When men to God their homage pay,

And bless thy love, and own thy power,

Nor only is the day thine own

Thy Sabbath, the stupendous march

And purer worship may we pay

To praise thy name, and hear thy word,

And when the night-wind shuts the flower,

With those who love and serve thee best,

That such may be our blest employ

1Blest hour, when mortal man retires

To send to heaven his warm desires,

2Blest hour, when earthly cares resign

While, all around, the calm divine

3Blest hour, when God himself draws nigh,

To hush the penitential sigh,

4Blest hour! for, where the Lord resorts,

And mortals find his earthly courts

1Praise waits in Zion, Lord, for thee;

Thy creatures bend th' obedient knee,

2Thy hand has raised us from the dust;

Where, but in thee, can mortals trust?

3Still may thy children in thy word

O bind us to each other, Lord,

4So shall our sun of hope arise,

Till thou shalt bless our longing eyes

Welcome to this reviving breast

Here we may sit, and see him here,

Is sweeter than ten thousand days

Till called to rise and soar away

Jehovah is the sovereign God,

The watery worlds are all his own,

We are his works, and not our own:

Come, like the people of his choice,

1With sacred joy we lift our eyes

That glorious temple in the skies

2Thee we adore, and, Lord, to thee

Thy service, unconstrained and free,

3While in thy house of prayer we kneel

Thy mercy and thy truth reveal,

4With fervor teach our hearts to pray,

Nor from thy presence cast away

1How welcome to the soul, when pressed

Is the returning day of rest,

2How happy they, whose lot is cast

They find their sorrows quickly past,

3Though pinched with poverty at home,

It makes amends, if they can come

4We thank thee for thy day, O Lord!

Open thy hand with blessings stored,

1Father of all! where shall we find

To thee, the uncreated Mind,

2We'll call a multitude around,

There thy salvation we have found,

3From breast to breast the holy flame

At once we'll hymn our Father's name,

4There, heavenly Father, condescend

And when the hymns of earth shall end,

1Father! adored in worlds above,

Thy kingdom come with power and love,

2Lord! make our daily wants thy care;

And, as we in thy kindness share,

3Evils beset us every hour;

Thine is the kingdom, thine the power;

1Come, let us join our souls to God

And seize the blessings he bestows

2Come, let us to his temple haste,

Before his footstool humbly bow,

3Come, let us share, without delay,

Nor shall the years of distant life

4O, may our children ever haste

Nor e'er forsake the happy path

1How lovely are thy dwellings fair,

The pleasant tabernacles are

2Happy, who in thy house reside,

Happy, whose strength in thee doth bide,

3They pass through sorrow's thirsty vale,

As through a fruitful, wat'ry dale,

4They journey on from strength to strength,

Till all before our God at length

5For God the Lord, both sun and shield,

No good from them shall be withheld

1Lo, God is here! Let us adore,

Let all within us feel his power;

2Lo, God is here! Him, day and night

To him, enthroned above all height,

3Being of beings! may thy praise

Still may we stand before thy face--

1We bless thee for this sacred day,

Which sends the dreams of earth away,

2Lord, in this day of holy rest,

And, in thy service truly blest,

3Lord! may thy truth, upon the heart,

And flowers of grace in freshness start

4May prayer now lift her sacred wings,

Which bears her to the King of kings,

1On the first Christian Sabbath eve,

O'er his lost fellowship to grieve,

2Lo! in their midst his form was seen,--

Their Master's marred and wounded mien,--

3Then were they glad their Lord to know,

Jesus, again thy presence show;

4Be in our midst; let faith rejoice

And make our spirits hear thy voice

1How did my heart rejoice to hear

"In Zion let us all appear,

2Up to her courts, with joys unknown,

The Son of David holds his throne,

3Peace be within this sacred place,

With holy gifts and heavenly grace

4My soul shall pray for Zion still

There my best friends, my kindred, dwell;

1Another six days' work is done,

Another Sabbath is begun:

Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest,

Improve the day which God hath blest.

2O that our thoughts and thanks may rise,

As grateful incense, to the skies,

And draw from heaven that sweet repose,

Which none but he that feels it knows!

3This heavenly calm within the breast

Is the dear pledge of glorious rest,

Which for the church of God remains,

The end of cares, the end of pains.

4In holy duties let the day--

In holy pleasures--pass away:

How sweet, a Sabbath thus to spend,

In hope of one that ne'er shall end!

1Choice of God, thou blessed day,

At thy dawn the grave gave way

To the power of him within,

Who had, sinless, bled for sin.

2Thine the radiance to illume

First, for man, the dismal tomb,

When its bars their weakness owned,

There revealing death dethroned.

