Begin the day with God!
He is thy sun and day;
His is the ra­di­ance of thy dawn,
To Him ad­dress thy lay.

Sing a new song at morn!
Join the glad woods and hills;
Join the fresh winds and seas and plains,
Join the bright flow­ers and rills.

Sing thy first song to God!
Not to thy fel­low man;
Not to the crea­tures of His hand,
But to the glo­ri­ous One.

Awake, cold lips, and sing!
Arise, dull knees, and pray;
Lift up, O man, thy heart and eyes;
Brush sloth­ful­ness away.

Look up, be­yond these clouds!
Thither thy path­way lies;
Mount up, away, and lin­ger not,
Thy goal is yon­der skies.

Cast ev­ery weight aside!
Do bat­tle with each sin;
Fight with the faith­less world with­out,
The faith­less heart with­in.

Take thy first meal with God!
He is thy hea­ven­ly food;
Feed with and on Him; He with thee
Will feast in bro­ther­hood.

Take thy first walk with God!
Let Him go forth with thee;
By stream or sea or mount­ain path,
Seek still His com­pa­ny.

Thy first trans­act­ion be
With God Him­self above;
So shall thy bu­si­ness pros­per well,
And all the day be love.