BENEDICTUS S. M.

J. B. Calkin

O4 4

13

How charming is the place,
Where my Redeemer God
Unveils the beauties of His face,
And sheds His love abroad.

2 Here, on the mercy-seat,
With radiant glory crowned,
Our joyful eyes behold Him sit,
And smile on all around.

3 To Him their prayers and cries
Each humble soul presents:
He listens to their broken sighs,
And grants them all their wants.

4 To them His sovereign will

He graciously imparts; And in return accepts, with smiles, The tribute of their hearts.

5 Give me, O Lord, a place

Within Thy blest abode, Among the children of Thy grace, The servants of my God.

Samuel Stennett 1772

14

HAIL to the Sabbath day:

The day divinely given:
When men to God their homage pay,
And earth draws near to heaven.

2 Lord, in this sacred hour
Within Thy courts we bend,

And bless Thy love, and own Thy power, Our Father and our Friend.

3 But Thou art not alone

In courts by mortals trod;
Nor only is the day Thine own
When man draws near to God.

4 Thy temple is the arch

Of yon unmeasured sky;
Thy Sabbath, the stupendous march
Of grand eternity.

5 Lord, may that holier day

Dawn on Thy servants' sight; And purer worship may we pay In heaven's unclouded light. Stephen Greenleaf Bullfinch 1832

SWABIA S. M.

This is the day of light; Let there be light to

German

16

THIS is the day of light;

Let there be light to-day:

0 Dayspring, rise upon our night, And chase its gloom away.

2 This is the day of rest:

Our failing strength renew!
On weary brain and troubled breast
Shed Thou Thy freshening dew.

3 This is the day of peace;
Thy peace our spirits fill:

Bid Thou the blast of discord cease,
The waves of strife be still.

4 This is the day of prayer;

Let earth to heaven draw near:
Lift up our hearts to seek Thee there;
Come down to meet us here.

5 This is the first of days!

Send forth Thy quickening breath, And wake dead souls to love and praise, O Vanquisher of death!

John Ellerton 1868

17

SING to the Lord, our Might,
With holy fervor sing;
Let hearts and instruments unite
To praise our heavenly King.

2 This is His holy house,
And this His festal day,
When He accepts the humblest vows
That we sincerely pay.

3 The Sabbath to our sires
In mercy first was given;

The Church her Sabbaths still requires To speed her on to heaven.

4 We still, like them of old,
Are in the wilderness;

And God is still as near His fold,
To pity and to bless.

5 Then let us open wide

Our hearts for Him to fill;
And He that Israel then supplied,
Will help His Israel still.

Henry Francis Lyte 1834

SOHO

C. M.

J. Barnby

3

The la- b'rer's rest, the

day of mirth and praise.

19

BLEST day of God, most calm, most bright,
The first and best of days;

The laborer's rest, the saint's delight,
A day of mirth and praise.

2 My Saviour's face did make thee shine, His rising did thee raise:

This made thee heavenly and divine
Beyond the common days.

3 The first-fruits do a blessing prove
To all the sheaves behind;
And they that do a Sabbath love

A happy week shall find.

4 This day must I fore God appear,
For, Lord, the day is Thine:

O let me spend it in Thy fear,
Then shall the day be mine.

ALLINGTON C. M.

John Mason 1683

20

ARISE, O King of grace, arise,
And enter to Thy rest:

Lo, Thy Church waits with longing eyes,
Thus to be owned and blest.

2 Enter with all Thy glorious train,
Thy Spirit and Thy word;
All that the ark did once contain
Could no such grace afford.

3 Here, mighty God, accept our vows,
Here let Thy praise be spread;
Bless the provisions of Thy house,

And fill Thy poor with bread.
4 Here let the Son of David reign,
Let God's Anointed shine,
Justice and truth His court maintain,
With love and power divine.

Isaac Watts 1719

A. H. Mann

LAND OF REST C. M. D.

R. S. Newman

A heaven on earth appear.

5 Then shall our hearts enraptured say,
Come, great Redeemer! come,
And bring the bright, the glorious day,
That calls Thy children home.

Anne Steele 1760

LORD, in the morning Thou shalt hear
My voice ascending high;

To Thee will I direct my prayer,
To Thee lift up mine eye:

2 Up to the hills, where Christ is gone
To plead for all His saints,
Presenting, at His Father's throne,
Our songs and our complaints.

3 Thou art a God, before whose sight
The wicked shall not stand;
Sinners shall ne'er be Thy delight,
Nor dwell at Thy right hand.

4 But to Thy house will I resort,
To taste Thy mercies there;
I will frequent Thy holy court,
And worship in Thy fear.

50 may Thy Spirit guide my feet
In ways of righteousness;
Make every path of duty straight
And plain before my face.

25

Isaac Watts 1719

THIS is the day the Lord hath made,
He calls the hours His own;
Let heaven rejoice, let earth be glad,
And praise surround the throne.

2 To-day He rose and left the dead,
And Satan's empire fell;
To-day the saints His triumphs spread,
And all His wonders tell.

EARLY, my God, without delay,
I haste to seek Thy face;
My thirsty spirit faints away,

Without Thy cheering grace.

2 So pilgrims on the scorching sand, Beneath a burning sky,

Long for a cooling stream at hand,
And they must drink or die.

3 I've seen Thy glory and Thy power
Through all Thy temple shine:
My God repeat that heavenly hour,
That vision so divine.

4 Not life itself, with all its joys,
Can my best passions move;
Or raise so high my cheerful voice,
As Thy forgiving love.

5 Thus, till my last expiring day,
I'll bless my God and King;
Thus will I lift my hands to pray,
And tune my lips to sing.

Isaac Watts 1729