3Then the Sun of righteousness

Rose, a darkened world to bless,

Bringing up from mortal night

Immortality and light.

4Day of glory, day of power,

Sacred be thine every hour,

Emblem, earnest of the rest

That remaineth for the blest!

1Again the Lord of life and light

Unseals the eyelids of the morn,

2O what a night was that which wrapped

O what a sun which broke, this day,

3This day be grateful homage paid,

Let gladness dwell in every heart,

4Ten thousand differing lips shall join

Which scatters blessings from its wings

1Sweet is the work, my God, my King,

To praise thy name, give thanks, and sing;

To show thy love by morning light,

And talk of all thy truth at night.

2Sweet is the day of sacred rest!

No mortal cares shall seize my breast;

O may my heart in tune be found,

Like David's harp of solemn sound.

3My heart shall triumph in the Lord,

And bless his works, and bless his word:

Thy works of grace, how bright they shine,

How deep thy counsels, how divine!

4But I shall share a glorious part

When grace hath well refined my heart,

And, raised to holier courts above,

I praise thee with a purer love.

5Then shall I see, and hear, and know,

All I desired or wished below;

And every power find sweet employ

In that eternal world of joy.

1The joyful morn, my God, is come,

That calls me to thy sacred dome,

My feet the summons shall attend,

With willing steps thy courts ascend

2With holy joy I hail the day,

That warns my thirsting soul away;

For, lo! my great Redeemer's power

Unfolds the everlasting door,

3Hither, from earth's remotest end,

Lo! the redeemed of God ascend,

Here, crowned with everlasting joy,

In hymns of praise their tongues employ,

1Early, my God, without delay,

My thirsty spirit faints away

2So pilgrims on the scorching sand,

Long for a cooling stream at hand;

3Not life itself, with all its joys,

Or raise so high my cheerful voice,

4Thus, till my last expiring day,

Thus will I lift my hands to pray,

1Hosanna! Lord, thine angels cry:

Hosanna! Lord, we hear reply:

Above, beneath us, and around,

The dead and living swell the sound.

2O Father! with protecting care

Meet us in this, thy house of prayer;

Assembled in Messiah's name,

Thy promised blessing here we claim.

3But, chiefest, in our cleansed breast,

Eternal! let thy Spirit rest;

And make our secret soul to be

A temple pure, and worthy thee.

1My God, accept my early vows,

Like morning incense, in thy house;

And let my nightly worship rise

Sweet as the evening sacrifice.

2Watch o'er my lips, and guard them, Lord,

From every rash and heedless word;

Nor let my feet incline to tread

The guilty path where sinners lead.

3O may the righteous, when I stray,

Smite and reprove my wandering way;

Their gentle words, like ointment shed,

Shall never bruise, but cheer, my head.

4When I behold them prest with grief

I'll cry to heaven for their relief;

And by my warm petitions prove

How much I prize their faithful love.

1How pleasant, how divinely fair,

O Lord of Hosts, thy dwellings are!

With long desire my spirit faints

To meet the assemblies of thy saints.

2Blest are the souls who find a place

Within the temple of thy grace;

There they behold thy gentler rays,

And seek thy face and learn thy praise.

3Blest are the men whose hearts are set

To find the way to Zion's gate;

God is their Strength; and through the road

They lean upon their Helper, God.

4Cheerful they walk with growing strength,

Till all shall meet in heaven at length;

Till all before thy face appear,

And join the nobler worship there.

1While thus thy throne of grace we seek,

O God, within our spirits speak!

For we will hear thy voice to-day,

Nor turn our hardened hearts away.

2Speak in thy gentlest tones of love,

Till all our best affections move;

We long to hear no meaner call,

But feel that Thou art all in all.

3To conscience speak thy quickening word,

Till all its sense of sin is stirred:

For we would leave no stain of guile,

To cloud the radiance of thy smile.

4Speak, Father, to the anxious heart,

Till every fear and doubt depart:

For we can find no home or rest,

Till with thy Spirit's whispers blest.

In copious shower, on all who pray,

This holy day, thy blessings pour.

Until that day, when all the blest

To endless rest are called away.

1Called by the Sabbath bells away,

I'll go, with willing mind to pray,

2O sacred day of peace and joy,

Ne'er may a sinful thought destroy

3Dear are thy peaceful hours to me,

To tell how calm, how blest shall be

1When, as returns this solemn day,

What rites, what honors shall he pay?

2From marble domes and gilded spires,

And gems, and gold, and garlands deck

3Vain, sinful man! creation's Lord

But give thy heart, and thou shalt find

1Sacred day, forever blest!

