sting, where, grave, thy victory?
I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.

5 Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes; Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies: Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

22

Go

OD, that madest earth and heaven,
Darkness and light!

Who the day for toil hast given,
For rest the night!

May Thine angel-guards defend us,
Slumber sweet Thy mercy send us,
Holy dreams and hopes attend us,
This livelong night!

2 Guard us waking, guard us sleeping;
And, when we die,

May we, in Thy mighty keeping,

All peaceful lie!

When the last dread call shall wake us,

Do not Thou, our God, forsake us,

But to reign in glory take us,

With Thee on high !

C

23 A

NOTHER week its course has run,
Another Sabbath is begun :
Return, my soul, enjoy the rest,
Improve the day that God has blest.

2 O may our thoughts and thanks arise
As grateful incense to the skies,

24

And draw from heaven that sweet repose
Which none but he who feels it knows.

3 This holy calm within the breast
Is the dear pledge of glorious rest,
Which for the sons of God remains,
The end of cares, the end of pains.
4 In holy duties let the day,
In holy pleasures, pass away:
How sweet, a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of that which ne'er shall end!

B

LEST day of God, most calm, most bright,
The first and best of days;

The labourer's rest, the saint's delight,

Sweet hour of joy and praise!

2 My Saviour's face did make thee shine,
His rising thee did raise :

This made thee heavenly and divine.
Beyond the common days.

3 Daily, O Lord, Thy flock is blest
In pastures large and fair;

But better is the weekly feast
Provided by Thy care.

4 Welcome, kind Shepherd, to Thy sheep Are those foretastes of love;

25

But what a Sabbath shall they keep,
When safe with Thee above!

5 How wise Thy love, how light its chain,
Which binds us to be free,

Cuts short our toil, ensures our gain,
And lifts our souls to Thee!

L

ORD of the Sabbath, hear our vows, On this Thy day, in this Thy house; And own as grateful sacrifice

The songs which from this desert rise.

2 Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love;
But there's a nobler rest above:
To that our longing souls aspire
With ardent hope and strong desire.

3 No weariness, nor pain, nor care,
Nor sin, nor death, shall enter there;
No groans to mingle with the songs
Which issue from immortal tongues :
No rude alarms of angry foes,

4

No fears to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,
But brightness of eternal noon.

5 O long expected day, begin!

Dawn on these realms of pain and sin :
Fain would we leave this weary road,
To rest, with full content, in God.

26

S

Psalm XCII.

WEET is the work, our God and King, To praise Thy Name, give thanks and sing; To show Thy love by morning light, And talk of all Thy truth at night.

2 Sweet is the day of sacred rest,

No earthly cares shall fill our breast;
O may our hearts in tune be found,
Like David's harp of solemn sound!

3 Our souls shall triumph in the Lord,

And bless Him for His works and word:
Thy works of grace, how bright they shine!
How deep Thy counsels, how divine!

4 In that eternal world of joy

Shall every power find sweet employ ;
Then shall we see, and hear, and know,
All we desired or wished below.

27 G

REAT God, this sacred day of Thine,
Demands our soul's collected powers:

May we employ in work divine

These solemn, these devoted hours:
O may our souls adoring own

The grace which calls us to Thy throne.
2 Hence, ye vain cares and trifles, fly;
Where God resides, appear no more:
Omniscient God, Thy piercing eye

Can every secret thought explore:
O may Thy grace our hearts refine,
And fix our thoughts on things divine.

3 The word of life dispensed to-day
Invites us to a heavenly feast;
May every ear the call obey,

Be every heart a humble guest:
O bid the wretched sons of need
On soul-reviving dainties feed.

4 Thy Spirit's powerful aid impart :
O may Thy word with life divine
Engage the ear and warm the heart;
Then shall the day indeed be Thine:
Then shall our souls adoring own
The grace which calls us to Thy throne.

28

FR

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 wandering thoughts forgive:
We would be like Thy saints above,
Unlike them as we live.

3 Increase, O Lord, our faith and hope,
And fit us to ascend

Where the assembly ne'er breaks up,
The sabbath ne'er shall end:

4 Where we shall breathe a heavenly air, With heavenly lustre shine;

Before the throne of God appear,
And feast on love divine.