The Day Is Gently Sinking to a Close

The day is gent­ly sink­ing to a close

Fainter and yet more faint the sun­light glows;

O bright­ness of Thy Fa­ther’s glo­ry

Thou

Eternal light of light

be with us now:

Where Thou art pre­sent dark­ness cannot be

Midnight is glo­ri­ous noon

O Lord

with Thee.

Our change­ful lives are ebb­ing to an end

Onward to dark­ness and to death we tend;

O Con­quer­or of the grave

be Thou our guide;

Be Thou our light in death’s dark ev­en­tide;

Then in our mor­tal hour will be no gloom

No sting in death

no ter­ror in the tomb.

Thou

who in dark­ness walk­ing didst ap­pear

Upon the waves

and Thy dis­ci­ples cheer

Come

Lord

in lone­some days

when storms as­sail

And earth­ly hopes and hu­man suc­cors fail

When all is dark

may we be­hold Thee nigh

And hear Thy voice

Fear not

for it is I.

The wea­ry world is mol­der­ing to decay

Its glo­ries wane

its pa­geants fade away:

In that last sun­set

when the stars shall fall

May we arise

awak­ened by Thy call

With Thee

O Lord

for­ev­er to ab­ide

In that blest day which has no ev­en­tide.