word our daily food,
Thy service, Lord, our greatest good.

568. 7s. M. Mary W. Hale.

Christmas.

1 When in silence, o'er the deep,
Darkness kept its deathlike sleep,
Soon as God His mandate spoke,
Light in wondrous beauty broke.

2 But a beam of holier light
Gilded Bethlehem's lonely night,
When the glory of the Lord,
Mercy's sunlight, shone abroad.

3 "Peace on earth, good-will to men."
Burst the glorious anthem then;
Angels, bending from above,
Joined that strain of holy love.

4 Floating o'er the waves of time,
Comes to us that song sublime,
Bearing to the pilgrim's ear
Words to soothe, sustain, and cheer.

5 For creation's blessed light,
Praise to Thee, Thou God of might!
Seraph-strains Thy name should bless
For the Sun of Righteousness!

569. P. M. Longfellow.

Ordination.

1 Christ to the young man said: "Yet one thing more,
If thou wouldst perfect be;
Sell all thou hast and give it to the poor,
And come and follow me!"

2 Within this temple, Christ again, unseen,
Those sacred words has said;
And his invisible hands to-day have been
Laid on a young man's head.

3 And evermore beside him on his way,
The unseen Christ shall move,
That he may lean upon his arm and say,
"Dost thou, dear Lord, approve?"

4 Beside him at the marriage feast shall be,
To make the scene more fair;
Beside him in the dark Gethsemane
Of pain and midnight prayer.

5 O holy trust! O endless sense of rest!
Like the beloved John,
To lay his head upon the Saviour's breast,
And thus to journey on!

570. 7s. M. C. Wesley.

At Sea.

1 Lord! whom winds and seas obey,
Guide us through the watery way;
In the hollow of Thy hand,
Hide and bring us safe to land.

2 Father, let our faithful mind
Rest, on Thee alone reclined:
Every anxious thought repress,
Keep our souls in perfect peace.

3 Keep the friends whom now we leave;
Bid them to each other cleave;
Bid them walk on life's rough sea,
Bid them come, by faith, to Thee.

4 Save, till all these