2 Dear light of home, dearer than evening- 3 Giver of all, both evening-star and home

2 Come even now! But think not here to find
A lodging, Lord, and converse to Thy mind;
The lamp burns low; the heart is chill and pale,
Wet through the broken casement pours the gale.

3 Alas! ill-ordered shows the dreary room;
The household staff lies heaped amidst the gloom
The table empty stands, the couch undrest:
Ah! what a welcome for th' eternal Guest!

4 Yet welcome, welcome now; this doleful scene

Is e'en itself my cause to hail Thee in;
This dark confusion e'en at once demands

Thine own bright presence, Lord, and ordering hands.

5 I seek no more to alter things, to mend,
Before the coming of so great a Friend;
All were at best unseemly; and 'twere ill
Beyond all else to keep Thee waiting still.
6 Then as Thou art, all holiness and bliss,
Come in and see my chamber as it is;
I'bid Thee welcome boldly, in the name
Of Thy great glory, and my want and shame.

7 Come, not to find, but make, this troubled heart
A dwelling worthy of Thee as Thou art;
To chase the gloom, the terror, and the sin,
Come, all Thyself, yea come, Lord Jesus, in!

Rev. Handley C. G. Moule. 1874.

1. Lord Jesus, by Thy Passion, To Thee I make my pray'r; Thou, who in mer-cy

smitest, Have mer-cy, Lord, and spare, O wash me in the fountain That floweth

from Thy side! O clothe me in the raiment Thy blood hath pu- ri-fied!

1. Precious, pre-cions blood of Jesus, Shed on Cal-va- ry,

491