Year

Verse 1

A few more years shall roll,
A few more seasons come,
And we shall be with those that rest
Asleep within the tomb:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that great day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

Verse 2

A few more storms shall beat
On this wild rocky shore,
And we shall be where tempests cease,
And surges swell no more:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that calm day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

Verse 3

A few more struggles here,
A few more partings o’er,
A few more toils, a few more tears,
And we shall weep no more:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that blest day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

Verse 4

A few more Sabbaths here
Shall cheer us on our way,
And we shall reach the endless rest,
The eternal Sabbath-day:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that sweet day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

Verse 5

’Tis but a little while,
And He shall come again
Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with Him may reign:
Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that glad day;
O wash me in Thy precious blood,
And take my sins away.

Verse 1

At Thy feet, our God and Father,
Who hast blessed us all our days,
We with grateful hearts would gather,
To begin the year with praise:
Praise for light so brightly shining
On our steps from heaven above;
Praise for mercies daily twining
Round us golden cords of love.

Verse 2

Jesus, for Thy love most tender,
On the cross for sinners shown,
We would praise Thee, and surrender
All our hearts to be Thine own:
With so blest a Friend provided,
We upon our way would go,
Sure of being safely guided,
Guarded well from every foe.

Verse 3

Every day will be the brighter
When Thy gracious face we see;
Every burden will be lighter
When we know it comes from Thee.
Spread Thy love’s broad banner o’er us,
Give us strength to serve and wait,
Till the glory breaks before us
Through the city’s open gate.

Verse 1

Blow ye the trumpet, blow,
The gladly solemn sound;
Let all the nations know,
To earth’s remotest bound,
The year of Jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

Verse 2

Jesus, our Great High Priest,
Hath full atonement made;
Ye weary spirits, rest;
Ye mournful souls, be glad:
The year of Jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

Verse 3

Extol the Lamb of God,
The all-atoning Lamb;
Redemption in His blood
Throughout the world proclaim:
The year of Jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

Verse 4

Ye, who have sold for naught
Your heritage above,
Shall have it back unbought,
The gift of Jesus’ love:
The year of Jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

Verse 5

The gospel trumpet hear,
The news of heavenly grace;
And, saved from earth, appear
Before your Saviour’s face:
The year of Jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

Verse 1

Break, new-born year, on glad eyes break,
Melodious voices move;
On, rolling time; thou canst not make
The Father cease to love.

Verse 2

The parted year had wingèd feet;
The Saviour still doth stay:
The new year comes; but, Spirit sweet,
Thou goest not away.

Verse 3

Our hearts in tears may oft run o’er;
But, Lord, Thy smile still beams:
Our sins are swelling evermore,
But pardoning grace still streams.

Verse 4

Lord, from this year more service win,
More glory, more delight:
O make its hours less sad with sin,
Its days with Thee more bright.

Verse 5

Then we may bless its precious things
If earthly cheer should come,
Or gladsome mount on angel wings
If Thou wouldst take us home.

Verse 6

O golden then the hours must be;
The year must needs be sweet;
Yes, Lord, with happy melody
Thine opening grace we greet.

Verse 1

Days and moments quickly flying
Speed us onward to the dead:
O how soon shall we be lying
Each within his narrow bed!

Verse 2

Jesus, merciful Redeemer,
Rouse dead souls to hear Thy voice;
Wake, O wake each idle dreamer
Now to make the eternal choice.

Verse 3

As a shadow life is fleeting;
As a vapor so it flies;
For the old year now retreating
Pardon grant, and make us wise;

Verse 4

Wise that we our days may number,
Strive and wrestle with our sin,
Stay not in our work, nor slumber
Till Thy glorious rest we win.

Verse 5

Soon before the Judge all glorious
We with all the dead shall stand:
Saviour, over death victorious,
Place us then on Thy right hand.

Verse 6

Life passeth soon: Death draweth near:
Keep us, good Lord, Till Thou appear;
With Thee to live, With Thee to die,
With Thee to reign through eternity.

Verse 1

For Thy mercy and Thy grace,
Constant through another year,
Hear our song of thankfulness;
Jesus, our Redeemer, hear.

Verse 2

Lo! our sins on Thee we cast,
Thee, our perfect Sacrifice,
And, forgetting all the past,
Press towards our glorious prize.