Day of all our days the best!

Welcome hours of praise and prayer,

Free from toil, fatigue, and care!

2Happy, truly happy, Lord,

Those who hear and read thy word!

Happy those who dwell with thee!

Who thy grace and glory see.

3We once more have heard thy voice,

Lord, in thee our souls rejoice;

Borne by faith to worlds on high,

Called to reign above the sky.

4Though this day of rest we close,

Still in thee our hearts repose;

Guide and guard us all our days:

O may all our lives be praise!

1At the portals of thy house,

Lord, we leave our mortal cares:

Nobler thoughts our souls engage,

Songs of praise, and fervent prayers.

Pure and contrite hearts alone

Find acceptance at thy throne.

2Hapless men, whose footsteps stray

From the temple of the Lord!

Teach them Zion's heavenly way;

To their feet thy light afford.

Let the world unite to raise

Solemn harmonies of praise.

1Father of omnipresent grace!

We seem agreed to seek thy face:

But every soul assembled here

Doth naked in thy sight appear;

Thou know'st who only bows the knee,

And who in heart approaches thee.

2To-day, while it is called to-day,

Awake and stir us up to pray;

The spirit of thy word impart,

And breathe the life into our heart;

Our weakness help, our darkness chase,

And guide us by the light of grace.

1Eternal Source of light and thought!

Be all beneath thyself forgot,

Whilst thee, great parent-mind, we own,

In prostrate homage round thy throne.

2Whilst in themselves our souls survey

Of thee some faint reflected ray,

They wondering to their Father rise:

His power how vast! his thoughts how wise!

3O may we live before thy face,

The willing subjects of thy grace;

And through each path of duty move,

With filial awe, and filial love.

1God in his temple let us meet,

Here he hath fixed his mercy-seat,

2Arise into thy resting-place,

Shine through the veil, we seek thy face:

3With righteousness thy priests array:

Let those who teach, and those who pray,

1Creator Spirit, by whose light

The sleeping worlds were called from night!

Come, visit every pious mind,

Come, pour thy joys on human kind;

From sin and sorrow set us free,

And make us temples worthy thee.

2Plenteous in grace descend from high,

Rich in thy sevenfold energy;

Our frailty help, our vice control,

Thou ruler of our secret soul!

And, lest our feet should haply stray

Protect and guide us in the way.

1Spirit of grace, and health, and power!

Abroad thy healing influence shower;

2Inflame our hearts with perfect love;

So not heaven's host shall swifter move,

3Father! 'tis thine each day to yield

Thou cloth'st the lilies of the field,

4On thee we cast our care; we live

O feed us with thy grace, and give

1Shine on our souls, eternal God!

O let thy favor crown our days,

2Did we not raise our hands to thee,

Small joy success itself could give,

3With thee let every week begin;

For thee each fleeting hour improved,

4Thus cheer us through the checkered road,

And heaven refresh our weary souls

1Softly fades the twilight ray

Of the holy Sabbath day;

Gently as life's setting sun;

When the Christian's course is run.

2Night her solemn mantle spreads

O'er the earth, as daylight fades;

All things tell of calm repose

At the holy Sabbath's close.

3Peace is on the world abroad;

'Tis the holy peace of God,--

Symbol of the peace within,

When the spirit rests from sin.

4Still the Spirit lingers near,

Where the evening worshipper

Seeks communion with the skies,

Pressing onward to the prize.

1Ere to the world again we go,

Its pleasures, cares, and idle show,

Thy grace once more, O God, we crave,

From folly and from sin to save.

2May the great truths we here have heard--

The lessons of thy holy word--

Dwell in our inmost bosoms deep,

And all our souls from error keep.

3Oh! may the influence of this day,

Long as our memory with us stay,

And as an angel guardian prove,

To guide us to our home above.

1Eternal Source of life and light,

To thee we bring our grateful vows,

2Our dark and erring minds illume

Inspire our hearts with sacred love,

3Safely conduct us, by thy grace,

And place us, when that journey's o'er

1Come, thou soul-transforming Spirit,

Let each heart thy grace inherit;

2O, may all enjoy the blessing

Let us all, thy love possessing,

1Again our ears have heard the voice

O, may the sound our hearts rejoice,

2And have we heard the word with joy?

To keep it be our blest employ,

1Israel's Shepherd, guide me, feed me.

And beside the waters lead me,

2Lord, thy guardian presence ever,

I have found thee, and would never,

1Father! bless thy word to all;

O, may sinners hear thy call,

2Father, bid the world rejoice;

May the nations hear thy voice,