Tulips and Glassware with O Friend of souls! how blest the time and Lord, when we bend before Thy throne

  O Friend of souls! how blest the time
  When in thy love I rest,
When from my weariness I climb
  E’en to thy tender breast!

  The night of sorrow endeth there,
  Thy rays outshine the sun,
And in thy pardon and thy care
  The heaven of heavens is won.

  The world may call itself my foe,
  Or flatter and allure:
I care not for the world; I go
  To this tried Friend and sure.

  And when life’s fiercest storms are sent
  Upon life’s wildest sea,
My little bark is confident,
  Because it holdeth thee.

  To others, death seems dark and grim,
  But not, O Lord, to me:
I know thou ne’er forsakest him
  Who puts his trust in thee.

  Nay, rather, with a joyful heart
  I welcome the release
From this dark desert, and depart
  To thy eternal peace.

Wolfgang C. DesslerLord, when we bend before Thy throne,
  And our confessions pour,
Teach us to feel the sins we own,
  And hate what we deplore.

Our broken spirits pitying see,
  And penitence impart;
Then let a kindling glance from Thee
  Beam hope upon the heart.

When our responsive tongues essay
  Their grateful hymns to raise,
Grant that our souls may join the lay,
  And mount to Thee in praise.

When we disclose our wants in prayer,
  May we our wills resign;
And not a thought our bosom share
  Which is not wholly Thine.

Let faith each meek petition fill,
  And waft it to the skies;
And teach our hearts ‘tis goodness still
  That grants it, or denies.  Amen

Rev. Joseph D. Carlyle