Wearied by day with toils and cares

The words

1. 1

   Stanza 1. Wearied by day with toils and cares,How welcome is the peaceful night!Sweet sleep our wasted strength repairs,And fits us for returning light.

2. 2

   Stanza 2. Yet when our eyes in sleep are closed,Our rest may break ere well begun;To dangers every hour exposedWe neither can foresee nor shun.

3. 3

   Stanza 3. ’Tis of the Lord that we can sleepA single night without alarms;His eye alone our lives can keepSecure, amidst a thousand harms.

4. 4

   Stanza 4. For months and years of safety past,Ungrateful, we, alas! have been;Though patient long, he spoke at last,And bid the fire rebuke our sin.

5. 5

   Stanza 5. The shout of fire! a dreadful cry,Impressed each heart with deep dismay;While the fierce blaze and red’ning sky,Made midnight wear the face of day.

6. 6

   Stanza 6. The throng and terror who can speak!The various sounds that filled the air!The infant’s wail, the mother’s shriek,The voice of blasphemy and prayer!

7. 7

   Stanza 7. But prayer prevailed, and saved the town;The few, who loved the Savior’s name,Were heard, and mercy hasted downTo change the wind, and stop the flame.

8. 8

   Stanza 8. O, may that night be ne’er forgot!LORD, still increase thy praying few!Were OLNEY left without a Lot,Ruin, like Sodom’s, would ensue.

Olney Hymns (1779), Book 2, Hymn 69. John Newton. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/2-69