1 COME to the house of prayer,
O ye afflicted, come!
The God of peace shall meet you there,
He makes that house His home.
2 Come to the house of praise,
Ye who are happy now;
In sweet accord your voices raise,
In kindred homage bow.
3 Ye aged, hither come,
For ye have felt His love;
Soon shall ye lift a holier
In fairer courts above.
4 Ye young, before His throne,
Come, bow; your voices raise;
Let not your hearts His praise disown,
Who gives the power to praise.
5 Thou, whose benignant eye
In mercy looks on all;
Who seest the tear of misery,
And hear'st the mourner's call;
6 Up to Thy dwelling-place
Bear our frail spirits on,
Till they outstrip time's tardy pace,
And heaven on earth be won.
To prayer, to prayer!-for the morning breaks,
And earth in her Maker's smile awakes;
His light is on all below and above,
The light of gladness, and life, and love:
O, then, on the breath of this early air,
Send upward the incense of grateful prayer.
2 To prayer!-for the day that God has blest
Comes tranquilly on with its solemn rest;
It speaks of creation's early bloom,-
It speaks of the Prince who burst the tomb:
Then summon the spirit's exalted powers,
And devote to heaven the hallowed hours.
3 Awake, awake, and gird up thy strength,
To join Christ's holy band at length;
To Him who unceasing love displays,
Whom the powers of nature unceasingly praise;
To Him thy heart and thy hours be given,
For a life of prayer is the life of heaven.
COME, ye who love the Lord! And let your joys be known; Join in a song with sweet accord, And thus surround His throne.
2 The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from this place! Religion never was designed To make our pleasures less.
The sons of God have found That heaven begins below: Celestial fruits, on earthly ground, From faith and hope may grow.
4 Then let our sorrows cease, And every tear be dry;
We're travelling through the paths of peace To fairer worlds on high.
1 BE still! be still! for all around,
On either hand, is holy ground:
Here in His house, the Lord to-day
Will listen, while His people pray.
2 Thou, tost upon the waves of care,
Ready to sink with deep despair,
Here ask relief, with heart sincere,
And thou shalt find that God is here.
3 Thou who hast laid within the grave
Those whom thou hadst no power to save,
Believe their spirits now are near,
For angels wait while God is here.
4 Thou who hast dear ones far away,
In foreign lands, 'mid ocean's spray,
Pray for them now, and dry the tear,
And trust the God who listens here.
5 Thou who art mourning o'er thy sin,
Deploring guilt that reigns within,
The God of peace is ever near;
The troubled spirit meets Him here.
THIRSTING for a living spring,
Seeking for a higher home,
Resting where our souls must cling,
Trusting, hoping, Lord, we come.
2 Glorious hopes our spirit fill,
When we feel that Thou art near:
Father! then our fears are still,
Then the soul's bright end is clear.
3 Life's hard conflict we would win,
Read the meaning of life's frown;
Change the thorn-bound wreath of sin
For the spirit's starry crown.
4 Make us beautiful within
By Thy spirit's holy light:
Guard us when our faith burns dim,
Father of all love and might!
1 FORTH from the dark and stormy sky,
Lord, to Thine altar's shade we fly;
Forth from the world, its hope and fear,
Father, we seek Thy shelter here:
Weary and weak, Thy grace we pray;
Turn not, O Lord! Thy guests away.
2 Long have we roamed in want and pain,
Long have we sought Thy rest in vain;
Wildered in doubt, in darkness lost,
Long have our souls been tempest-tost:
Low at Thy feet our sins we lay;
Turn not, O Lord! Thy guests away.
THE SABBATH OF THE SOUL.
1 O FATHER, though the anxious fear
May cloud to-morrow's way,
No fear nor doubt shall enter here;
All shall be Thine to-day.
2 We will not bring divided hearts
To worship at Thy shrine;
But each unworthy thought departs,
And leaves this temple Thine.
Sleep, sleep to-day, tormenting cares,
Of earth and folly born;
Ye shall not dim the light that streams
From this celestial morn.
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