The Book of Common Prayer
United States England Scotland Ireland Wales Canada World

    The Armed Forces Prayer Book
(1951)

 

 
Hymns *
 
 
1.

(3)

1 O saving Victim, opening wide
    The gate of heaven to man below,
Our foes press on from every side,
    Thine aid supply, thy strength bestow.

2 All praise and thanks to thee ascend
    For evermore, blest One in Three;
O grant us life that shall not end,
    In our true native land with thee. Amen.

 

    * Numbers in parentheses indicate number of hymn in The Wayside Hymnal, published by the Forward Movement, 412 Sycamore St., Cincinnati 2, Ohio.
 2.

(4)

1 I need thee every hour,
    Most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like thine
    Can peace afford.

I need thee, O I need thee,
    Every hour I need thee;
O bless me now, my Saviour,
    I come to thee!

Only the first verse of each hymn is given here. For the other verses, and music, follow the link at each hymn number. Note that this hymnal adds "Amen," to end of each hymn.

 

 

3.

(5)

1 Abide with me: fast falls the eventide;
The darkness deepens; Lord, with me abide:
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee,
Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

 
4.

(7)

1 Sun of my soul, thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if thou be near;
O may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide thee from thy servant‘s eyes.

 

 
5.

(9)

1 Now the day is over,
    Night is drawing nigh,
Shadows of the evening
    Steal across the sky.

 

 
6.

(11)

1 Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
    Pilgrim through this barren land,
I am weak, but thou art mighty;
    Hold me with thy powerful hand.

 

 
7.

(16)

1 O little town of Bethlehem,
    How still we see thee lie!
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
    The silent stars go by;
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
    The everlasting Light;
The hopes and fears of all the years
    Are met in thee to-night.

 

 
 8.

(17)

1.    O come, all ye faithful,
    Joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem;
    Come and behold him
    Born the King of angels;
    O come, let us adore him,
    O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, Christ the Lord.

 

 
9.

(19)

1 Silent night, holy night,
All is calm, all is bright
Round yon virgin mother and child.
Holy infant so tender and mild,
Sleep in heavenly peace.

 

 
10.

(18)

1 How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?

 

 
11.

(29)

1 In the cross of Christ I glory,
    Towering o‘er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
    Gathers round its head sublime.

 

 
12.

  (30)

1 When I survey the wondrous cross
    On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
    And pour contempt on all my pride.

 

 
13.

(33)

1 Jesus Christ is ris'n today,
                    Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day,
                    Alleluia!
Who did once upon the cross,
                    Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss.
                    Alleluia!

 

 
14.

  (34)

1 The strife is o‘er, the battle done,
The victory of life is won;
The song of triumph has begun.
           Alleluia!

 
15.

(35)

1 Peace in our time, O Lord,
To all the peoples-Peace!
Peace surely based upon Thy Will
And built in righteousness.
    Thy power alone can break
    The fetters that enchain
    The sorely-stricken soul of life,
    And make it live again.

 

(See Hymnal 1940, #527, for complete words and music)
16.

(28)

1. Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

 
17.

 (39)

1 Holy, Holy, Holy! Lord God Almighty!
    Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee:
Holy, Holy, Holy! merciful and mighty!
    God in three Persons, blessed Trinity.

 

 
18.

(41)

1 Blest be the tie that binds
    Our hearts in Jesus‘ love:
The fellowship of Christian minds
    Is like to that above.

 

 
19.

  (42)

1 My faith looks up to thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
    Saviour divine!
Now hear me while I pray;
Take all my guilt away;
O let me from this day
    Be wholly thine.

 

 
20.

  (43)

1 All hail the power of Jesus‘ Name!
    Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
    And crown him Lord of all!

 

 
21.

(44)

1. God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform:
He plants his footsteps in the sea,
And rides upon the storm.

 

 
22.

  (45)

1 Rock of ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in thee;
Let the water and the blood
From thy side, a healing flood,
Be of sin the double cure,
Save from wrath, and make me pure.

 

 
23.