Verse 3

Dark the future; let Thy light
Guide us, bright and morning Star:
Fierce our foes, and hard the fight;
Arm us, Saviour, for the war.

Verse 4

In our weakness and distress,
Rock of strength, be Thou our Stay;
In the pathless wilderness
Be our true and living Way.

Verse 5

Who of us death’s awful road
In the coming year shall tread?
With Thy rod and staff, O God,
Comfort Thou his dying bed.

Verse 6

Keep us faithful, keep us pure,
Keep us evermore Thine own;
Help, O help us to endure;
Fit us for the promised crown.

Verse 7

So within Thy palace gate
We shall praise, on golden strings,
Thee the only Potentate,
Lord of lords, and King of kings.

Verse 1

Great God, we sing that mighty hand
By which supported still we stand;
The opening year Thy mercy shows;
That mercy crowns it till its close.

Verse 2

By day, by night, at home, abroad,
Still are we guarded by our God;
By His incessant bounty fed,
By His unerring counsel led.

Verse 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.

Verse 4

In scenes exalted or depressed,
Thou art our Joy, and Thou our Rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Adored through all our changing days.

Verse 5

When death shall interrupt these songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our Helper God, in whom we trust,
In better worlds our souls shall boast.

Verse 1

Hark! the song of Jubilee,
Loud as mighty thunders roar,
Or the fulness of the sea
When it breaks upon the shore:
Alleluia! for the Lord God Omnipotent shall reign;
Alleluia! let the word echo round the earth and main.

Verse 2

Alleluia! Hark, the sound,
From the depths unto the skies,
Wakes above, beneath, around,
All creation’s harmonies:
See Jehovah’s banner furled, sheathed His sword; He speaks—‘tis done!
And the kingdoms of this world are the kingdoms of His Son.

Verse 3

He shall reign from pole to pole
With illimitable sway;
He shall reign, when like a scroll
Yonder heavens have passed away;
Then the end: beneath His rod man’s last enemy shall fall;
Alleluia! Christ in God, God in Christ, is All in all.

Verse 1

House of our God, with hymns of gladness ring,
While all our lips and hearts His praises sing;
The opening year His mercies shall proclaim,
And all its days shall celebrate His Name.

Verse 2

Ye angel choirs on high, whose dwelling-place
Shines with the glory of His unveiled face,
Through your immortal life, as love still grows,
Tell of His goodness, which no ending knows.

Verse 3

O Earth, enlightened by His rays Divine,
Stored by His hand with corn and oil and wine,
Crowned with His goodness, let thy nations raise
From shore to shore the song of ceaseless praise.

Verse 4

O Church, His chosen dwelling and delight,
Graven on His hands, and precious in His sight,
Sing the deep marvels of that boundless grace
Which sheds on thee the brightness of His face.

Verse 5

Burst into praise, my soul; and evermore
Through changing life thy changeless God adore:
He is thy Trust, thy Refuge, and thy Fear;
Strong in His strength, begin the new-born year.

Verse 1

I’m but a stranger here,
Heaven is my home;
Earth is a desert drear,
Heaven is my home:
Danger and sorrow stand
Round me on every hand;
Heaven is my fatherland,
Heaven is my home.

Verse 2

What though the tempest rage,
Heaven is my home;
Short is my pilgrimage,
Heaven is my home:
And time’s wild wintry blast
Soon shall be overpast;
I shall reach home at last,
Heaven is my home.

Verse 3

There, at my Saviour’s side,
Heaven is my home;
I shall be glorified,
Heaven is my home.
There are the good and blest,
Those I love most and best;
And there I too shall rest,
Heaven is my home.

Verse 4

Therefore I murmur not,
Heaven is my home;
Whate’er my earthly lot,
Heaven is my home:
And I shall surely stand
There at my Lord’s right hand;
Heaven is my fatherland,
Heaven is my home.

Verse 1

Jesus, still lead on,
Till our rest be won;
And, although the way be cheerless,
We will follow, calm and fearless:
Guide us by Thy hand
To our fatherland.

Verse 2

If the way be drear,
If the foe be near,
Let not faithless fears o’ertake us;
Let not faith and hope forsake us,
For, through many a foe,
To our home we go.

Verse 3

When we seek relief
From a long-felt grief,
When oppressed by new temptations,
Lord, increase and perfect patience;
Show us that bright shore
Where we weep no more.

