You may sing of the beauty of mountain and dale,

Of the silvery streamlets and flowers of the vale;

But the place most delightful this earth can afford,

Is the place of devotion, the house of the Lord.

2 You may boast of the sweetness of day’s early dawn,

Of the sky’s softening graces when day is just gone;

But there’s no other season or time can compare,

With the hour of devotion, the season of prayer.

3 You may value the friendships of youth and of age,

And select for your comrades the noble and sage;

But the friends that most cheer me on life’s rugged road,

Are the friends of my Master, the children of God.

4 You may talk of your prospects, of fame, or of wealth,

And the hopes that oft flatter the favorites of health;

But the hope of bright glory, of heavenly bliss—

Take away every other, and give me but this.

5 Ever hail, blessed temple, abode of my Lord!

I will turn to thee often, to hear from his word;

I will walk to thine altar with those that I love,

And rejoice in the prospects revealed from above.