Ancient of Days! The Years Roll On

Ancient of Days! The years roll on

Obedient to Thy sole de­cree;

And when their des­tined work is done

Merge in the past eter­ni­ty.

Thousand of years have sped their way

Since poised by Thine al­migh­ty hand;

Sun

moon

and stars

in bright ar­ray

Have wheeled in spheres at Thy com­mand.

Firm as the heav­en­ly hosts ap­pear

The lines which fu­ture things por­tray

Converge in one pre­des­tined year

When Heav­en and earth shall pass away.

Whate’er that con­sum­ma­tion be

Oh

let me

Lord

Thy mer­cy prove

In worlds up­heaved

from dan­ger free

Within the co­vert of Thy love!

Ancient of Days! ’Tis Thine to say—

Man vain­ly tries to scan th’un­known—

How dist­ant or how near the day

When we must stand before Thy throne.

Through each new year vouch­safed to me

Be this my being’s aim and end

Thine here to live

in Heav­en with Thee

A blessed eter­ni­ty to spend.