Lord, on this sadly solemn day

1 Lord, on this sadly-solemn day,
We bow our souls--we fast and pray;
Before our eyes our sins appear,
And give us sorrow, shame, and fear.

2 Our private sins of heart and thought,
Our words and deeds with errors fraught,
Obnoxious to thy holiness,
We mourn before thee, and confess.

3 The demon with the poisonous bowl
That kills the body--damns the soul--
O'er bleeding bosoms stalks along,
With maniac laugh and drunken song.

4 In vain they fast, they pray in vain,
Who lift the hands that forget the chain
To bind the body or the soul
A slave to man or to the bowl.

5 Forgive us, Lord; regard us now,
While here we pledge our solemn vow,
To shun the vile oppressor's ways,
And labor fallen man to raise.

Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #769