Lo, the dark­ness ga­thers round us:
Christians, we must watch and pray;
Many sec­ret foes sur­round us,
Dangers threat­en night and day.
While the en­emy is keep­ing
Careful vi­gil in his tow­er,
Should the Church of Christ be sleep­ing
At her ease in plea­sure’s bo­wer?

Refrain

Let the bea­con lights be burn­ing
With a clear and rud­dy glow;
Eager eyes to us are turn­ing—
Steady gleams to­ward them thro!

Quicken we the dy­ing em­bers,
And our watch lights let us trim:
Who the Mas­ter’s love re­mem­bers,
Must arise and shine for Him.
’Tis no time to be half-heart­ed,
Wavering, fal­ter­ing, blown about.
In His ser­vice have we start­ed?
Now one, then, must be in doubt!

Refrain

Let the flames be shoot­ing up­ward;
Add as fu­el faith and love:
And sweet hope which beck­ons on­ward:
And the grac­es of a dove:
Patience, gen­tle­ness, up­right­ness,
Joy, and true hu­mil­ity—
Shining forth in gold­en bright­ness:
Shining dai­ly, hour­ly.

Refrain

Lord, on Thee, the Rock of Ag­es,
Lo we lay each will­ing heart;
Help us while the con­flict rag­es,
And to each Thy strength im­part.
Let our ear­nest pray­ers as­cend­ing
Reach the King en­throned on high:
Then shall se­ven-fold gifts des­cend­ing
All our sev­en-fold needs sup­ply.

Refrain