Eternal Father, Who Can Tell?

Eternal Fa­ther! who can tell

The years of Thy right hand?

Like sun­beams bright

but num­ber­less

Or as the ocean’s sand.

Thine age­less age no lim­it knows

No dawn be­gan Thy day

Nor ev­en­ing shade shall ev­er fall

Upon Thy glo­ri­ous way.

All time is but a fleet­ing wave

Upon Thy calm

deep sea

A fad­ing leaf that feeb­ly falls

From life’s eter­nal tree.

Yet un­to Thee

our fleet­ing years

Our fad­ing days

are known

And ev­ery hour its mes­sage bears

Up to th’eter­nal throne.

Old year

fare­well! Thou’rt gone to God

Gone to re­cord our life

Its poor suc­cess

its wast­ed hours

Its oft un­wor­thy strife.

New year

all hail! Thou’rt come from God

Blest be thy dawn­ing bright!

Blest be thy swift­ly fleet­ing hours!

And blest thy ev­en­ing light!

Into the hand of Him who died

Who ev­er­more doth live

This strange and so­lemn New Year’s path

In trust­ful pray­er we give.

Enough for us to hear His voice

To feel His guid­ing hand

To know each step is bring­ing us

Nearer the bet­ter land.