we lift our hearts to thee

we lift our hearts to thee,
o day star from on high!
the sun itself is but thy shade,
yet cheers both earth and sky.

o let thine orient beams
the night of sin disperse,
the mists of error and of vice
which shade the universe.

how beauteous nature now:
how dark and sad before!
with joy we view the pleasing change,
and nature’s god adore.

o may no gloomy crime
pollute the rising day;
or jesus’ blood, like evening dew,
wash all the stains away.

may we this life improve,
to mourn for errors past;
and live this short, revolving day
as if it were our last.

to god the father, son,
and spirit one in three,
be glory; as it was, is now,
and shall forever be.