Great God, we sing that mighty hand

By which supported still we stand:

The opening year thy mercy shows;

Thy mercy crown it till it close!

2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,

Still we are guarded by our God;

By his incessant bounty fed,

By his unerring counsel led.

3 With grateful hearts the past we own;

The future, all to us unknown,

We to thy guardian care commit,

And peaceful leave before thy feet.

4 In scenes exalted or depressed,

Be thou our joy, and thou our rest:

Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,

Adored through all our changing days.

And now, my soul, another year

Of thy short life is past;

I can not long continue here,

And this may be my last.

2 Much of my hasty life is gone,

Nor will return again:

And swift my passing moments run,

The few that yet remain.

3 Awake, my soul; with utmost care

Thy true condition learn;

What are thy hopes? how sure? how fair?

What is thy great concern?

4 Behold, another year begins;

Set out afresh for heaven;

Seek pardon for thy former sins,

In Christ so freely given.

My few revolving years,

How swift they glide away!

How short the term of life appears,

When past—but as a day.

2 Lord, through another year,

If thou permit my stay,

With watchful care may I pursue

The true and living way.

Come let us anew

Our journey pursue—

Roll round with the year,

And never stand still till the Master appear;

His adorable will

Let us gladly fulfill,

And our talents improve

By the patience of hope, and the labor of love.

2 Our life is a dream;

Our time, as a stream,

Glides swiftly away,

And the fugitive moment refuses to stay:

The arrow is flown;

The moment is gone;

The millennial year

Rushes on to our view, and eternity’s near.

3 O that each in the day

Of his coming, may say,

“I have fought my way through;

I have finished the work thou didst give me to do;”

While with ceaseless course the sun

Hasted through the former year,

Many souls their race have run,

Never more to meet us here.

Fixed in an eternal state,

They have done with all below,

We a little longer wait,

But how little, none can know.

2 As the wingÉd arrow flies

Speedily the mark to find;

As the lightning from the skies

Darts, and leaves no trace behind—

Swiftly thus our fleeting days

Bear us down life’s rapid stream;

Upward, Lord, our spirits raise,

All below is but a dream.

3 Thanks for mercies past receive,

Pardon of our sins renew;

Teach us henceforth how to live,

With eternity in view;

Bless thy word to old and young,

Fill us with a Saviour’s love;

When our life’s short race is run,

May we dwell with thee above.

For thy mercy and thy grace,

Faithful through another year,

Hear our song of thankfulness,

Father, and Redeemer, hear!