Mark envied the sailors.
Comfort every sufferer
Watching late in pain.
This was a most encouraging couplet. Mark did not suppose that in the event of a great emergency—he thanked Mrs. Ewing for that long and descriptive word—the sufferers would be able to do much for him; but the consciousness that all round him in the great city they were lying awake at this moment was most helpful. At this point he once more waited five seconds for sleep to arrive. The next couplet was less encouraging, and he would have been glad to miss it out.
Those who plan some evil
From their sin restrain.
Yes, but prayers were not always answered immediately. For instance he was still awake. He hurried on to murmur aloud in fervour:
Through the long night watches
May Thine Angels spread
Their white wings above me,
Watching round my bed.
A delicious idea, and even more delicious was the picture contained in the next verse.
When the morning wakens,
Then may I arise
Pure, and fresh, and sinless
In Thy Holy Eyes.
Glory to the Father,
Glory to the Son,
And to thee, blest Spirit,
Whilst all ages run. Amen.
Mark murmured the last verse with special reverence in the hope that by doing so he should obtain a speedy granting of the various requests in the earlier part of the hymn.