SUNLIGHT of the heavenly day,
Mighty to revive and cheer!
Bless our yet untrodden way;
Lead us through the entered year.
Where the shades of death we see,
Let thy living brightness be:
Let it speed our lingering feet;
Let it shine on all we meet.
Forward, though our path be hid,
Though we pass the lurking foe,
Though the sound of war forbid,
Girt with gladness, let us go;
Bold in thy protecting care,
Strong to prove thee faithful there,
Through the desert or the sea,
On, to find our home in thee.
Open thou beneath our tread
Springs the distance could not show;
From the holy fountain-head
Let them rise where'er we go:
Rather give us eyes to see,
Love, awake to love in thee, -
Hearts that, trusting to thy care,
Find its traces everywhere.
WHILE, with ceaseless course, the sun
Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here.
Waking to eternal day,
They have done with all below:
We a little longer stay;
But how little, none can know.
As the winged arrow flies
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts, and leaves no trace behind,
Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream:
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise ;
All below is but a dream.
Thanks for mercies past receive,
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us henceforth how to live
With eternity in view.
Bless thy word to young and old;
Fill us with thy heavenly love;
And, when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with thee above!
John Newton.
WHEN the day of toil is done,
When the race of life is run,
Father, grant thy wearied one
Rest for evermore !
When the strife of sin is stilled,
When the foe within is killed,
Be thy gracious word fulfilled,-
Peace for evermore !
When the darkness melts away,
At the breaking of thy day,
Bid us hail the cheering ray,-
Light for evermore!
When the heart by sorrow tried Feels at length its throbs subside, Bring us, where all tears are dried,
Joy for evermore!
When for vanished days we yearn,
Days that never can return,
Teach us in thy love to learn
Love for evermore !
When the breath of life is flown, When the grave must claim its own,
HAST thou, 'midst life's empty noises,
Heard the solemn steps of time, And the low, mysterious voices
Of another clime?
Early hath life's mighty question
Thrilled within thy heart of youth, With a deep and strong beseeching,What, and where, is truth? Not to ease and aimless quiet
Doth the inward answer tend;
But to works of love and duty,
As our being's end:
Earnest toil and strong endeavor
Of a spirit which within
Wrestles with familiar evil
And besetting sin;
And without, with tireless vigor,
Steady heart, and purpose strong,
In the power of truth assaileth
Every form of wrong.
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