One of the lesser reasons to lament the demise of evening church services is that The Day Thou Gavest doesn’t sound as appropriate when sung at most other times of the day.
Margaret and I heard a stirring instrumental rendition of St. Clement the melody most commonly associated with what is The Evening Hymn of both the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy at the Limestone Coast Tattoo yesterday.
We sang it tonight at mgpc. Oddly for such a well-known hymn there aren’t a lot of quality midi files around for it. I’ll look for a better one.
John Ellerton’s lyrics open up the wonderful scope of God’s saving power in creation and redemption as the singers are bid to think of each day and its passing along with those other Christians around the globe whose praise and witness fills those hours in which we ourselves sleep.
The lyrics.
1.
The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall sanctify our rest.
2.
We thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While earth rolls onward into light,
Through all the world her watch is keeping,
And rests not now by day or night.
3.
As o’er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the strain of praise away.
4.
The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren ’neath the western sky,
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous doings heard on high.
5.
So be it, Lord; Thy throne shall never,
Like earth’s proud empires, pass away:
Thy kingdom stands, and grows forever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway.
Here’s a Songs Of Praise style congregational setting, sung, appropriately, at the close of a 1989 episode.
As a bonus, here’s a shortened version featuring vocals by Joanne Hogg with flute by David Fitzgerald.
mgpcpastor's blog 
I have a very fond memory of this song. For a while we had a uni student boarding with us. One night, this student was talking with male friend in out front lounge. It was getting quite late and Dad wanted to go to bed and was keen for the young man to head on home. But he didn’t want to interrupt and seem like a grump so he walked up the hallway of our house singing “The day thou gavest us Lord has ended” very loudly. They got the message! That student and I are still friends and we still giggle about that incident from time to time.
It’s so easy to visualise your dad’s distinctive tones doing that.
I remember him yowling out the passenger window of the car one night as we drove a bunch of kids home from a Youth Alive rally at Rod Laver Arena.
I had to interrupt a meeting earlier and read this out to them.
I think I may or may not even know the uni student in question.
Thanks for the memory.
Yes, the fact that he is tone deaf added to the wonder of the moment! And, yes, you do know the student.
This hymn signalled the start of my father’s funeral Mass a year ago and it signalled the end of my mother’s funeral service a few days ago. I don’t know if I will ever be able to sing it/hear it with dry eyes.
This hymn was the opening hymn of my father’s funeral Mass almost a year ago and a few days ago it was the closing hymn for my mother’s funeral service. I don’t know if I will ever be able to sing it/hear it with completely dry eyes again