"The Day is Thine, the Night also."
1 FADING, still fading, the last beam is shining;
Father in heaven! the day is declining;
Thine is the darkness, as thine is the light;
We trust thee by day, and we trust thee by night.
From the fall of the shade till the morning bells chime,
Shield us from danger and guard us from crime.
Father of mercy, oh hear thou our prayer!
2 Father in heaven, oh hear when we call,
Thou, the Protector and Saviour of all!
Fainting and feeble, we trust in thy might;
In doubting and darkness, thy love be our light;
Let us sleep on thy breast while the night taper burns,
And wake in thine arms when the morning returns.
Father of mercy, oh hear thou our prayer!
KENN. 2 Thou spread'st the curtains of the night.
Great Guardian of my sleeping hours:
Thy sovereign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers.
1 GLORY to thee, my God, this night,
For all the blessings of the light:
Keep me, oh keep me, King of kings,
Beneath the shadow of thy wings!
2 Forgive me, Lord, through thy dear Son,
The ills which I this day have done;
That with the world, myself, and thee,
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
3 Be thou my guardian while I sleep;
Thy watchful station near me keep;
My heart with love celestial fill,
And guard me from the approach of ill.
4 Lord, let my heart for ever share
The bliss of thy paternal care: 'Tis heaven on earth, 'tis heaven above, To see thy face and sing thy love.
KEBLE. 2 We would adore thee, God sublime,
Whose power and wisdom, love and grace,
Are greater than the round of time,
And wider than the bounds of space.
1 'Tis gone, that bright and orbed blaze,
Fast fading from our wistful gaze;
Yon mantling cloud has hid from sight
The last faint pulse of quivering light.
2 Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if thou be near:
Oh may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes!
3 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be
my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.
4 Abide with me from morn till ́eve,
For without thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without thee I dare not die.
1 0 THOU true Life of all that live,
Who dost, unmoved, all motion sway;
Who dost the morn and evening give,,
And through its changes guide the day,-
2 Thy light upon our evening pour,
So may our souls no sunset see;
But death to us an open door
To an eternal morning be.
1 THUS far the Lord has led me on,
Thus far his power prolongs my days;
And every evening shall make known
Some fresh memorial of his grace.
2 Much of my time has run to waste,
And I, perhaps, am near my home;
But he forgives my follies past,
And gives me strength for days to come.
3 I lay my body down to sleep;
Peace is the pillow for my head;
While well-appointed angels keep
Their watchful stations round my bed.
4 Faith in his name forbids my fear:
Oh may thy presence ne'er depart!
And in the morning make me hear
Thy love and kindness in my heart.
Swept from the records of the year; And still, with every setting sun, Life's fading visions disappear.
3 Another fleeting day is gone, But soon a fairer shall arise, A day whose never-setting sun Shall pour its light o'er cloudless skies. 4 Another fleeting day is gone: In solemn silence rest, my soul; And bow before His awful throne, Who bids the morn and evening roll.
The Bread of Life. WESLEY'S COL
1 FATHER, supply my every need;
Sustain the life thyself hast given,
Oh grant the never-failing bread,
The manna that comes down from heaven!
2 The gracious fruits of righteousness,
Thy blessings' unexhausted store,
In me abundantly increase,
Nor ever let me hunger more.
1 SWEET is the light of sabbath eve,
And soft the sunbeams lingering there:
For these blest hours the world I leave,
Wafted on wings of faith and prayer.
2 The time how lovely and how still!
Peace shines and smiles on all below;
The plain, the stream, the wood, the hill,—
All fair with evening's setting glow.
3 Season of rest! the tranquil soul Feels the sweet calm, and melts to love; And, while these sacred moments roll, Faith sees a smiling heaven above. 93.
1 GENTLY the shades of night descend;
Thy temple, Lord, is calm and still;
A thousand lamps of ether blend,
A thousand fires that temple fill.
2 Thou bidd'st the cares of earth depart;
Heaven's peace is wafted from above;
A sabbath stillness fills the heart,
Devotion's calm and holy love
3 And man, even from the dust, may rise,
Borne on the pinions of thy grace,
Up to angelic mysteries,
And find in thee his resting-place.
1 O BLEST Creator of the light,
Who dost the dawn from darkness bring,
And, framing nature's depth and height,
Didst with the new-born light begin;
2 Who gently blending eve with morn,
And morn with eve, didst call them day, Thick flows the flood of darkness down: Oh hear us as we weep and pray!
3 Keep thou our souls from schemes of crime,
Nor guilt remorseful let them know;
Nor, thinking but on things of time,
Into eternal darkness go.
4 Teach us to knock at heaven's high door; Teach us the prize of life to win;
Teach us all evil to abhor,
And purify ourselves within.
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