Our Father God! not face to face

May mortal sense commune with thee,

Nor lift the curtains of that place

Where dwells thy secret Majesty:

Yet wheresoe’er our spirits bend

In reverent faith and humble prayer,

Thy promised blessing will descend,

And we shall find thy Spirit there.

2 Lord! be the spot where now we meet

An open gateway into heaven;

Here may we sit at Jesus’ feet,

And feel our deepest sins forgiven.

Here may desponding care look up;

And sorrow lay its burden down,

Or learn of him to drink the cup,

To bear the cross and win the crown.

3 Here may the sick and wandering soul,

To truth still blind, to sin a slave,

Find better than Bethesda’s pool,

Or than Siloam’s healing wave;

And may we learn, while here, apart

From the world’s passion and its strife,

That thy true shrine’s a loving heart,

And thy best praise a holy life!