4 To thee we dedicate this house,
And our best offerings bring;
Here pay to thee our solemn vows,
And hymns of triumph sing.
5 Long may these temple walls resound
With thy most worthy praise;
And may each heart, O God, be found
A temple of thy grace.
HYMN 484. L. M. [#]
Christian Ministry.
1 FATHER of mercies, in thy house
Smile on our homage and our vows;
While, with a grateful heart, we share
These pledges of our Master's care.
2 The Saviour, when to heaven he rose,
In splendid triumph o'er his foes,
Bestowed his gifts on men below,
And wide his royal bounties flow.
3 So shall a bright succession run,
Till the last courses of the sun;
While unborn churches, by their care,
Shall rise and flourish, large and fair.
4 Jesus, our Lord, their hearts shall know,-
The Spring whence all these blessings flow;
Pastors and people shout his praise,
Through the long round of endless days.
HYMN 485. L. M. [#]
Settlement or Ordination of a Minister.
1 GREAT Lord of angels, we adore
The grace that builds thy courts below;
And, mid ten thousand sons of light,
Stoops to regard what mortals do.
2 Amid the wastes of time and death
Successive pastors thou dost raise,
Thy kingdom and thy truth to spread,
And form a people for thy praise.
3 At length, dismissed from labours here,
Thy servants join the heavenly band;
With them through distant worlds they fly,
With them before thy presence stand,
4 O blest employment! glorious hope!
Sweet lenitive of grief and care!
When shall we reach those radiant courts,
And all their joys and honours share?
5 Yet, while these labours we pursue,
Though distant from thy heavenly throne,
Give us a zeal and love like theirs,
And half their heaven shall here be known.
HYMN 486, C. M. [#]
Apostolic Commission.
1 Go preach the gospel, Jesus cries ;
To you this power is given;
Declare salvation's glorious prize
To all beneath the heaven.
2 Commissioned thus, through every age,
His heralds, in his name,
In this delightful work engage,
And peace and hope proclaim.
3 To him, whom we to thee ordain,
Thy gifts, O God, impart ;
May he those sacred truths maintain,
Which heal the wounded heart.
4 May all, by his instruction blest,
The path to heaven pursue;
And converts to thy temple press,
Numerous as drops of dew.
HYMN 487. C. M. [#]
Installation or Ordination.
1 ETERNAL Father, God of peace,
We bow before thy throne,
And sing that wondrous love and grace,
Which call us all thine own.
2 Within these walls, O may thy voice
Of pardoning love be heard;
Here may the broken heart rejoice,
The contrite soul be cheered.
3 And may thy servant, who, this day,
Is set apart for thee,
Enjoy the gospel's heavenly ray,
And all thy glory see.
4 Teach him to show that peace on earth Which true religion gives;
And point the eye of hope and faith
To realms where Jesus lives.
5 O may thy grace his heart enlarge,
To teach thy precepts given,
Till, with the people of his charge,
He shall be called to heaven.
1 GREAT God, before thy throne we bow To thee we raise the fervent prayer ; Do thou on us thy grace bestow,
And make us all thy tender care. 2 Him thou dost place as pastor here,
Wilt thou, O Saviour, deign to bless : With firmness and with godly fear
May he declare thy truth and grace. 3 May no vain pride his heart possess, To wrest thy word, thy truth conceal; Be thou his Strength and Righteousness, And with thy love his bosom fill.
4 And on this people, gracious Lord,
Pour down thy blessings from above, Cause every heart to love thy word, And in thy paths their footsteps move. 5 We pray, O God, and we believe;
We've seen thy kindness all our days; And long as we existence have,
We'll celebrate thy wondrous praise.
HYMN 489. L. M. [#]
Ordination or Installation.
1 0 THOU, who art above all height,
Our God, our Father and our Friend,
Beneath thy throne of love and light,
Let thine adoring children bend.
2 We kneel in praise, that here is set
A vine that by thy culture grew;
We kneel in prayer, that thou wouldst wet
Its opening leaves with heavenly dew.
3 Since this thy servant now hath given
Himself, his powers, his hopes, his youth,
To the great cause of truth and heaven,
Be thou his Guide, O God of truth.
4 Here may his doctrine drop like rain,
His speech like Hermon's dew distil,
Till green fields smile, and golden grain,
Ripe for the harvest, waits thy will.
5 And when he sinks in death, by care,
Or pain, or toil, or years oppressed,
O God, remember then our prayer,
And take his spirit to thy rest.
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