{
 "id": "william-cowper/the-house-of-prayer",
 "title": "The House of Prayer",
 "ordinal": "96",
 "subtitle": null,
 "poet": "William Cowper",
 "poet_slug": "william-cowper",
 "language": "en",
 "book": "Olney Hymns",
 "book_slug": "olney-hymns",
 "book_kind": "volume",
 "sequence": 96,
 "container": "Book I On Select Texts of Scripture",
 "epigraph": null,
 "first_published": {
  "year": 1779,
  "venue": "Olney Hymns (1779)",
  "note": "First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established.",
  "uncertain": false,
  "sources": [
   "https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_olney-hymns-in-three-bo_newton-john_1779",
   "https://cowperandnewtonmuseum.org.uk/bulletin/computerised-index-to-the-olney-hymns/",
   "https://archive.org/details/olneyhymnsinthre00cowpuoft"
  ]
 },
 "source": {
  "kind": "standard-ebooks",
  "repo": "standardebooks/john-newton_william-cowper_olney-hymns",
  "file": "book-1.xhtml",
  "upstream": [
   "https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Olney_Hymns_%281840%29",
   "https://archive.org/details/olneyhymnsinthre00cowpuoft"
  ],
  "rights": "public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931)"
 },
 "verification": {
  "level": "structural-only",
  "last_checked": "2026-08-15"
 },
 "stats": {
  "n_lines": 24,
  "n_stanzas": 6,
  "n_parts": 6,
  "longest_line_chars": 42,
  "max_indent": 0
 },
 "site_ready": true,
 "parts": [
  {
   "ordinal": "I",
   "title": null,
   "stanza_range": [
    0,
    1
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "II",
   "title": null,
   "stanza_range": [
    1,
    2
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "III",
   "title": null,
   "stanza_range": [
    2,
    3
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "IV",
   "title": null,
   "stanza_range": [
    3,
    4
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "V",
   "title": null,
   "stanza_range": [
    4,
    5
   ]
  },
  {
   "ordinal": "VI",
   "title": null,
   "stanza_range": [
    5,
    6
   ]
  }
 ],
 "stanzas": [
  [
   {
    "text": "Thy mansion is the Christian’s heart,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "O Lord, thy dwelling-place secure!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Bid the unruly throng depart,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And leave the consecrated door.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Devoted as it is to thee,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A thievish swarm frequents the place;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "They steal away my joys from me,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "And rob my Saviour of his praise.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "There too a sharp designing trade,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Sin, Satan, and the world maintain;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Nor cease to press me, and persuade,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "To part with ease and purchase pain.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "I know them, and I hate their din,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Am weary of the bustling crowd;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "But while their voice is heard within",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I cannot serve thee as I would.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "Oh! for the joy thy presence gives⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "What peace shall reign when thou art here!",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Thy presence makes this den of thieves",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "A calm delightful house of prayer.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ],
  [
   {
    "text": "And if thou make thy temple shine,",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "Yet, self-abased, will I adore;",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "The gold and silver are not mine⁠—",
    "indent": 0
   },
   {
    "text": "I give thee what was thine before.",
    "indent": 0
   }
  ]
 ]
}