4 Spirit of Christ, abide
In every heart alway;
And crown, O Jesus crucified,
The work begun to day.
HOME FOR THE AGED.
ORD of life, of love, of light,
Clothed in mercy, armed with might,
Worship centres at Thy throne,
Praise belongs to Thee alone!
Be this house forever Thine;
Through it let Thy favor shine;
Feed the souls that here shall meet,
From Thy bounty pure and sweet.
2 Write salvation on these walls;
Succor those whom sin enthralls;
Lightened with celestial rays,
Let these gates reflect Thy praise.
Thou Who dwellest where is sung
Praise to Thee by human tongue,
With the presence of Thy grace
Dwell henceforth within this place.
3 On Thine agèd servants pour
Richest mercies from Thy store,
And till life's brief hour shall end,
Be their Guardian, Saviour, Friend.
Father holy! Christ most blest!
Evermore within us rest!
Spirit pure, illume our ways
With Thy bright, celestial rays!
THOU, in Whom Thy Saints repose,
When life's brief conflict finds its close;
Behold us met before Thy face
To hallow this their resting-place:
Safe are the souls whom Thou dost keep;
And safely here their dust shall sleep.
2 Thou knowest, Lord,- for Thou hast wept Beside the tomb where Lazarus slept,
What tears must flow, what hearts must bleed,
When here we sow the precious seed:
Thou still rememberest, on Thy throne,
Thy garden grave and sealed stone.
3 Bid then Thy hosts encamp around
This chosen spot of holy ground:
Here let calm hope with memory dwell,
And faith of heavenly comfort tell :
No thought of ill, no footstep rude
Profane the sacred solitude.
4 Here when Thy mourners shall repair
In lonely grief and trembling prayer,
Lift Thou sad hearts and streaming eyes
To those fair glades of Paradise,
Where safe within the guarded gate
Thy ransomed souls in patience wait.
5 And when the valley, thick with corn,
Shall laugh to see Thy harvest-morn,
Here may the angel-reapers find
Full many a sheaf for Thee to bind,
And in Thy golden garner store,
Our fruit of tears for evermore.
RAISED between the earth and heaven,
Now our bells are set on high;
In the Name of Him Who giveth
Skill, and strength, and industry.
2 For His praise we meekly lay them
As a gift beneath His throne;
All their sweet and noblest music
Shall resound for Him alone.
3 Faithful men afar shall listen,
'Mid their daily toil or rest,
While the melody shall bid them
Love the Church where all are blest.
4 Earth's rejoicings, bright and holy,
Shall be signed with joyful peal;
And the music from the steeple
Shall our faith and love reveal.
5 They who languish, sick and lonely,
Shall be minded, as they sigh,
Of the Church's one communion,
God's true home and family.
6 When the spirits of the faithful
Pass away to light and peace;
Solemn tones shall then forewarn us,
Soon our life and work must cease.
7 May these loud and well-tuned voices,
Pealing forth in grand accord,
Lift our hearts through joy and sorrow
To Thy throne, most gracious Lord.
NGEL-VOICES, ever singing
Round Thy throne of light:
Angel-harps, forever ringing,
Rest not day nor night;
Thousands only live to bless Thee,
And confess Thee
Lord of might!
2 Lord, we know Thy love rejoices
O'er each work of Thine;
Thou didst ears, and hands, and voices
For Thy praise combine;
Craftsman's art and music's measure
For Thy pleasure
3 Here, great God, to-day we offer
Of Thine own to Thee;
And for Thine acceptance proffer,
All unworthily,
Hearts and minds, and hands and voices,
In our choicest
4 Honor, glory, might, and merit,
Thine shall ever be !
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
Blessed Trinity!
Of the best that Thou hast given,
Earth and heaven
Render Thee!
305 Travellers by Sea or Land.
LORD, be with us when we sail
Upon the lonely deep,
Our guard, when on the silent deck
The nightly watch we keep.
2 We need not fear, though all around,
'Mid rising winds, we hear
The multitude of waters surge;
For Thou, O God, art near.
3 The calm, the breeze, the gale, the storm,
The ocean and the land,
All, all are Thine, and held within
The hollow of Thy hand.
4 As when on blue Gennesareth
Rose high the angry wave,
And Thy disciples quailed in dread,
One word of Thine could save;
5 So when the fiercer storms arise
From man's unbridled will,
Be Thou, Lord, present in our hearts
To whisper, "Peace, be still.”
6 *If duty calls, from threatened strife
To guard our native shore,
And shot and shell are answering
The booming cannon's roar;
7 Be Thou the mainguard of our host
Till war and dangers cease,
Defend the right, put up the sword,
And through the world make peace.
8 Across this troubled tide of life
Thyself our pilot be,
Until we reach that better land,
The land that knows no sea.
*To be added in time of war.
TERNAL Father! strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee
For those in peril on the sea!
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