3 Worthy art Thou at all times to receive
Our hallowed praises, Lord:
O Son of God, be Thou, in Whom we live,
Through all the world adored.
HE day is gently sinking to a close,
Fainter and yet more faint the sunlight glows:
O Brightness of Thy Father's glory, Thou
Eternal Light of Light, be with us now:
Where Thou art present darkness cannot be;
Midnight is glorious noon, O Lord, with Thee.
2 Our changeful lives are ebbing to an end:
Onward to darkness and to death we tend:
O Conqueror of the grave, be Thou our guide,
Be Thou our light in death's dark eventide;
Then in our mortal hour will be no gloom,
No sting in death, no terror in the tomb.
3 Thou, Who in darkness walking didst appear
Upon the waves, and Thy disciples cheer,
Come, Lord, in lonesome days, when storms assail,
And earthly hopes and human succors fail:
When all is dark may we behold Thee nigh,
And hear Thy voice-"Fear not, for it is I."
4 The weary world is mouldering to decay,
Its glories wane, its pageants fade away;
In that last sunset when the stars shall fall,
May we arise awakened by Thy call,
With Thee, O Lord, forever to abide
In that blest day which has no eventide.
HE radiant morn hath passed away,
And spent too soon her golden store;
The shadows of departing day
Creep on once more.
2 Our life is but a fading dawn,
Its glorious noon, how quickly past;
Lead us, O Christ, our life-work done,
Safe home at last.
3 Oh, by Thy soul-inspiring grace
Uplift our hearts to realms on high;
Help us to look to that bright place
Beyond the sky,
4 Where light, and life, and joy, and peace
In undivided empire reign,
And thronging angels never cease
Their deathless strain;
5 Where saints are clothed in spotless white,
And evening shadows never fall,
Where Thou, eternal Light of Light,
OLY Father, cheer our way
With Thy love's perpetual ray :
Grant us every closing day
Light at evening-time.
2 Holy Saviour, calm our fears
When earth's brightness disappears:
Grant us in our later years
Light at evening-time.
3 Holy Spirit, be Thou nigh
When in mortal pains we lie;
Grant us, as we come to die,
Light at evening-time.
4 Holy, blessed Trinity,
Darkness is not dark to Thee:
Those Thou keepest always see
Light at evening-time.
HE sun is sinking fast,
The daylight dies;
Let love awake, and pay
Her evening sacrifice.
2 As Christ upon the cross
His head inclined,
And to His Father's hands
His parting soul resigned;
3 So now herself my soul
Would wholly give
Into His sacred charge,
In Whom all spirits live;
4 So now beneath His eye
Would calmly rest,
Without a wish or thought
Abiding in the breast;
5 Save that His will be done,
Whate'er betide;
Dead to herself, and dead
In Him to all beside.
6 Thus would I live: yet now
Not I, but He,
In all His power and love,
Henceforth alive in me.
7 One sacred Trinity,
One Lord divine,
May I be ever His,
And He forever mine.
UN of my soul, Thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if Thou be near;
Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes.
2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My weary eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
Forever on my Saviour's breast.
3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without Thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without Thee I dare not die.
4 If some poor wandering child of Thine
Have spurned to-day the voice divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.
5 Watch by the sick; enrich the poor
With blessings from Thy boundless store;
Be every mourner's sleep to-night,
Like infant's slumbers, pure and light.
6 Come near and bless us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take,
Till in the ocean of Thy love
We lose ourselves in heaven above.
BIDE with me: fast falls the eventide;
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me.
2 Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away,
Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou Who changest not, abide with me. 3 I need Thy presence every passing hour; What but Thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who, like Thyself, my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, Lord, abide with me. 4 I fear no foe, with Thee at hand to bless: Ills have no weight, and tears no bitterness. Where is death's sting? Where, grave, thy victory? I triumph still, if Thou abide with me.
5 Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes: Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies: Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee:
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.
OFTLY now the light of day
Fades upon my sight away;
Free from care, from labor free,
Lord, I would commune with Thee.
2 Thou, Whose all-pervading eye
Naught escapes, without, within,
Pardon each infirmity,
Open fault, and secret sin.
3 Soon, for me, the light of day
Shall forever pass away;
Then, from sin and sorrow free,
Take me, Lord, to dwell with Thee.
4 Thou Who, sinless, yet hast known
All of man's infirmity;
Then, from Thine eternal throne,
Jesus, look with pitying eye.
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