Dark and dim the daylight rose

Dark and dim the daylight rose,
Destined with Thy life to close;
With the life Thou didst assume
As Thy passport thro' the tomb;
But a drop in the great sea,
Lord, of Thine eternity.

On the tree accursed dying,
Death and hell, beneath Thee lying,
There their doom long look'd for meet,
Crush'd beneath Thy bruised feet.

Bitter scorn and cruel pain,
Do their worst with Thee in vain,
For Thou answer'st not again.

Prayers for them are Thy replies
To Thy taunting enemies,
From Thy pierced side doth flow
Medicine for all our woe,
Thy dear arms outstretch'd we see,
Drawing the whole world to Thee;
And that head so meekly bow'd
'Neath the momentary cloud,
Breathes, with its departing breath,
Life accomplished in death.

Lo! the vail is rent asunder,
Darkness over head, and under
Graves are open'd, earth doth quake,
And the very dead awake.

Angels who beside Thee kept
Watch, and o'er Thy passion wept;
Now before Thee, at the gate
Of Thy paradise, do wait,
Hymns celestial round Thee pouring,
As they bend, the might adoring
Of Thy Godhead laid to rest
In the regions of the blest.

Saviour of Thy people! now
With Thy wounded hands and brow,
Gone to plead beside the throne,
Thy redemption for Thine own,
Grace to seek in large supplies
Even for Thine enemies; —

Hear us when to Thee we cry,
Make us feel that Thou art nigh,
Help us when in time of need
We Thy great deliv'rance plead,
Cleanse us with Thy precious blood,
O Thou gentle Lamb of God!

By Thy cross and passion save us;
By the hope those suffrings gave us;
By Thine agony and sweat,
By Thy prayers on Olivet,
By Thy sighs and by Thy tears,
By Thy people's hopes and fears,
By the peace vouchsafed to Thee
When in dark Gethsemane!

By the sacramental tide
Gushing from Thy wounded side,
By the load of others' sin
That oppress'd Thy soul within,
By the wondrous love Thou bore us
That by death Thou should'st restore us, —

By that mercy and that love
Hear us, Lord, in Heav'n above!

In the midnight of our sadness,
In the noontide of our gladness,
Thro' each changing scene of life,
Calm and sunshine — storm and strife,
At the last dread parting hour,
In Thy judgment's might and power —

Lord, deliver and defend us,
Let Thy Spirit still attend us;
Be Thine Eye our leading star,
Guiding upward from afar,
Here, — the surety Thou art nigh,
There, — the blest reality!