Father of Mercies, in Thy House

Father of mer­cies

in Thine house

Smile on our hom­age

and our vows;

While with a grate­ful heart we share

These pledg­es of our Sav­ior’s care.

The Sav­ior

when to Heav’n He rose

In splen­did tri­umph o’er His foes

Scattered His gifts on men be­low

And wide His royal boun­ties flow.

Hence sprung the Apos­tles’ hon­ored name;

Sacred be­yond he­ro­ic fame;

Hence dic­tates the pro­phet­ic sage;

And hence the ev­an­gel­ic page.

In low­li­er forms to bless our eyes

Pastors from hence

and teach­ers rise;

Who

though with feeb­ler rays they shine

Still gild a long ex­tend­ed line.

From Christ their va­ried gifts de­rive

And fed by Christ their grac­es live;

While

guard­ed by His po­tent hand

Midst all the rage of hell they stand.

So shall the bright suc­ces­sion run

Through the last cours­es of the sun;

While un­born church­es by their care

Shall rise and flour­ish large and fair.

Jesus our Lord their hearts shall know

The spring

whence all these bless­ings flow;

Pastors and peo­ple shout Thy praise

Through the long round of end­less days.