Sweetly the Holy Hymn

Sweetly the ho­ly hymn
Breaks on the morn­ing air;
Before the world with smoke is dim
We meet to of­fer pray­er.

While flow­ers are wet with dews,
Dew of our souls, des­cend:
Ere yet the sun the day re­news,
O Lord, Thy Spir­it send.

Upon the bat­tle­field,
Before the fight be­gins,
We seek, O Lord, Thy shel­ter­ing shield,
To guard us from our sins.

Ere yet our ves­sel sails
Upon the stream of day
We plead, O Lord, for hea­v’n­ly gales
To speed us on our way!

On the lone mount­ain side,
Before the morn­ing’s light,
The Man of sor­rows wept and cried,
And rose re­freshed with might.

Oh, hear us then, for we
Are ve­ry weak and frail,
We make the Sav­ior’s name our plea,
And sure­ly must pre­vail.

Words: Charles H. Spurgeon, 1866.