Hymns for Christian Devotion Part 7

43. S. M. Spirit of the Psalms.

The Delights of the Sabbath.

1 Sweet is the task, O Lord, Thy glorious acts to sing, To praise thy name, and hear thy word, And grateful offerings bring.

2 Sweet, at the dawning hour, Thy boundless love to tell; And when the night-wind shuts the flower, Still on the theme to dwell.

3 Sweet, on this day of rest, To join in heart and voice, With those who love and serve thee best, And in thy name rejoice.

4 To 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.

1 Blest hour, when mortal man retires To hold communion with his G.o.d, To send to heaven his warm desires, And listen to the sacred word.

2 Blest hour, when earthly cares resign Their empire o'er his anxious breast, While, all around, the calm divine Proclaims the holy day of rest.

3 Blest hour, when G.o.d himself draws nigh, Well pleased his people's voice to hear, To hush the penitential sigh, And wipe away the mourner's tear.

4 Blest hour! for, where the Lord resorts, Foretastes of future bliss are given, And mortals find his earthly courts The house of G.o.d, the gate of heaven.

45. L. M. Sir J. E. Smith.

Devout Wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d.

1 Praise waits in Zion, Lord, for thee; Thy saints adore thy holy name; Thy creatures bend th' obedient knee, And, humbly, thy protection claim.

2 Thy hand has raised us from the dust; The breath of life thy Spirit gave; Where, but in thee, can mortals trust?

Who, but our G.o.d, has power to save?

3 Still 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.

4 So 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.

1 Welcome, sweet day of rest, That saw the Lord arise; Welcome to this reviving breast And these rejoicing eyes.

2 The King himself comes near, And feasts his saints to-day; Here we may sit, and see him here, And love, and praise, and pray.

3 One day, amid the place Where my dear Lord hath been, Is sweeter than ten thousand days Of folly and of sin.

4 My willing soul would stay In such a frame as this, Till called to rise and soar away To everlasting bliss.

47. S. M. Watts.

Public Wors.h.i.+p. Ps. 95.

1 Come, sound his praise abroad, And hymns of glory sing: Jehovah is the sovereign G.o.d, The universal King.

2 He formed the deeps unknown; He gave the seas their bound; The watery worlds are all his own, And all the solid ground.

3 Come, wors.h.i.+p at his throne; Come, bow before the Lord; We are his works, and not our own: He formed us by his word.

4 To-day attend his voice, Nor dare provoke his rod; Come, like the people of his choice, And own your gracious G.o.d.

48. C. M. Jervis.

Homage and Devotion.

1 With sacred joy we lift our eyes To those bright realms above-- That glorious temple in the skies Where dwells eternal love.

2 Thee we adore, and, Lord, to thee Our filial duty pay; Thy service, unconstrained and free, Conducts to endless day.

3 While in thy house of prayer we kneel With trust and holy fear, Thy mercy and thy truth reveal, And lend a gracious ear.

4 With fervor teach our hearts to pray, And tune our lips to sing; Nor from thy presence cast away The sacrifice we bring.

49. L. M. Newton.