MEDITATION

THE day is gone;
and I give Thee thanks, O Lord.
Evening is at hand,
make it bright unto us.
As day has its evening
so also has life;
the even of life is age;
age has overtaken me,
make it bright unto us.
Cast me not away in the time of age;
forsake me not when my strength
faileth me.
Even to my old age be Thou He,
and even to hoar hairs carry me;
do Thou make, do Thou bear,
do Thou carry and deliver me.
Abide with me, Lord,
for it is toward evening,
17and the day is far spent
of this fretful life.
Let Thy strength be made perfect
in my weakness.

Day is fled and gone,
life too is going,
this lifeless life.
Night cometh,
and cometh death,
the deathless death.
Near as is the end of day,
so too the end of life:
We then, also remembering it,
beseech of Thee
for the close of our life,
that Thou wouldest direct it in
peace,
Christian, acceptable,
sinless, shameless,
and, if it please Thee, painless,
Lord, O Lord,
gathering us together
under the feet of thine Elect,
when Thou wilt, and as Thou wilt,
only without shame and sins.
18Remember we the days of darkness,
for they shall be many,
lest we be cast into outer darkness.
Remember we to outstrip the night
doing some good thing.
Near is judgment;—
a good and acceptable answer
at the dreadful and fearful judgment‑seat
of Jesus Christ,
vouchsafe to us, O Lord.
By night I lift up my hands in the
sanctuary,
and praise the Lord.
The Lord hath granted
His loving‑kindness in the day time;
and in the night season did I sing of
Him,
and made my prayer unto the God of
my life.
As long as I live will I magnify Thee on
this manner,
and lift up my hands, in Thy Name.
Let my prayer be set forth in Thy sight
as the incense,
and let the lifting up of my hands
be an evening sacrifice.
Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God,
the God of our fathers,
who hast created the changes of days and
nights,
who givest songs in the night,
who hast delivered us from the evil of
this day,
who hast not cut off like a weaver my
life,
nor from day even to night made an
end of me.