Verse 4

Jesus, still lead on,
Till our rest be won:
Heavenly Leader, still direct us,
Still support, console, protect us,
Till we safely stand
In our fatherland.

Verse 1

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling-place
In every generation;
Thy people still have known Thy grace,
And blessed Thy consolation:
Through every age Thou heard’st our cry;
Through every age we found Thee nigh,
Our Strength and our Salvation.

Verse 2

Our cleaving sins we oft have wept,
And oft Thy patience provèd;
But still Thy faith we fast have kept,
Thy Name we still have lovèd;
And Thou hast kept and loved us well,
Hast granted us in Thee to dwell,
Unshaken, unremovèd.

Verse 3

No, nothing from those arms of love
Shall Thine own people sever;
Our Helper never will remove,
Our God will fail us never.
Thy people, Lord, have dwelt in Thee,
Our dwelling-place Thou still wilt be
For ever and for ever.

Verse 1

My times are in Thy hand;
My God, I wish them there;
My life, my friends, my soul, I leave
Entirely to Thy care.

Verse 2

My times are in Thy hand,
Whatever they may be;
Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to Thee.

Verse 3

My times are in Thy hand;
Why should I doubt or fear?
A Father’s hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

Verse 4

My times are in Thy hand,
Jesus the crucified;
The hand my cruel sins had pierced
Is now my guard and guide.

Verse 1

O God of Bethel, by whose hand
Thy people still are fed,
Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led,

Verse 2

Our vows, our prayers, we now present
Before Thy throne of grace;
God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.

Verse 3

Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.

Verse 4

O spread Thy covering wings around
Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.

Verse 5

Such blessings from Thy gracious hand
Our humble prayers implore;
And Thou shalt be our chosen God,
And portion evermore.

Verse 1

O God, the Rock of Ages,
Who evermore hast been,
What time the tempest rages,
Our dwelling-place serene:
Before Thy first creations,
O Lord, the same as now,
To endless generations
The Everlasting Thou!

Verse 2

Our years are like the shadows
On sunny hills that lie,
Or grasses in the meadows
That blossom but to die;
A sleep, a dream, a story
By strangers quickly told,
An unremaining glory
Of things that soon are old.

Verse 3

O Thou, who canst not slumber,
Whose light grows never pale,
Teach us aright to number
Our years before they fail;
On us Thy mercy lighten,
On us Thy goodness rest,
And let Thy Spirit brighten
The hearts Thyself hast blessed.

Verse 4

Lord, crown our faith’s endeavor
With beauty and with grace,
Till, clothed in light for ever,
We see Thee face to face:
A joy no language measures;
A fountain brimming o’er;
An endless flow of pleasures;
An ocean without shore.

Verse 1

Our God, our Help in ages past,
Our Hope for years to come,
Our Shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal Home:

Verse 2

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defence is sure.

Verse 3

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Verse 4

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Verse 5

The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by Thy flood,
And lost in following years.

Verse 6

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Verse 7

Our God, our Help in ages past;
Our Hope for years to come;
Be Thou our Guard while troubles last,
And our eternal Home.

Verse 1

Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings,
Thy better portion trace;
Rise from transitory things
Towards heaven, thy native place.
Sun and moon and stars decay,
Time shall soon this earth remove;
Rise, my soul, and haste away
To seats prepared above.

Verse 2

Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course;
Fire ascending seeks the sun;
Both speed them to their source:
So my soul, derived from God,
Pants to view His glorious face,
Forward tends to His abode,
To rest in His embrace.

Verse 3

Fly me riches, fly me cares,
Whilst I that coast explore;
Flattering world, with all Thy snares,
Solicit me no more.
Pilgrims fix not here their home;
Strangers tarry but a night;
When the last dear morn is come,
They’ll rise to joyful light.

Verse 4

Cease, ye pilgrims, cease to mourn,
Press onward to the prize;
Soon our Saviour will return
Triumphant in the skies:
Yet a season, and you know
Happy entrance will be given,
All our sorrows left below,
And earth exchanged for heaven.

Verse 1

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.

Verse 2

As the wingèd 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.

Verse 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 young and old;
Fill us with a Saviour’s love;
And when life’s short tale is told,
May we dwell with Thee above.