Today we lay the corner stone

1 To-day we lay the corner stone,
To rear our sacred walls upon,
A house for God, who's pledg'd to be
Where he is sought by two or three.

2 Where I record my name, says he,
And where my children honor me,
There I will come to own and bless
My ordinances with success.

3 But Jesus is the corner stone,
For us to build our hopes upon;
On him the edifice may rise
Sublime in light, beyond the skies.

4 When storms and tempests round prevail,
Whirlwind and thunder, fire and hail:
'Tis he our trembling souls shall hide,
On him securely we abide.

5 Dear Shepherd of thine Israel,
Who didst between the cherubs dwell;
Here, to our waiting hearts proclaim
The sweetness of thy saving name.

6 Here may we prove the power of prayer,
To strengthen faith, and sweeten care;
To teach our faint desires to rise,
And bring all heaven before our eyes.

7 God of the churches! thou art near;
Nor short thine arm, nor deaf thine ear,
Oh rend the heavens, come quickly down,
And make a thousand hearts thine own.

Source: A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #360