Worship, Sabbath rest, and the never-ending praises of the worldwide church to our eternal God combine as sacred themes of the powerful hymn “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended.” Just as God’s people take joy in prayers of love and thanksgiving in the early dawn, we can also cherish moments of worship at the day’s close as we enter a time of physical and spiritual rest in our Lord and Savior.
Sunday is our Christian Sabbath—a time of blessed rest and a reminder that our Creator God fashioned the earth in six days and designed the seventh day for rest (Genesis 2:1-3). As we explore this nineteenth-century hymn, “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended,” set at the end of the Sabbath day, we discover more than just lessons about rest. We learn life-giving truths about our earthly walk with Christ Jesus and hope-filled promises about eternal rest with Him.
“The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended” began as five stanzas and was prefaced by Psalm 19:2, which says, “One day telleth another, and one night certifieth another” (KJV).
Rev. John Ellerton’s original lyrics in nineteenth-century English are as follows:
The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall hallow now our rest.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.As o'er each continent and island
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent
Nor dies the hymn of praise away.The sun that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren 'neath the Western sky;
And hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy wondrous acts be heard on high.So be it, Lord; Thy power shall never
Like earth's proud empires pass away;
But stand, and rule, and grow for ever,
Till all Thy creatures own Thy sway. Amen.
Various edits were made to the song for each publication in hymnals and collections, including updates for modern language. Eventually, one stanza, the second-to-last one, was omitted, and most church services today only use the four-stanza version.
John Ellerton (1826-1893) was an ordained minister in the Church of England. He served six churches and ministered for 12 years with a congregation of farmers and steelworkers. He was also a prolific author, hymn writer, editor, and translator.
John Ellerton’s prose included The Holiest Manhood (1882) and Our Infirmities (1883), but he was widely regarded as a writer and translator of nearly 80 hymns—50 of these his original works.
His efforts in writing, editing, and compiling hymns were the work of his heart, and many of his lyrics are used today. He edited the resources Hymns for Schools and Bible Classes (1859) and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns (1871). In addition, his Notes and Illustrations of Church Hymns was published in 1881, and in the same year, he contributed to The Children’s Hymnbook.
John Ellerton’s authentic walk with Christ permeates his myriad lyrics of praise, worship, and thanksgiving. John Julian writes about Ellerton in The Dictionary of Hymnology:
“The words which he uses are usually short and simple; the thought is clear and well stated; the rhythm is good and stately. Ordinary facts in sacred history and in daily life are lifted above the commonplace rhymes with which they are usually associated, thereby rendering the hymns bearable to the cultured, and instructive to the devout.”
We can imagine this man of God in deep reflective thought as he composed each line of “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended.” As he contemplated the day’s ending, he knew that even though his hours of rest were near, other parts of the world were waking, and God’s people would begin their daily praises—thus the theme of ceaseless praise of our Almighty God!
As o'er each continent and island,
The dawn leads on another day,
The voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor dies the hymn of praise away.
Scholar J.R. Watson wrote about Ellerton and “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended” in his book English Hymns: A Critical and Historical Study.
“He saw the globe as we might imagine God seeing it, from outside, and hearing, as Ellerton himself imagined it, the endless sound of praise and prayer from those parts of the world which are temporarily in light. Somewhere in the world, someone is always praising God, and in this way the Church never sleeps.”
Over the years, many have reported that “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended” was used in Queen Victoria’s 60th Jubilee Celebration in 1897. Chris Fenner sets the record straight in an article for the Hymnology Archive:
“Contrary to popular belief, there is no evidence of Queen Victoria using this hymn for her 6oth Jubilee in 1897. It was not included in Hymns for Use During 1897, nor was it in A Form of Thanksgiving to Be Used in St. Paul’s Cathedral, 20 June 1897, nor was it used in the brief outdoor ceremony in front of St. Paul’s on 22 June 1897 as described in Celebration of Her Majesty’s Jubilee, 1897.”
However, the hymn was used at Queen Elizabeth II's (1926–2022) funeral on September 19, 2022. What a precious tribute for an end-of-life memorial—to mark the end of the “day” of life on this earth and to bring honor and praise to the Living God.
By God’s creative design, our weekly labors are to be followed by a time of rest—physically and spiritually (Genesis 2:1-3). We discover much joy and peace in this divine plan for humanity’s life rhythm—times of purposeful work followed by worshipful rest—which leads to days overflowing with abundance and balance (Ephesians 2:10).
The following lyrics of “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended” remind us of the importance of honoring Sundays—our Christian Sabbath—and of clothing our sabbath with praise:
“The day Thou gavest, Lord, is ended,
The darkness falls at Thy behest;
To Thee our morning hymns ascended,
Thy praise shall hallow now our rest.”
“The Day,” each day of the week, is a privileged gift from God. As we embrace this gift—by opening and closing with prayer and praise—we honor our Creator and Giver of all good things and enjoy the peace and rest designed for us (Romans 11:36, Revelation 4:11).
The powerful words, “The Day Thou Gavest Lord Is Ended,” also foreshadow our eternal rest in Christ Jesus. Hebrews 4:9-11 reads:
“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”
If we belong to God through the saving work of Jesus’ death and resurrection, what joy, hope, and peace this provides! After a life of serving our Lord, we will one day enter into blessed rest with Him, and our future is secure in Heaven.
Oh, what joy to walk with God and to please Him on this old earth (Hebrews 11:5). Even here, amidst the hardships and troubles of life, we can find rest for our souls (Matthew 11:29-30).
And oh, what countless joys await when the day the Lord gave us is ended, and our hearts are finally at home in His presence.
Precious Father, thank you for the opportunity to begin this day with worship, to serve you wholeheartedly, and to enter our evening rest with Your praises on our lips. May we never overlook the sacredness of the dawn and the privilege of walking with You each moment. Strengthen us, Lord! And until our Sabbath rest finds eternal fulfillment with You, help us to honor and glorify You with our daily lives. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Photo Credit:©GettyImages/ibrahim eraslan
You’ll find Leigh Ann on an adventure with her sweetheart of 39 years, getting silly with her grands, or daydreaming story plots on the front porch.
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