Poems (Hale)/Sabbath Hymn
SABBATH HYMN.
This day let grateful praise ascend
To Thee, our Father and our Friend!
Thee, Author of this holy light,
Thee, throned in boundless power and might.
To Thee, our Father and our Friend!
Thee, Author of this holy light,
Thee, throned in boundless power and might.
To Thee its morning light be given,
The noontide blaze, the dew of even;
And may its silent night-watch be
Devoted, Mighty One! to Thee!
The noontide blaze, the dew of even;
And may its silent night-watch be
Devoted, Mighty One! to Thee!
Let no vain words of homage rise,
An empty, heartless sacrifice;
Or clouds of breathing incense swell,
The pomp of human pride to tell.
An empty, heartless sacrifice;
Or clouds of breathing incense swell,
The pomp of human pride to tell.
The silent prayer, the contrite sigh,
The chastened heart, the filial eye,
Shall rise, a holier gift to Thee,
And at Thy throne accepted be.
The chastened heart, the filial eye,
Shall rise, a holier gift to Thee,
And at Thy throne accepted be.
O! let the sacred hours be given
To truth, to duty, and to heaven
While trusting faith and holy love
Rise fervent to thy throne above.
To truth, to duty, and to heaven
While trusting faith and holy love
Rise fervent to thy throne above.
Grant that our earthly Sabbaths be
But dawnings of eternity,
To shadow forth that glorious rest,
The heavenly quiet of the blest.
But dawnings of eternity,
To shadow forth that glorious rest,
The heavenly quiet of the blest.