NEW YEAR.

166

7, 5, 8 l

Father, let me dedicate

All this year to Thee,

In whatever earthly state

Thou wilt have me be.

Not from sorrow, pain, or care,

Freedom dare I claim;

This alone shall be my prayer:

Glorify Thy name.

2. Can a child presume to choose

Where or how to live?

Can a Father’s love refuse

All the best to give?

More Thou givest every day

Than the best can claim,

Nor withholdest aught that may

Glorify Thy name.

3. If in mercy Thou wilt spare

Joys that yet are mine;

If on life, serene and fair,

Brighter rays may shine,

Let my glad heart, while it sings,

Thee in all proclaim,

And, whate’er the future brings,

Glorify Thy name.

4. If Thou callest to the cross

And its shadow come,

Turning all my gain to loss,

Shrouding heart and home,

Let me think how Thy dear Son

To His glory came

And in deepest woe pray on:

“Glorify Thy name.”

L. Tuttiett, 1825.

167

L. M.

Great God, we sing that mighty Hand

By which supported still we stand;

The opening year Thy mercy shows;

Let mercy crown it till it close.

2. By day, by night, at home, abroad,

Still we are guarded by our God,

By His incessant bounty fed,

By His unerring counsel led.

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.

4. In scenes exalted or depressed

Be Thou our Joy and Thou our Rest;

Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,

Adored through all our changing days.

5. When death shall interrupt our songs

And seal in silence mortal tongues,

Our Helper, God, in whom we trust,

In better worlds our soul shall boast.

Philip Doddridge, 1755.

168

For Thy mercy and Thy grace,

Constant through another year,

Hear our song of thankfulness;

Jesus, our Redeemer, hear!

2. Lo! our sins on Thee we cast,

Thee, our perfect Sacrifice,

And, forgetting all the past,

Press unto our glorious prize.

3. Dark the future; let Thy light

Guide us, bright and Morning Star:

Fierce our foes and hard the fight;

Arm us, Savior, for the war.

4. In our weakness and distress,

Rock of strength, be Thou our Stay;

In the pathless wilderness

Be our true and living Way.

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.

6. Keep us faithful, keep us pure,

Keep us evermore Thine own;

Help, O help us to endure;

Fit us for the promised crown.

7. So within Thy palace gate

We shall praise, on golden strings,

Thee the only Potentate,

Lord of lords and King of kings.

H. Downton, 1841, a.

169

L. M.

The new-born Child this early morn,

The dear Christ-child, of virgin born,

Again brings from His heavenly home

A new year to all Christendom.

2. This causes joy to angels fair,

Who love to keep us in their care;

They sing that in this wondrous Child

God now with man is reconciled.

3. Since God is reconciled with men,

What harm can Satan do us, then?

O’er Satan and the gates of hell

This Christ-child shall for us prevail.

4. He brings the year of jubilee!

Why doubt we yet despondently?

Rejoice! This is a happy day;

The Christ-child drives all care away.

C. Schneegass, † 1597; E. Cronenwett, tr., a.

170

8, 7, 8, 7, 8, 8, 7

O Lord, our Father, thanks to Thee

In this new year we render,

For Thou hast been from misery

And dangers our Defender;

Through all the year that now has fled

Hast given us life and daily bread

And peace within our borders.

2. Lord Jesus Christ, our thanks to Thee

In this new year we render,

For Thou still rulest zealously

Thy fold, with mercy tender;

Thou hast redeemed us with Thy blood,

Thou art our only Trust and Good,

In life and death our Savior.

3. Lord Holy Ghost, our thanks to Thee

In this new year we render,

For by Thy grace it is that we

Enjoy Thy Word’s pure splendor;

Thus Thou hast kindled from above

Within our hearts true faith and love

And other Christian virtues.

4. Our faithful God, we cry to Thee:

Still bless us with Thy favor,

Blot out all our iniquity,

And hide our sins forever;

Grant us a happy, good New Year

And, when the hour of death draws near,

A blest departure. Amen.

C. Schneegass, † 1597; A. Crull, tr.

171

9, 8, 9, 8, 8, 8

Help me, O Lord! Behold, I enter

Upon another year to-day;

In Thee my hopes and thoughts now center,

Renew my courage for the way:

New life, new strength, new happiness

I ask of Thee, O hear and bless!