  (47)

1 Jesus, Lover of my soul,
    Let me to thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
    While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
    Till the storm of life be past;
Safe into the haven guide,
    O receive my soul at last!

 

 
24.

(48)

1 O Love that wilt not let me go,
    I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
    May richer, fuller be.

 

 
25.

(51)

1 There‘s a wideness in God‘s mercy
    Like the wideness of the sea;
There‘s a kindness in his justice,
    Which is more than liberty.
There is welcome for the sinner,
    And more graces for the good;
There is mercy with the Saviour;
    There is healing in his blood.

 

 
26.

(54)

1. For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
                    Alleluia, Alleluia!

 
27.

(55)

1 I love thy kingdom, Lord,
    The house of thine abode,
The Church our blest Redeemer saved
    With his own precious blood.

 

 
28.

(60)

1. Jesus calls us; o'er the tumult
Of our life's wild, restless sea,
Day by day His clear voice soundeth,
Saying, "Christian, follow me;"

 
29.

(62)

1 Eternal Father! strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd‘st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep:
    O hear us when we cry to thee
    For those in peril on the sea!

 

 
30.

(63)

1 Now thank we all our God,
    With heart, and hands, and voices,
Who wondrous things hath done,
    In whom his world rejoices;
Who from our mother‘s arms
    Hath blessed us on our way
With countless gifts of love,
    And still is ours to-day.

 

 
31.

(65)

1 O beautiful for spacious skies,
    For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
    Above the fruited plain!

 

 
32.

(68)

1. God bless our native land;
firm may she ever stand
through storm and night:
when the wild tempests rave,
ruler of wind and wave,
do thou our country save
by thy great might.

 

 
33.

(68)

1. My country, 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride,
From every mountainside
Let freedom ring.

 

 
34.

(71)

1 Once to every man and nation
    Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
    For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God‘s new Messiah,
    Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by for ever
    ‘Twixt that darkness and that light.

 

 
35.

(74)

1 The Church‘s one foundation
    Is Jesus Christ her Lord;
She is his new creation
    By water and the word:
From heaven he came and sought her
    To be his holy bride;
With his own blood he bought her,
    And for her life he died.

 

 
36.

(75)

1 Glorious things of thee are spoken,
    Sion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken,
    Formed thee for his own abode;
On the Rock of Ages founded,
    What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation‘s walls surrounded,
    Thou may‘st smile at all thy foes.

 

 
37.

(76)

1 Jesus shall reign where‘er the sun
Doth his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.

 

 
38.

(79)

1. Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things,
Give heart and soul and mind and strength
To serve the King of kings.

 

 
39.

(80)

1 O Master, let me walk with thee
In lowly paths of service free;
Tell me thy secret; help me bear
The strain of toil, the fret of care.

 

 
40.

(82)

1 Onward, Christian soldiers,
    Marching as to war,
With the cross of Jesus
    Going on before!
Christ, the royal Master,
    Leads against the foe;

 

 
41.

(83)

1 Stand up, stand up, for Jesus,
    Ye soldiers of the cross!
Lift high his royal banner!
    It must not suffer loss:
From victory unto victory
    His army shall he lead;
Till every foe is vanquished,
    And Christ is Lord indeed.

 

 
42.

(85)

1 Be still, my soul: the Lord is on thy side;
    Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;
Leave to thy God to order and provide;
    In every change he faithful will remain.
Be still, my soul: thy best, thy heavenly Friend
    Thro‘ thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

 

 
43.

(89)

1 We gather together to ask the Lord‘s blessing;
    He chastens and hastens his will to make known;
The wicked oppressing now cease from distressing,
    Sing praises to his Name; he forgets not his own.

 

 
44.

(91)

1 O God, our help in ages past,
    Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast
    And our eternal home:

 

 
45.

1. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord;
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored;
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword;
His truth is marching on.

(Refrain)
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on.

 
46.

(57)

1. The King of love my Shepherd is,
Whose goodness faileth never;
I nothing lack if I am His,
And He is mine for ever.

 

 

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