A hymn for the new year

1128 C. M.
For a blessing on the truth.

O GOD, by whom the seed is given,
   By whom the harvest blest;
   Whose word, like manna shower’d from heaven,
   Is planted in our breast ;—

2 Preserve it from the passing feet,
   And plund’rers of the air;
   The sultry sun’s intenser heat,
   And weeds of worldly care.

3 Though buried deep, or thinly strown,
   Do thou thy grace supply:
   The hope in earthly furrows sown
   Shall ripen in the sky.
                  Reginald Heber (1783–1826)
                  from the Methodist Episcopal Hymnal (1870 edition)