T. Scott.

54 Evening Prayer. 8s & 7s.

Evening Blessing Desired. (1171)

Savior, breathe an evening blessing,
  E’er repose our spirits seal;
Sin and want we come confessing,
  Thou canst save and thou canst heal.

2 Though destruction walk around us,
  Though the arrows past us fly;
Angel guards from thee surround us,
  We are safe if thou art nigh.

3 Though the night be dark and dreary,
  Darkness cannot hide from thee;
Thou art he who, never weary,
  Watchest where thy people be.

4 Should swift death this night o’ertake us,
  And our couch become our tomb,
May the morn in heaven awake us,
  Clad in bright and deathless bloom.

     James Edmeston, 1820.

55 Hursley.  L.M.

Evening Hymn. (1165)

Sun of my soul, thou Savior dear,
  It is not night if thou be near;
Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise
  To hide thee from thy servant’s eyes.

2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
  My weary eye-lids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
  Forever on my Savior’s breast.

3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
  For without thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
  For without thee I dare not die.

4 Come near and bless us when we wake,
  Ere thro’ the world our way we take,
Till in the ocean of thy love
  We lose ourselves in heaven above.

     Rev. J. Keble, 1827.

56 Eventide. 10s.

Evening of the Day.

Abide with me:  fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide! 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me!

2 Not a brief glance I beg, a passing word, But as thou dwell’st with thy disciples, Lord, Familiar, condescending, patient, free, Come, not to sojourn, but abide with me.

3 I need thy presence every passing hour; What but thy grace can foil the tempter’s power?  Who like thyself my guide and stay can be?  Thro’ cloud and sunshine, oh, abide with me!

4 Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day; Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away:  Change and decay in all around I see; O thou, who changest not, abide with me!

     Henry Francis Lyte, 1847.

57 Eventide. 10s.

Closing Hymn.

Savior, again to thy dear name we raise
With one accord our parting hymn of praise;
We rise to bless thee ere our worship cease,
And now, departing, wait thy word of peace.

2 Grant us thy peace upon our homeward way; With thee begun, with thee shall end the day; Guard thou the lips from sin, the hearts from shame, That in this house have called upon thy name.

3 Grant us thy peace, Lord, through the coming night; Turn thou for us its darkness into light; From harm and danger keep thy children free, For dark and light are both alike to thee.