Again returns the day of holy rest
Which, when He made the world, Jehovah blessed;
When, like His own, He bade our labors cease,
And all be piety, and all be peace.

Let us devote this consecrated day
To learn His will, and all we learn obey;
So shall He hear, when fervently we raise
Our supplications and our songs of praise.

Father in Heaven, in Whom our hopes confide,
Whose power defends us, and Whose precepts guide,
In life our Guardian, and in death our Friend,
Glory supreme be Thine till time shall end.

Hail! sacred day of earthly rest,
From toil and trouble free:
Hail! day of light, that bringest light
And joy to me.

A holy stillness, breathing calm
On all the world around,
Uplifts my soul, O God, to Thee,
Where rest is found.

On all I think, or say, or do,
A ray of light divine
Is shed, O God, this day by Thee,
For it is Thine.

No sound of jarring strife is heard,
As weekly labors cease;
No voice, but those that sweetly sing
Sweet songs of peace.

For those who sing with saints below
Glad songs of heavenly love,
Shall sing—when songs on earth have ceased—
With saints above.

Accept, O God, my hymn of praise,
That Thou, this day, hast given
Sweet foretaste of that endless day
Of rest in Heaven.

Resting from His work today
In the tomb the Savior lay;
Still He slept, from head to feet
Shrouded in the winding sheet,
Lying in the rock alone,
Hidden by the sealèd stone.

Late at even there was seen
Watching long the Magdalene;
Early, ere the break of day,
Sorrowful she took her way
To the holy garden glade,
Where her buried Lord was laid.

So with Thee, till life shall end,
I would solemn vigil spend:
Let me hew Thee, Lord, a shrine
In this rocky heart of mine,
Where in pure embalmèd cell,
None but Thou may ever dwell.

Myrrh and spices will I bring,
True affection’s offering;
Close the doors from sight and sound
Of the busy world around;
And in patient watch remain
Till my Lord appear again.

Welcome, day of sweet repose!
Blessèd be thy sacred hours!
We would trust the One Who knows
All our weak and failing powers.

Welcome, day in Eden born!
Holy rest for sinless man!
Like the dawning of fair morn
Come thy hours to us again.

Welcome, day blessed by our Lord!
Toil shall cease and anxious care,
Day commanded by His Word,
Day for song and praise and prayer.

Welcome, day our Savior kept!
Keeping, wrought our righteousness,
Day God bids us ne’er forget,
Day of days His Name to bless.

Welcome, sweet day of rest,
That saw the Lord arise;
Welcome to this reviving breast,
And these rejoicing eyes!

The King Himself comes near,
And feasts His saints today;
Here we may sit, and see Him here,
And love, and praise, and pray.

One day in such a place,
Where my dear God hath been,
Is sweeter than ten thousand days
Of pleasurable sin.

My willing soul would stay
In such a frame as this,
And sit and sing herself away
To everlasting bliss.