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OPENING SERVICES AND ANNIVERSARIES.

Grant, Lord, with this new house
New grace our hearts to cheer,

New life within, new power without,
God of our fathers, hear!

And if our joy to-day

Be touched with secret pain,

And thoughts of missing faces blend
With hymns of gladdest strain,

O let the eye of faith

That heavenly temple see,

Where, amidst holier, vaster throngs,

They ever worship Thee.

148th.

F. W. GOADBY. 1876.

1249 This is...the house of God.-Gen. 28. 17.

1

KING of glory, come,

And with Thy favour crown

This temple as Thy dome,

This people as Thy own:

Beneath this roof, O deign to show,

How God can dwell with man below.

2

Here may Thine ears attend

3

Our interceding cries,

And grateful praise ascend

All fragrant to the skies:

Here may Thy word melodious sound

And spread celestial joys around.

Here may the attentive throng
Imbibe Thy truth and love,
And converts join the song

Of seraphim above,

And willing crowds surround Thy board,
With sacred joy and sweet accord.

4 Here, may our unborn sons
And daughters sound Thy praise,
And shine like polished stones,
Through long succeeding days;
Here, Lord, display Thy saving power,
While temples stand and men adore.

BENJAMIN FRANCIS. 1774.

DOMESTIC WORSHIP.

C. M.

1250 Shew piety at home.—1 Tim. 5. 4.

1

HAPI

[APPY the home when God is there,
And love fills every breast;

Where one their wish and one their prayer,
And one their heavenly rest.

2 Happy the home where Jesus' name
Is sweet to every ear;

Where children early lisp His fame,
And parents hold Him dear.

3 Happy the home where prayer is heard,
And praise is wont to rise,
Where parents love the sacred word,
And live but for the skies.

4 Lord! let us in our homes agree
This blessed peace to gain;
Unite our hearts in love to Thee,
And love to all will reign.

MARRIAGE.

7.6.

1251 And God blessed them.—Gen. 1. 28.
1 THE voice that breathed o'er Eden

That earliest wedding-day,

The primal marriage blessing,
It hath not passed away.

2 Still in the pure espousal

Of Christian man and maid, The Holy Three are with us, The threefold grace is said;

3 For dower of blessèd children, For love and faith's sweet sake, For high mysterious union

Which naught on earth may break.

4 Be present, awful Father,
To give away this bride,
As Eve Thou gav'st to Adam
Out of his own pierced side.`

5 Be present, gracious Saviour,
To join their loving hands,
As Thou didst bind two natures
In Thine eternal bands.

6 Be present, Holiest Spirit,
To bless them as they kneel,
As Thou for Christ the Bridegroom
The heavenly Spouse dost seal.

7 O spread Thy pure wings o'er them,
Let no ill power find place,
When onward to Thy footstool
Their daily path they trace,

8 To cast their crowns before Thee,
In perfect sacrifice;

Till to the home of gladness

With Christ's own Bride they rise.

J. KEBLE. 1857.

1252

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7.6.

He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God.
1 John 4. 16.

LOVE Divine and golden,
Mysterious depth and height!

To Thee the world beholden
Looks up for life and light;
O Love Divine and gentle,

The blesser and the blest!
Beneath Thy care parental

The world lies down in rest.

2 O Love Divine and tender,

That through our homes doth move,
Veiled in the softened splendour
Of holy household love.
A throne without Thy blessing
Were labour without rest,
And cottages possessing

Thy blessedness are blest.

3 God bless these hands united!

God bless these hearts made one!
Unsevered and unblighted

May they through life go on;
Here in earth's home preparing
For the bright home above,
And there for ever sharing
Its joy where "God is Love."

J. S. B. MONSELL. 1875.

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Before the setting of the sun,
Redeem the time for Thee.
Another day of toil!

To Thee we yield our powers;
And let not sin our conscience soil
Through all the passing hours.
Another day of fear!

For watchful is our foe;

And sin is strong, and death is near,
And short our time below.

Another day of hope!

For Thou art with us still;

And Thine Almighty strength can cope
With all who seek our ill.

Another day of grace

To help us on our way!

One step towards the resting-place

The eternal Sabbath-day.

C.M.

J. ELLERTON. 1870.

1254 The things which are not seen are eternal.

1

2 Cor. 4. 18.

HE roseate hues of early dawn,
The brightness of the day,

The crimson of the sunset sky,
How fast they fade away;
O for the pearly gates of heaven,
O for the golden floor;

O for the Sun of Righteousness,
That setteth nevermore!

2 The highest hopes we cherish here,
How fast they tire and faint!
How many a spot defiles the robe
That wraps an earthly saint!