No strange fire may in me glow
That Thine altar doth not know.
4 Let me with my heart to-day,
Holy, holy, holy, singing,
Rapt a while from earth away,
All my soul to Thee up-springing,
Have a foretaste, inly given,
How they worship Thee in heaven.
Rest in me and I in Thee,
Build a paradise within me;
O reveal Thyself to me,
Blessed Love, Who diedst to win me:
Fed from Thine exhaustless urn,
Pure and bright my lamp shall burn.
Hence all care, all vanity,
For the day to God is holy:
Come, Thou glorious Majesty,
Deign to fill this temple lowly;
Naught to-day my soul shall move,
Simply resting in Thy love.
Benjamin Schmolk. 1715.
Tr. Catherine Winkworth. 1858.
AFELY through another week
God has brought us on our way :
Let us now a blessing seek,
Waiting in His courts to-day;
Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.
2 Mercies multiplied each hour
Through the week, our praise demand;
Guarded by Thy mighty power,
Fed and guided by Thy hand;
Though ungrateful we have been,
Only made returns of sin.
3 While we pray for pardoning grace,
Through the dear Redeemer's Name,
Show Thy reconciling face,
Take away our sins and shame:
From our worldly cares set free,
May we rest this day in Thee.
4 Here we're come, Thy Name to praise;
Let us feel Thy presence near:
May Thy glory meet our eyes,
While we in Thy house appear:
Here afford us, Lord, a taste
Of our everlasting feast.
5 May the Gospel's joyful sound
Conquer sinners, comfort saints;
Make the fruits of grace abound,
Bring relief for all complaints.
Thus may all our Sabbaths prove,
Till we join the Church above.
NOTHER six days' work is done,
Another Sabbath is begun :
Return, my soul, enjoy thy rest,
Improve the day thy God hath blest.
2 Come, bless the Lord, Whose love assigns. So sweet a rest to wearied minds; Provides an antepast of heaven,
And gives this day the food of seven.
3 O that our thoughts and thanks may rise.
As grateful incense to the skies;
And draw from heaven that sweet repose,
Which none but he who feels it knows.
4 With joy God's wondrous works we view
In various scenes both old and new;
With praise we think on mercies past,
With hope we future pleasures taste.
5 In holy duties let the day,
In holy pleasures pass away,
How sweet a Sabbath thus to spend,
In hope of one that ne'er shall end!
Joseph Stennett. 1732. a.
THe calls the hours His own:
THIS is the day the Lord hath made;
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 triumph spread,
And all his wonders tell.
3 Hosanna to the anointed King,
To David's holy Son;
Help us, O Lord: descend and bring
Salvation from Thy throne.
4 Blest be the Lord, Who comes to men
With messages of grace;
Who comes in God His Father's Name,
To save our sinful race.
5 Hosanna in the highest strains
The Church on earth can raise ;
The highest heavens, in which He reigns,
Shall give Him nobler praise. Isaac Watts. 1719.
YHRIST, Whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only Light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o'er the shades of night:
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Daystar, in my heart appear.
2 Dark and cheerless is the morn,
Unaccompanied by Thee;
Joyless is the day's return,
Till Thy mercy's beams I see:
Till Thou inward light impart,
Glad my eyes, and warm my heart.
3 Visit then this soul of mine;
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, Radiancy divine;
Scatter all my unbelief:
More and more Thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.
Morgenglanz der Ewigkeit.
ESUS, Sun of Righteousness,
Brightest beam of love divine,
With the early morning rays
Do Thou on our darkness shine,
And dispel with purest light
All our long and gloomy night!
2 Like the sun's reviving ray,
May Thy Love, with tender glow,
All our coldness melt away,
Warm and cheer us forth to go,
Gladly serve Thee and obey
All our life's short earthly day!
3 Thou our only Hope and Guide;
Never leave us nor forsake:
In Thy light may we abide
Till the endless morning break;
Moving on to Zion's hill,
Onward, upward, homeward still! 4 Lead us all our days and years
In Thy straight and narrow way;
Lead us through the vale of tears
To the land of perfect day,
Where Thy people, fully blest,
Near Thy throne for ever rest.
Christian Knorr von Rosenroth. 1684.
Tr. Jane Borthwick. 1853. a.
ARISE, O King of grace, arise,
And enter to Thy rest;
Behold, Thy Church, with longing eyes,
Waits 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.
ORD of the worlds above,
How pleasant and how fair
The dwellings of Thy Love,
Thine earthly temples are!
LORD of above,
To Thine abode
My heart aspires,
With warm desires
To see my God.
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