Across the sky the shades of night
This New Year’s Eve are fleet­ing,
We deck Thine al­tar, Lord, with light,
In so­lemn wor­ship meet­ing;
And as the year’s last hours go by,
We raise to Thee our ear­nest cry,
Once more Thy love en­treat­ing.

Before the cross sub­dued we bow,
To Thee our pray­ers ad­dress­ing,
Recounting all Thy mer­cies now,
And all our sins con­fess­ing;
Beseeching Thee this com­ing year
To keep us in Thy faith and fear
And crown us with Thy bless­ing.

And while we pray, we lift our eyes
To dear ones gone be­fore us,
Safe home with thee in pa­ra­dise,
Whose peace des­cend­eth o’er us;
And beg of Thee, when life is past,
To re­unite us all at last
With those who’ve gone be­fore us.

We ga­ther up in this brief hour
The me­mo­ry of Thy mer­cies;
Thy won­drous goodn­ess, love and pow­er
Our grate­ful song rehears­es;
For Thou hast been our strength and stay
In ma­ny a dark and drea­ry day
Of sor­row and re­vers­es.

In ma­ny an hour when fear and dread,
Like ev­il spells, have bound us
And clouds were ga­ther­ing ov­er­head,
Thy pro­vi­dence hath found us.
In ma­ny a night when seas ran high,
Thy gra­cious pre­sence, draw­ing nigh,
Hath made all calm around us.

Then, O great God, in years to come,
Whatever may be­tide us,
Right on­ward through our jour­ney home
Be Thou at hand to guide us;
Nor leave us till at close of life,
Safe from all per­ils, toil, and strife,
Heaven shall en­fold and hide us.