FATHER, to Thee we pray,
Thou source of love and power!
O hear us, whose brief passing day
Fades as a fading flower.
Deep laden with our sin,
Another year has flown;
How dark and deep our guilt has been
Thou knowest, Thou alone.
Yet, Jesus, at thy feet
In humble trust we fall;
For thy one sacrifice complete
Once hath aton'd for all.
O still, through life and death,
Our souls with strength supply;
Help us to fight the fight of faith,
And give us victory.
WHILE with ceaseless course the sun
Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here.
Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream;
Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise,
All below is but a dream,
Thanks for mercies past receive,
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us henceforth how to live
With eternity in view.
Bless thy word to young and old,
Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And, when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with Thee above.
ETERNAL Source of every joy,
Well may thy praise our lips employ;
Well may we in thy courts appear,
Whose constant goodness crowns the year.
Wide as the wheels of nature roll,
Thy hand supports and guides the whole;
The day is taught by Thee to rise,
The night by Thee to veil the skies.
Seasons, and months, and weeks, and days,
Demand successive songs of praise;
O be the grateful homage paid,
With morning light and evening shade.
Here in thy house let incense rise,
As circling Sabbaths bless our eyes;
Till to those glorious realms we soar,
Where days and years revolve no more.
AWAKE, my soul, and with the sun
Thy daily stage of duty run;
Shake off dull sloth, and early rise
To pay thy morning sacrifice.
Glory to Thee who safe hast kept,
And hast refresh'd me whilst I slept;
Grant, Lord, when I from death shall wake,
I may of endless life partake.
Lord, I my vows to Thee renew;
Scatter my sins as morning dew;
Guard my first springs of thought and will,
And with Thyself my spirit fill.
Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say;
That all my powers, with all their might,
In thy sole glory may unite.
NEW every morning is the love
Our wakening and uprising prove;
Through sleep and darkness safely brought,
Restor'd to life, and power, and thought.
New mercies each returning day
Hover around us while we pray;
New perils past, new sins forgiven,
New thoughts of God, new hopes of heaven,
If on our daily course our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.
The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish all we ought to ask,
Room to deny ourselves, a road
To bring us daily nearer God.
Only, O Lord, in thy dear love
Fit us for perfect rest above;
And help us, this and every day,
To live more nearly as we pray.
WHEN, streaming from the eastern skies,
The morning light salutes mine eyes,
O Sun of Righteousness divine!
On me with beams of mercy shine;
Chase the dark clouds of guilt away,
And turn my darkness into day.
When to heaven's great and glorious King
My morning sacrifice I bring,
And, mourning o'er my guilt and shame,
Ask mercy in my Saviour's Name;
Then, Jesus, sprinkle with thy blood,
And be my Advocate with God.
As every day, thy mercy spares,
Will bring its trials and its cares,
O Saviour! till my life shall end,
Be Thou my Counsellor and Friend;
Teach me thy precepts all divine,
And be thy great example mine.
GLORY to Thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light;
Keep me, O keep me, King of kings,
Under thine own almighty wings.
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.
Teach me to live, that I may
The grave as little as my bed;
Teach me to die, that so I may
Triumphant rise at the last day.
O! may my soul on Thee repose,
And with sweet sleep mine eyelids close,
Sleep, that may me more vig'rous make
To serve my God when I awake.
GLORY to Thee in light arrayed,
Who light thy dwelling-place hast made;
A boundless ocean of bright beams
From thy all-glorious Godhead streams.
Blest Jesu! Thou on heaven intent
Whole nights hast in devotion spent ;
But I, frail creature, soon am tired,
And all my zeal is soon expired.
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