| Alfred H. Miles, ed. The Sacred Poets of the Nineteenth Century. 1907. | | | Hymns.
I. Psalm LXXXIV. (“How honoured, how dear”) | | By Josiah Conder (1789–1855) |
| | | HOW honoured, how dear, | |
| That sacred abode, | |
| Where Christians draw near | |
| Their Father and God! | |
| ’Mid worldly commotion, | 5 |
| My wearied soul faints | |
| For the house of devotion, | |
| The home of Thy saints. | |
| |
| The birds have their home; | |
| They fix on their nest: | 10 |
| Wherever they roam, | |
| They return to their rest: | |
| From them fondly learning, | |
| My soul would take wing; | |
| To Thee so returning, | 15 |
| My God and my King. | |
| |
| O happy the choirs, | |
| Who praise Thee above! | |
| What joy tunes their lyres; | |
| Their worship is love. | 20 |
| Yet, safe in Thy keeping, | |
| And happy they be, | |
| In this world of weeping, | |
| Whose strength is in Thee. | |
| |
| Though rugged their way, | 25 |
| They drink, as they go, | |
| Of springs that convey | |
| New life as they flow: | |
| The God they rely on, | |
| Their strength shall renew, | 30 |
| Till each, brought to Zion, | |
| His glory shall view. | |
| |
| Thou Hearer of prayer! | |
| Still grant me a place, | |
| Where Christians repair | 35 |
| To the courts of Thy grace. | |
| More blest beyond measure, | |
| One day so employed, | |
| Than years of vain pleasure, | |
| By worldlings enjoyed. | 40 |
| |
| Me more would it please | |
| Keeping post at Thy gate, | |
| Than lying at ease | |
| In chambers of state: | |
| The meanest condition | 45 |
| Outshines, with Thy smiles, | |
| The pomp of ambition, | |
| The world with its wiles. | |
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| The Lord is a sun! | |
| The Lord is a shield! | 50 |
| What grace has begun, | |
| With glory is sealed. | |
| He hears the distressèd, | |
| He succours the just, | |
| And they shall be blessèd, | 55 |
| Who make Him their trust. | | | | |
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