Hymns for Ordination and Installation I

O Thou who art above all height!
Our God, our Father, and our Friend!
Beneath thy throne of love and light,
We, thine adoring children, bend.


We kneel in praise,--that here is set
A vine, that by thy culture grew;
We kneel in prayer,--that thou wouldst wet
Its opening leaves with heavenly dew.


Since thy young servant now hath given
Himself, his powers, his hopes, his youth,
To the great cause of truth and Heaven;
Be thou his guide, O God of truth!


Here may his doctrine drop like rain,
His speech like Hermon's dew distill,
Till green fields smile, and golden grain,
Ripe for the harvest, waits thy will.


And when he sinks in death,--by care,
Or pain, or toil, or years oppressed,--
O God! remember then our prayer,
And take his spirit to thy rest.