God, That Madest Earth and Heaven

God, that madest earth and Heaven, darkness and light;
Who the day for toil hast given, for rest the night;
May Thine angel guards defend us,
Slumber sweet Thy mercy send us;
Holy dreams and hopes attend us, all through the night.

And when morn again shall call us, to run life’s way,
May we still, whatever befall us, Thy will obey.
From the power of evil hide us,
In the narrow pathway guide us,
Nor Thy smile be ever denied us all through the day.

Guard us waking, guard us sleeping, and when we die,
May we in Thy mighty keeping all peaceful lie;
When the last dread call shall wake us,
Do not Thou, our God, forsake us,
But to reign in glory take us with Thee on high.

Author: Reginald Heber

Year: 1827

Reginald Heber wrote the first stanza (the most famous and widely published portion). The additional stanzas were supplied later by other writers (primarily Frederick Lucian Hosmer and others), but the hymn is almost universally attributed to Heber as its primary author.