Lord of the Sabbath and its light,
I hail Thy hallowed day of rest;
It is my weary soul’s delight,
The solace of my careworn breast,
The solace of my careworn breast.

O sacred day of peace and joy,
Thy hours are ever dear to me;
Ne’er may a sinful thought destroy
The holy calm I find in thee,
The holy calm I find in thee.

How sweetly now they glide along!
How hallowed is the calm they yield!
Transporting is their rapturous song,
And heav’nly visions seem revealed,
And heav’nly visions seem revealed.

O Jesus, let me ever hail
Thy presence with the day of rest;
Then will Thy servant never fail,
To deem Thy Sabbath doubly blest,
To deem Thy Sabbath doubly blest.

Lord of the Sabbath, hear us pray,
In this Your house, on this Your day;
And own, as grateful sacrifice,
The songs which from Your temple rise.

Now met to pray and bless Your Name,
Whose mercies flow each day the same;
Whose kind compassions never cease,
We seek instruction, pardon, peace.

Your earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love,
But there’s a nobler rest above;
To that our laboring souls aspire
With ardent hope and strong desire.

In Your blest kingdom we shall be
From every mortal trouble free;
No sighs shall mingle with the songs
Resounding from immortal tongues.

No rude alarms of raging foes;
No cares to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no waning moon,
But sacred, high, eternal noon.

O long expected day, begin,
Dawn on these realms of woe and sin!
Break, morn of God, upon our eyes;
And let the world’s true Sun arise!

The Lord of Sabbath let us praise,
In concert with the blest,
Who, joyful in harmonious lays,
Employ an endless rest.

Thus, Lord, while we remember Thee,
We blest and pious grow;
By hymns of praise we learn to be
Triumphant here below.

On this glad day a brighter scene
Of glory was displayed,
By the eternal Word, than when
This universe was made.

He rises, who mankind has bought
With grief and pain extreme;
’Twas great to speak the world from naught;
’Twas greater to redeem.