The great forerunner of the morn,
The herald of the Word, is born:
And faithful hearts shall never fail
With thanks and praise his light to hail.

With heavenly message Gabriel came,
That John should be that herald’s name,
And with prophetic utterance told
His actions great and manifold.

John, still unborn, yet gave aright
His witness to the coming Light;
And Christ, the Sun of all the earth,
Fulfilled that witness at His birth.

Of woman born shall never be
A greater prophet than was he,
Whose mighty deeds exalt his fame
To greater than a prophet’s name.

But why should mortal accents raise
The hymn of John the Baptist’s praise?
Of whom, or e’er his course was run,
Thus spake the Father to the Son?

“Behold, My herald, who shall go
Before Thy face Thy way to show,
And shine, as with the day-star’s gleam,
Before Thine own eternal beam.”

All praise to God the Father be,
All praise, eternal Son, to Thee,
Whom with the Spirit we adore
Forever and forevermore.

Open the windows of Heaven,
Send showers of blessing just now;
Look on us, Lord, in Thy mercy,
While humbly before Thee we bow.

Refrain

Showers of blessing,
Fresh showers of blessing we need;
Showers of blessing,
For showers of blessing we plead.

Open the windows of Heaven,
Look tenderly on us in love
Coming in heartfelt contrition,
We pray Thee our sins hence remove.

Refrain

Trusting, we’ll try Thee, and prove Thee;
All effort without Thee is vain;
Earth’s greatest pleasures are fleeting,
Their loss is our infinite gain.

Refrain

Open the windows of Heaven,
And bless us for Thy dear Son’s sake;
His blood shed for our redemption,
Our plea, only plea we now make.

Refrain

God of the changing year, whose arm of power
In safety leads through danger’s darkest hour,
Here in Thy temple bow Thy children down,
To bless Thy mercy and Thy might to own.

Thine are the beams that cheer us on our way,
And pour around the gladdening light of day;
Thine is the night, and the fair orbs that shine
To cheer its hours of darkness; all are Thine.

If round our path the thorns of sorrow grew,
And mortal friends were faithless, Thou wast true;
Did sickness shake the frame, or anguish tear
The wounded spirit, Thou was present there.

O lend Thine ear, and lift our voice to Thee;
Where’er we dwell, still let Thy mercy be;
From year to year still nearer to Thy shrine
Draw our frail hearts, and make them wholly Thine.

I hear the words of love,
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.

’Tis everlasting peace,
Sure as Jehovah’s Name;
’Tis stable as His steadfast throne,
For evermore the same.

The clouds may go and come,
And storms may sweep my sky;
This blood-sealed friendship changes not,
The cross is ever nigh.

I change—He changes not;
The Christ can never die;
His love, not mine, the resting-place;
His truth, not mine, the tie.

My love is oftimes low,
My joy still ebbs and flows;
But peace with Him remains the same,
No change Jehovah knows.

Roll out, O song to God!
Move on, ye throngs of men!
Chances and changes come and go;
God changeth not! Amen.
And on the throngs of men,
On worrying care and strife,
Sinks down, as if from angel tongues,
The word of hope and life.

Down in the darksome ways
And worrying whirl of life
Sinks, like a strain of vesper song,
The thought of His great strife;
Who, of the virgin born,
Made all our chains His own,
And broke them with His own right arm,
Nor left us more alone.

Amid the weak, One strong,
Amid the false, One true,
Amid all change, One changing not,
One hope we ne’er shall rue.
In Whose sight all is now,
In Whose love all is best:
The things of this world pass away,
Come, let us in Him rest.

’Twixt gleams of joy and clouds of doubt our feelings come and go;
Our daily state is tossed about in ceaseless ebb and flow.
No mood of feeling, form of thought, is constant for a day;
But Thou, O Lord, Thou changest not, the same Thou art alway.

Out of the weak, unquiet drift that comes but to depart,
To that pure heaven my spirit lift where Thou unchanging art.
Lay hold of me with Thy strong grasp, let Thine almighty arm
In its embrace my weakness clasp, and I shall fear no harm.

Thy purpose of eternal good let me but surely know,
On this I’ll lean—let changing mood and feeling come or go
Glad when Thy sunshine fills my soul, nor sad when clouds overcast,
Since Thou within Thy sure control of love dost hold me fast.

The year is swiftly waning,
The summer days are past;
And life, brief life, is speeding;
The end is nearing fast.

The ever changing seasons
In silence come and go;
But Thou, eternal Father,
No time or change canst know.

O, pour Thy grace upon us,
That we may worthier be,
Each year that passes o’er us,
To dwell in heaven with Thee.

Behold the bending orchards
With bounteous fruit are crowned;
Lord, in our hearts more richly
Let heavenly fruits abound.

O, by each mercy sent us,
And by each grief and pain,
By blessings like the sunshine,
And sorrows like the rain.

Our barren hearts make fruitful
With every goodly grace,
That we Thy Name may hallow,
And see at last Thy face.