Scripture Verse

Thou crownest the year with Thy goodness. Psalm 65:11

Introduction

portrait
William F. Sherwin (1826–1888)

Words: He­ze­ki­ah But­ter­worth, in Heart and Voice, ed­it­ed by Will­iam Sher­win (Cin­cin­na­ti, Ohio: John Church, 1881), pag­es 100–01.

Music: Metz Will­iam F. Sher­win, 1881 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Hezekiah Butterworth (1839–1905)

Lyrics

Again the round­ed year has brought
Its bloom and har­vest glo­ry,
And ev­ery smil­ing Sab­bath taught
To us the Gos­pel sto­ry.
Again our voic­es join in song,
And bring their glad thanks­giv­ing,
To Thee, to whom all years be­long,
To Thee, the Ev­er-Liv­ing.

We meet with glad­ness on each lip,
And kind­ly warmth of greet­ing,
And, in Thy bound­less fel­low­ship,
Each heart to heart is beat­ing.
And for this day, and for this hour,
We bring our glad thanks­giv­ing,
To Thee, the ev­er gra­cious Pow­er,
To Thee, the Ev­er-Liv­ing.

How oft has light­ed ev­ery brow
To see Thy love up­spring­ing!
And some who joined our songs, are now
Amid the an­gels sing­ing.
But friends be­low and friends above
Unite in glad thanks­giv­ing
To Thee, whom all the child­ren love,
To Thee, the Ev­er-Liv­ing.

Thy pow­er in pray­er we oft have felt,
Thy sym­pa­thy most ten­der,
And seemed to see, as we have knelt,
Thy face in veil­èd splen­dor.
For all these joys of Pa­ra­dise,
We bring our glad thanks­giv­ing,
To Thee, who ev­ery good sup­plies,
To Thee, the Ev­er-Liv­ing.

So may we join from year to year,
Thy good­ness ever sing­ing,
And, af­ter faith­ful ser­vice, hear
The bells of glo­ry ring­ing.
Then, safe with Thee, again we’ll raise
Our voic­es in thanks­giv­ing
To Thee, in more ex­alt­ed praise
To Thee, the Ev­er-Liv­ing.