A GOOD BEGINNING

The New Year

A.B. Simpson



What shall I ask for the coming year?
What shall my watchword be?
What would'st Thou do for me, dear Lord?
What shall I do for Thee?


Lord, I would ask for a holy year,
Spent in Thy perfect will;
Help me to walk in Thy very steps,
Help me to please Thee still.


Lord, I would ask for a trustful year;
Humble, and yet so high;
Help me to sink at Thy Blessed feet,
And on Thy bosom lie.


Lord, I would ask for a year of faith;
Give me Thy faith divine.
Taking my full inheritance,
Making Thy fulness mine.


Lord, I would ask for a year of love
Oh, let me love Thee best!
Give me the love that faileth not
Under the hardest test.


Lord, I would ask for for a busy year,
Fill me with service true;
Doing with all Thy Spirit's might
All that I find to do.


Lord, I would ask for a year of prayer,
Teach me to walk with Thee;
Breathe in my heart Thy Spirits breath;
Pray Thou Thy prayer in me.


Lord, I would ask for a dying world;
Stretch forth Thy mighty hand;
Scatter Thy Word, - Thy power display
This year in every land.


Lord, I would ask for a year of joy,
Thy peace, Thy joy divine,
Springing undimmed through all the days,
Whether of shade or shine.


Lord, I would ask for a year of hope,
Looking for Thee to come,
And hastening on that year of years,
That brings us Christ and Home.