Savior, breathe an evening blessing

Savior, breathe an evening blessing
ere repose our spirits seal;
sin and want we come confessing:
thou canst save, and thou canst heal.

Though the night be dark and dreary,
darkness cannot hide from thee;
thou art he who, never weary,
watchest where thy people be.

Though destruction walk around us,
though the arrow past us fly,
angel guards from thee surround us;
we are safe if thou art nigh.

Father, to thy holy keeping
humbly we ourselves resign;
Savior, who hast slept our sleeping,
make our slumbers pure as thine

Blessèd Spirit, brooding o'er us,
chase the darkness of our night,
till the perfect day before us
breaks in everlasting light.

Words, stanzas 1-3: James Edmeston, 1820;
stanzas 4-5, Edward Henry Bickersteth, 1870

Music: Vesper Hymn, St. Mabyn, Evening Prayer

Meter: 87 87

Website compiled by Steve Benner, 1999-2003.