[1916]Walsall:

Attributed to Henry Purcell (1658-1695);

Wilken's Psalmody, 1699

John G. Whittier, 1856

O Lord, and Master of us all,

Whate'er our name or sign,

We own thy sway, we hear thy call,

We test our lives by thing

Thou judgest us; thy purity

Doth all our lusts condemn;

The love that draws us nearer thee

Is hot with wrath to them;

Our thoughts lie open to thy sight;

And naked to thy glance

Our secret sins are in the light

Of thy pure countenance.

Yet weak and blinded though we be,

Thou dost our service own;

We bring our varying gifts to thee,

And thou rejectest none.

To thee our full humanity,

Its joys and pains belong;

The wrong of man to man on thee

Inflicts a deeper wrong.

Who hates, hates thee; who loves, becomes

Therein to thee allied:

All sweet accords of hearts and homes

In thee are multiplied.

Apart from thee all gain is loss,

All labour vainly done;

The solemn shadow of the cross

Is better than the sun.

Amen.