Our Guard by Night.

LORD of the world, who hast preserved
Us safely through this day,
Now guard us in the silent night,
And in all time, we pray!

Be present, in thy peace, to those
Who as thy suppliants wait;
Blot out the record of our sin;
Our gloom illuminate!

Let not, amid our hours of sleep,
Life's enemy steal in;
Let not a vision of the night
Have power to whisper sin.

Guard every avenue from guile,
When slumber seals our eyes;
And guiltless as we laid us down,
So guiltless let us rise.

BREVIARY.

GOD AND HIS NATURE.

The Unchangeable.

UNCHANGEABLE, all-perfect Lord!
Essential life's unbounded sea!

What lives and moves, lives by thy word;
It lives, and moves, and is from thee;
Whate'er in earth, or sea, or sky,

Or shuns or meets the wandering thought,
Escapes or strikes the searching eye,
By thee was to existence brought.

Thine, Lord, is holiness, alone;

Justice and truth before thee stand;
Yet, nearer to thy sacred throne,
Love ever dwells at thy right hand.

And to thy love and ceaseless care,
Father, this light, this breath, we owe;

And all we have, and all we are,

From thee, great source of life, doth flow.

LANGE.

(From the German.)

The Eternal God.

ERE mountains reared their forms sublime, Or heaven and earth in order stood, Before the birth of ancient time,

From everlasting thou art God.

A thousand ages, in their flight,
With thee are as a fleeting day;
Past, present, future, to thy sight

At once their various scenes display.

But our brief life's a shadowy dream,
A passing thought, that soon is o'er,
That fades with morning's earliest beam,
And fills the musing mind no more.

To us, O Lord, the wisdom give

Each passing moment so to spend, That we at length with thee may live Where life and bliss shall never end.

SPIRIT OF THE PSALMS.

God's Eternity.

BEFORE the mountains were brought forth,

Or ever thou hadst formed the earth,

Even from everlasting on

To everlasting, thou art God.

A thousand years unto thy sight
Are but as yesterday when passed;
And they are as a sleep, O Lord;
Our years are as a tale that's told.

Teach us to number so our days
That we apply our hearts to thee;
With mercy early satisfied,

May we be glad through all our days.

And let the beauty of the Lord
Be on us all forevermore;

Establish thou the earthly work

Our feeble hands, O Lord, have done.

PSALM XC.

The Glory of God.

THE heavens declare the high glory of God;
The firmament showeth the work of his hand;
And day unto day ever uttereth speech,

And night unto night showeth knowledge of him.

There is not a speech where their voice is not heard;
The law of the Lord, it converteth the soul;
His statutes are right, it rejoiceth the heart;
His judgments are righteous and fast to endure;

Yea, better to have than the finest of gold,
And sweeter than honey that filleth the comb;
Moreover by them is thy servant forewarned;
And great the reward in the keeping of them.

Thy servant keep back from presumptuous sins;
O, let them not have their dominion o'er me;
Let the words of my mouth be acceptable, Lord;
Thou art my redeemer, my strength, and my king.

PSALM XIX.