Scripture Verse

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

Introduction

Words: John W. Chad­wick, 1889. Writ­ten for the 25th an­ni­ver­sa­ry of his in­stal­la­tion, Dec. 21, 1889 (Ju­li­an, p. 1620).

Music: Duke Street at­trib­ut­ed to John Hat­ton, 1793 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

portrait
John W. Chadwick (1840–1904)

Lyrics

O Thou whose perfect good­ness crowns
With peace and joy this sac­red day,
Our hearts are glad for all the years
Thy love has kept us in Thy way.

For com­mon tasks of help and cheer,
For qui­et hours of thought and pray­er,
For mo­ments when we seemed to feel
The breath of a di­vin­er air.

For mu­tu­al love and trust that keep
Unchanged through all the chang­ing time,
For friends with­in the veil who thrill
Our spi­rits with a hope sub­lime.

For this, and more than words can say,
We praise and bless Thy ho­ly name.
Come life or death, enough to know
That Thou art ev­er­more the same.