Scripture Verse

Strengthen, O God, that which Thou hast wrought for us. Psalm 68:28

Introduction

Words: Hen­ry J. Buck­oll, in Psalms and Hymns for Rug­by School Cha­pel, 1850.

Music: Eton Col­lege Jo­seph Barn­by, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1889 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Buck­oll (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Joseph Barnby (1838–1896)

Lyrics

Lord, dis­miss us with Thy bless­ing,
Thanks for mer­cies past re­ceive;
Pardon all, their faults con­fess­ing;
Time that’s lost may all re­trieve;
May Thy child­ren
Ne’er again Thy Spir­it grieve.

Bless Thou all our days of lei­sure;
Help us self­ish lures to flee;
Sanctify our ev­ery plea­sure;
Pure and blame­less may it be;
May our glad­ness
Draw us ev­er­more to Thee.

By Thy kind­ly in­flu­ence cher­ish
All the good we here have gained;
May all taint of ev­il per­ish
By Thy migh­ti­er pow­er re­strained;
Seek we ev­er
Knowledge pure and love un­feigned.

Let Thy fa­ther-hand be shield­ing
All who here shall meet no more;
May their seed-time past be yield­ing
Year by year a rich­er store;
Those re­turn­ing,
Make more faith­ful than be­fore.