Hymns for Christian Devotion. E. H. Chapin
let the sacred hours be given
To truth, to duty, and to heaven;
While trusting faith and holy love
Rise fervent to thy throne above.
3Grant that our earthly Sabbaths be
But dawnings of eternity,
To shadow forth the glorious rest,
The heavenly quiet of the blest.
41. L. M. Bathurst.
Improvement of the Sabbath.
1This day the Lord hath called his own;
O, let us, then, his praise declare,
Fix our desires on him alone,
And seek his face with fervent prayer.
2Lord, in thy love we would rejoice,
Which bids the burdened soul be free,
And, with united heart and voice,
Devote these sacred hours to thee.
3Now let the world's delusive things
No more our grovelling thoughts employ
But Faith be taught to stretch her wings,
In search of heaven's unfailing joy.
4O, let these earthly Sabbaths, Lord,
Be to our lasting welfare blest;
The purest comfort here afford,
And fit us for eternal rest.
42. S. M. Bulfinch.
Sabbath Worship.
1Hail to the Sabbath day!
The day divinely given,
When men to God their homage pay,
And earth draws near to heaven.
2Lord, in this sacred hour,
Within thy courts we bend,
And bless thy love, and own thy power,
Our Father and our Friend.
3But thou art not alone
In courts by mortals trod;
Nor only is the day thine own
When man draws near to God.
4Thy temple is the arch
Of yon unmeasured sky;
Thy Sabbath, the stupendous march
Of grand eternity.
5Lord, may that holier day
Dawn on thy servants' sight;
And purer worship may we pay
In heaven's unclouded light.
43. S. M. Spirit of the Psalms.
The Delights of the Sabbath.
1Sweet is the task, O Lord,
Thy glorious acts to sing,
To praise thy name, and hear thy word,
And grateful offerings bring.
2Sweet, at the dawning hour,
Thy boundless love to tell;
And when the night-wind shuts the flower,
Still on the theme to dwell.
3Sweet, on this day of rest,
To join in heart and voice,
With those who love and serve thee best,
And in thy name rejoice.
4To songs of praise and joy,
Be every Sabbath given,
That such may be our blest employ
Eternally in heaven.
44. L. M. Raffles.
The Hour of Prayer.
1Blest hour, when mortal man retires
To hold communion with his God,
To send to heaven his warm desires,
And listen to the sacred word.
2Blest hour, when earthly cares resign
Their empire o'er his anxious breast,
While, all around, the calm divine
Proclaims the holy day of rest.
3Blest hour, when God himself draws nigh,
Well pleased his people's voice to hear,
To hush the penitential sigh,
And wipe away the mourner's tear.
4Blest hour! for, where the Lord resorts,
Foretastes of future bliss are given,
And mortals find his earthly courts
The house of God, the gate of heaven.
45. L. M. Sir J. E. Smith.
Devout Worship of God.
1Praise waits in Zion, Lord, for thee;
Thy saints adore thy holy name;
Thy creatures bend th' obedient knee,
And, humbly, thy protection claim.
2Thy hand has raised us from the dust;
The breath of life thy Spirit gave;
Where, but in thee, can mortals trust?
Who, but our God, has power to save?
3Still may thy children in thy word
Their common trust and refuge see;
O bind us to each other, Lord,
By one great tie,--the love of thee.
4So shall our sun of hope arise,
With brighter still and brighter ray,
Till thou shalt bless our longing eyes
With beams of everlasting day.
46. S. M. Watts.
The Sabbath Welcomed.
1Welcome, sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise;
Welcome to this