Far from my thoughts, vain world! begone,

Let my religious hours alone:

Fain would mine eyes my Saviour see;

I wait a visit, Lord! from thee.

2 My heart grows warm with holy fire,

And kindles with a pure desire;

Come, my dear Jesus! from above,

And feed my soul with heavenly love.

3 Blest Saviour, what delicious fare—

How sweet thine entertainments are!

Never did angels taste above

Redeeming grace and dying love.

4 Hail, great Immanuel, all-divine!

In thee thy Father’s glories shine:

Thou brightest, sweetest, fairest One,

That eyes have seen, or angels known!

Sun of my soul! thou Saviour dear,

It is not night if thou be near:

O, may no earth-born cloud arise

To hide thee from thy servant’s eyes!

2 When soft the dews of kindly sleep

My wearied eyelids gently steep,

Be my last thought—how sweet to rest

For ever on my Saviour’s breast!

3 Abide with me from morn till eve,

For without thee I can not live;

Abide with me when night is nigh,

For without thee I dare not die.

My God, my heart with love inflame,

That I may in thy holy name

Aloud in songs of praise rejoice,

While I have breath to raise my voice.

2 No more let my ungrateful heart

One moment from thy praise depart;

But live and sing in sweet accord,

The glories of my sovereign Lord.

3 Jesus! thou hope of glory, come,

And make my heart thy constant home:

Through all the remnant of my days,

O let me speak and live thy praise!

In silence of the voiceless night,

When chased by dreams, the slumbers flee,

Whom, in the darkness, do I seek,

O God, but thee?

2 And if there weigh upon my breast,

Vague memories of the day foregone,

Scarce knowing why, I fly to thee,

And lay them down.

3 Or, if it be the gloom that comes,

In token of impending ill,

My bosom heeds not what it is,

Since ’tis thy will.

4 For, O! in spite of constant care,

Or aught beside, how joyfully

I pass that solitary hour,

My God, with thee!

O that I could for ever dwell,

Delighted, at the Saviour’s feet;

Behold the form I love so well,

And all his tender words repeat!

2 The world shut out from all my soul,

And heaven brought in with all its bliss,

O! is there aught from pole to pole,

One moment to compare with this?

3 This is the hidden life I prize—

A life of penitential love;

When I my follies most despise,

And raise my highest thoughts above?

4 When all I am I clearly see,

And freely own with deepest shame;

When the Redeemer’s love to me

Kindles within a deathless flame.

5 Thus would I live till nature fail,

And all my former sins forsake;

Then rise to God within the vail,

And of eternal joys partake.

Return, my roving heart, return,

And chase these shadowy forms no more;

Seek out some solitude to mourn,

And thy forsaken God implore.

Our Father God! not face to face

May mortal sense commune with thee,

Nor lift the curtains of that place

Where dwells thy secret Majesty:

Yet wheresoe’er our spirits bend

In reverent faith and humble prayer,

Thy promised blessing will descend,

And we shall find thy Spirit there.

2 Lord! be the spot where now we meet

An open gateway into heaven;

Here may we sit at Jesus’ feet,

And feel our deepest sins forgiven.

Here may desponding care look up;

And sorrow lay its burden down,

Or learn of him to drink the cup,

To bear the cross and win the crown.

3 Here may the sick and wandering soul,

To truth still blind, to sin a slave,

Find better than Bethesda’s pool,

Or than Siloam’s healing wave;

Sweet is the prayer whose holy stream

In earnest pleading flows;

Devotion dwells upon the theme,

And warm and warmer glows.

2 Faith grasps the blessing she desires,

Hope points the upward gaze;

And love, untrembling love inspires

The eloquence of praise.

3 But sweeter far the still, small voice,

Heard by the human ear,

When God hath made the heart rejoice,

And dried the bitter tear.

4 Nor accents flow, nor words ascend;

All utterance faileth there;

But listening spirits comprehend,

And God accepts the prayer.

Far from the world, O Lord, I flee,

From strife and tumult far;

From scenes where Satan wages still

His most successful war.

2 The calm retreat, the silent shade,

With prayer and praise agree;

And seem by thy sweet bounty made

For those who follow thee.

3 There, if thy Spirit touch the soul,

And grace her mean abode,

O, with what peace, and joy, and love,

She then communes with God!

Father divine, thy piercing eye

Sees through the darkest night,

In deep retirement thou art nigh,

With heart-discerning sight.

2 There may that piercing eye survey,

My duteous homage paid,

With every morning’s dawning ray

And every evening’s shade.

3 O let thy own celestial fire

The incense still inflame;

While my warm vows to thee aspire,

Through my Redeemer’s name.

4 So shall the visits of thy love

My soul in secret bless;

So shalt thou deign in worlds above,

Thy suppliant to confess.

O could I find, from day to day,

A nearness to my God,

Then would my hours glide sweet away

While leaning on his word.

Still with thee, O my God,

I would desire to be;

By day, by night, at home, abroad,

I would be still with thee;—

2 With thee, when dawn comes in,

And calls me back to care;

Each day returning to begin

With thee, my God, in prayer;—

3 With thee, amid the crowd

That throngs the busy mart,

To hear thy voice, ’mid clamor loud,

Speak softly to my heart;—

4 With thee, when day is done,

And evening calms the mind:

The setting as the rising sun,

With thee my heart would find.

5 With thee, when darkness brings

The signal of repose,

Calm in the shadow of thy wings,

Mine eyelids I would close.

Let my life be hid in thee,

Life of life, and Light of light!

Love’s illimitable Sea!

Depth of peace, of power the Hight.

2 Let my life be hid in thee,

When my foes are gathering round;

Covered with thy panoply,

Safe within thy holy ground.

3 Let my life be hid in thee,

From vexation and annoy;

Calm in thy tranquillity,

All my mourning turned to joy.

4 Let my life be hid in thee;

When my strength and health shall fail,

Let thine immortality

In my dying hour prevail.

Jesus, Saviour all divine,

Hast thou made me truly thine?

Hast thou bought me by thy blood?

Reconciled my heart to God?

Hearken to my tender prayer,

Let me thine own image bear;

Let me love thee more and more,

Till I reach heaven’s blissful shore.

2 Thou canst fit me by thy grace

For the heavenly dwelling-place;

All thy promises are sure,

Ever shall thy love endure;

God is in the loneliest spot

Present, though thou know it not;

Morning vows and evening prayer

Make a Bethel everywhere.

2 Go where duty guides thy feet;

There good angels thou shalt meet;

Hosts of God thou canst not see,

Watch thy steps and wait on thee.

When far from the hearts where our fondest thoughts center,

Denied for a time their loved presence to share;

In spirit we meet, when the closet we enter,

And hold sweet communion together in prayer!

2 O! fondly I think, as night’s curtains surround them,

The Shepherd of Israel tenderly keeps,

The angels of light are encamping around them,

They are watched by the eye that ne’er slumbers nor sleeps,

3 When the voice of the morning once more shall awake them,

And summon them forth to the calls of the day,

I will think of that God who will never forsake them,

The Friend ever near though all else be away.

4 Then why should one thought of anxiety seize us,

Though distance divide us from those whom we love?

They rest in the covenant mercy of Jesus,

Their prayers meet with ours in the mansions above.

5 O! sweet bond of friendship, whate’er may betide us,

Though on life’s stormy billows our barks may be driven,

Though distance, or trial, or death may divide us,

Eternal re-union awaits us in heaven.