2. May every plan and undertaking

This year be all begun with Thee;

When I am sleeping or am waking,

Still let me know Thou art with me;

Abroad do Thou my footsteps guide,

At home be ever at my side.

3. Be this a time of grace and pardon;

Thy rod I take with willing mind,

But suffer naught my heart to harden;

O let me now Thy mercy find;

In Thee alone, my God, I live,

Thou only canst my sins forgive.

4. And may this year to me be holy;

Thy grace so fill my every thought

That all my life be pure and lowly

And truthful as a Christian’s ought;

So make me, while yet dwelling here,

Pious and blest from year to year.

5. And grant, Lord, when the year is over,

That it for me in peace may close;

In all things care for me and cover

My head in time of fear and woes;

So may I, when my years are gone,

Appear with joy before Thy throne.

J. Rist, 1642; C. Winkworth, tr.

172

C. M.

O God, our Help in ages past,

Our Hope for years to come,

Our Shelter from the stormy blast,

And our eternal Home!

2. Under the shadow of Thy throne

Thy saints have dwelt secure;

Sufficient is Thine arm alone,

And our defense is sure.

3. Before the hills in order stood

Or earth received her frame,

From everlasting Thou art God,

To endless years the same.

4. A thousand ages in Thy sight

Are like an evening gone;

Short as the watch that ends the night

Before the rising sun.

5. Thy word commands our flesh to dust:

“Return, ye sons of men!”

All nations rose from earth at first

And turn to earth again.

6. Time, like an ever-rolling stream,

Bears all its sons away;

They fly forgotten, as a dream

Dies at the opening day.

7. Like flowery fields the nations stand,

Pleased with the morning light;

The flowers beneath the mower’s hand

Lie withering ere ’tis night.

8. O God, our Help in ages past,

Our Hope for years to come,

Be Thou our Guard while troubles last

And our eternal Home.

Isaac Watts, 1719.

173

L. M.

The old year now hath passed away,

We thank Thee, Christ, our Lord, to-day

That Thou hast kept us through the year

When danger and distress were near.

2. We pray Thee, O eternal Son,

Who with the Father reign’st as one,

To guard and rule Thy Christendom

Through all the ages yet to come.

3. Take not Thy saving Word away,

Our souls’ true comfort, staff, and stay;

Abide with us and keep us free

From all false doctrines graciously.

4. O help us to forsake all sin,

A new and holier course begin;

From last year’s sins, Lord, hide Thy face,

In this new year grant us Thy grace,

5. That as true Christians we may live

Or die in peace that Thou wilt give,

To rise again when Thou shalt come,

And enter our eternal home.

J. Steuerlein, 1588; C. Winkworth, tr., a.

174

Now let us come before Him,

With songs and prayers adore Him,

Who to our life from heaven

All needed strength hath given.

2. The stream of years is flowing,

And we are onward going,

From old to new surviving,

And by His mercy thriving.

3. In woe we often languish

And pass through times of anguish,

Of wars and trepidation,

Alarming every nation.

4. A faithful mother keepeth

Guard while her infant sleepeth,

Its fear and grief assuaging

When angry storms are raging.

5. Thus God His children shieldeth

And full protection yieldeth;

When need and woe distress them,

His loving arms caress them.

6. In vain is all our doing;

The labor we’re pursuing

In our hands prospers never

Unless God watches ever.

7. Our song to Thee ascendeth,

Whose mercy never endeth;

Our thanks to Thee we render,

Who art our strong Defender.

8. O God of mercy, hear us;

Our Father, be Thou near us;

Mid crosses and in sadness

Be Thou our Fount of gladness.

9. To all that bow before Thee

And for Thy grace implore Thee,

O grant Thy benediction

And patience in affliction.

10. With richest blessings crown us.

In all our ways, Lord, own us;

Give grace, who grace bestowest

To all, e’en to the lowest.

11. To all forlorn be Father,

Thy erring children gather,

And of the poor and needy

Be Thou the Helper speedy.

12. Grant help to all afflicted;

And to the souls dejected,

By melancholy haunted,

May cheerful thoughts be granted!

13. O Lord, assistance lend us,

Thy Holy Spirit send us

That He may make us glorious

And lead to Thee victorious.

14. All this Thy hand bestoweth,

Thou Life, whence our life floweth;

To me and all believers

Grant, Lord, these New Year’s favors.

Paul Gerhardt, † 1676; J. Kelly, tr., a.