EXCEPT the Lord conduct the plan, The best concerted schemes are vain, And...

EXCEPT the Lord conduct the plan, The best concerted schemes are vain, And never can succeed; We spend our wretched strength for nought: But if our works in thee be wrought, They shall be blest indeed.

Lord, if thou didst thyself inspire Our souls with this intense desire Thy goodness to proclaim, Thy glory if we now intend, O let our deed begin and end Complete in Jesu's name!

In Jesu's name, behold, we meet, Far from an evil world retreat, And all its frantic ways; One only thing resolved to know, And square our useful lives below By reason and by grace.

Not in the tombs we pine to dwell, Not in the dark monastic cell, By vows and grates confined; Freely to all ourselves we give, Constrained by Jesu's love to live The servants of mankind.

Now, Jesus, now thy love impart, To govern each devoted heart, And fit us for thy will: Deep founded in the truth of grace, Build up thy rising church, and place The city on the hill.

O let our faith and love abound! O let our lives to all around With purest lustre shine! That all around our works may see, And give the glory, Lord, to thee, The heavenly light divine.