Excerpt
Invitation.
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 song
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.
[26]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.
2.P. M.
Call to Prayer.1 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.
[27] 3.S. M.
Cheerful Worship.1 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.
3 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.
4.L. M.
The House of God.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.
[28]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.
5.7s. M.
Seeking God.1 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!...