Love to the Church I love thy kingdom, Lord, The house of thine abode, The church our blest Redeemer saved With his own precious blood. I love thy church, O God! Her walls before thee stand, Dear as the apple of thine eye, If e'er to bless thy sons My voice or hands deny, These hands let useful skill forsake, This voice in silence die. For her my tears shall fall, For her my prayers ascend; To her my cares and toils be given Beyond my highest joy I prize her heavenly ways, Her sweet communion, solemn vows, Her hymns of love and praise. Jesus, thou friend divine, Our Saviour and our King, Thy hand from every snare and foe Sure as thy truth shall last, To Zion shall be given The brightest glories earth can yield, And brighter bliss of heaven. Psalm CXXXVII The Babylonian Captivity Along the banks where Babel's current flows Our captive bands in deep despondence stray'd, While Zion's fall in sad remembrance rose, Her friends, her children mingled with the dead. The tuneless harp, that once with joy we strung, When praise employ'd and mirth inspir'd the lay, In mournful silence on the willows hung; And growing grief prolong'd the tedious day. The barbarous tyrants, to increase the woe, If e'er my memory lose thy lovely name, If my cold heart neglect my kindred race, Let dire destruction seize this guilty frame; My hand shall perish and my voice shall cease. Yet shall the Lord, who hears when Zion calls, O'ertake her foes with terror and dismay, His arm avenge her desolated walls, And raise her children to eternal day. The Star-Spangled Banner O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleam ing? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight, O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly stream ing; And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there; O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep, And where is that band who so vauntingly swore |