And grant to me most graciously
The safeguard of thy might.
2 With cheerful heart I close my eyes
Since thou wilt not remove;
Oh, in the morning let me rise
Rejoicing in thy love!
3 Or, if this night should prove the last, Ánd end my transient days;
Lord, take me to thy promis'd rest,
Where I may sing thy praise.
1 FATHER, by saints on earth ador'd By saints beyond the skies,
Accept, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Our ev'ning sacrifice.
2 If kept to-day from wilful sin,
We magnify thy grace;
Thou hast our kind preserver been,
And thine be all the praise.
3 We live to testify the grace,
Which sure salvation brings;
And sink to night in thine embrace,
And rest beneath thy wings.
4 But whether, Lord, we wake or sleep,
The charge of love divine,
We trust thy providence to keep
Our souls for ever thine.
1 SAVIOUR, breathe an ev'ning blessing, Ere repose our spirits seal:
Sin and want we come confessing,
Thou canst save, and thou canst heal.
Though destruction walk around us,
Though the arrow past us fly,
Angel-guards from thee surround us,
We are safe, if thou art nigh.
2 Though the night be dark and dreary,
Darkness cannot hide from thee;
Thou art He who, never weary,
Watchest where thy people be;
Should swift death this night o'ertake us,
And our couch become our tomb;
May the morn in heav'n awake us,
Clad in light and deathless bloom!
1 O LORD, another day is flown,
And we, a lonely band,
Are met once more before thy throne,
To bless thy fost'ring hand.
2 And wilt thou bend a list'ning ear
To praises low as ours?
Thou wilt! for thou dost love to hear
The song which meekness pours.
3 And, Jesus, thou thy smiles wilt deign, As we before thee pray;
For thou didst bless the infant train,
And we are less than they.
4 Oh, let thy grace perform its part,
And let contentions cease;
And shed abroad in ev'ry heart
Thine everlasting peace.
THE night shall hear me raise my song,
And in her silent courts my tongue
Shall pour the solitary lay,
For all the mercies of the day.
2 Nor will my God disdain to hear
The sigh I breathe-the fervent pray'r:
Before whom a sinner may bend;
My all to thy covenant care,
I sleeping or waking commend.
2 If thou art my shield and my sun,
The night is no darkness to me;
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to thee.
3 From evil secure, and its dread,
I rest, if my Saviour be nigh;
And songs his kind presence indeed,
Shall in the night season supply.
4 He smiles, and my comforts abound;
His grace as the dew shall descend;
And walls of salvation surround
The soul he delights to defend.
1 IN all my vast concerns with thee,
In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.
2 Thy all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest,
My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.
3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord
Before they're form'd within;
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean.
4 Oh wondrous knowledge, deep and high, Where can a creature hide?
1 LORD, thou wilt hear me when I pray;
I am for ever thine:
I fear before thee all the day,
Nor would I dare to sin.
2 And while I rest my weary head,
From cares and business free,
'Tis sweet conversing on my bed
With my own heart and thee.
3 I pay this evening sacrifice;
And when my work is done,
Great God, my faith and hope relies
Upon thy grace alone.
4 Thus with my thoughts compos'd to peace
I'll give mine eyes to sleep;
Thy hand in safety keeps my days,
And will my slumbers keep.
1 BEGONE, my worldly cares, away,
Nor dare to tempt my sight;
Let me begin th' ensuing day,
Before I end this night.
2 Yes, let the work of pray'r and praise
Employ my heart and tongue;
Begin, my soul;-thy Sabbath days
Can never be too long.
3 Let the past mercies of the week
Excite a grateful frame;
Nor let my tongue refuse to speak
Some good of Jesus' name.
4 On wings of expectation borne,
My hopes to heav'n ascend;
I long to welcome in the morn,
With thee the day to spend.
HYMN. 7's.
Sabbath-Eve. Heb. iv. 9.
1 SAFELY through another week,
God has brought us on our way;
Let us now a blessing seek,
On th' approaching Sabbath day.
Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.
2 When the morn shall bid us rise,
May we feel thy presence near!
May thy glory meet our eyes
When we in thy house appear!
There afford us, Lord, a taste
Of our everlasting feast.
MORNING OR EVENING HYMNS.
A Hymn for Morning or Evening.
1 MY God, how endless is thy love?
Thy gifts are ev'ry evening new;
And morning mercies from above
Gently distil like early dew.
2 Thou spread'st the curtains of the night,
Great Guardian of my sleeping hours;
Thy sov'reign word restores the light,
Ánd quickens all my drowsy pow'rs.
3 I yield my pow'rs to thy command,
To thee I consecrate my days;
Perpetual blessings from thine hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.
1 HOSANNA, with a cheerful sound,
To God's upholding hand;
Ten thousand snares attend us round,
And yet secure we stand.
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