Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

7 Direct, control, suggest, this day,
All I design, or do, or say, [might,
That all my powers, with all their
In thy sole glory may unite.

Praise God, from whom all blessings
flow!

Praise him, all creatures here below; Praise him above, ye heavenly host; Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! 21

1 O TIMELY happy, timely wise,

Hearts that with rising morn arise! Eyes that the beam celestial view, Which evermore makes all things new! 2 New every morning is the love

Our wakening and uprising prove,
Through sleep and darkness safely
brought,
[thought.

Restored to life and power and
3 New mercies, each returning day,
Hover around us while we pray,
New perils past, new sins forgiven,
New thoughts of God, new hopes of

heaven.

4 If, on our daily course, our mind
Be set to hallow all we find,
New treasures still, of countless price,
God will provide for sacrifice.

5 The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish all we ought to ask,-
Room to deny ourselves, a road
To bring us daily nearer God.

6 Seek we no more: content with these,
Let present rapture, comfort, ease,
As heaven shall bid them, come and
The secret this of rest below.
[go;

7 Only, O Lord, in thy dear love,
Fit us for perfect rest above;
And help us, this and every day,
To live more nearly as we pray.

22

1 ALL praise to thee, my God, this night, For all the blessings of the light; Keep me, O keep me, King of kings, Beneath thy own almighty wings.

2 Forgive me, Lord, for thy dear Son, The ill that I this day have done;

3

4

That with the world, myself, and thee
I, ere I sleep, at peace may be.
Teach me to live, that I may dread

The grave as little as my bed;
To die, that this vile body may
Rise glorious at the awful day.

O may my soul on thee repose,

And may sweet sleep mine eyelids close,

Sleep that may me more vigorous make

To serve my God when I awake.

5 When in the night I sleepless lie,
My soul with heavenly thoughts
supply;

Let no ill dreams disturb my rest,
No powers of darkness me molest.
Praise God, from whom all blessings
flow!

Praise him, all creatures here below;
Praise him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

23

1 SUN of my soul, thou Saviour dear!
It is not night if thou be near:
O may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide thee from thy servant's eyes.

2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.

3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without thee I dare not die.

4 If some poor wandering child of thine
Have spurned to-day the voice Divine,
Now, Lord, the gracious work begin;
Let him no more lie down in sin.

5 Watch by the sick; enrich the poor With blessings from thy boundless store;

Be every mourner's sleep to-night, Like infant's slumbers, pure and light. 6 Come near and bless us when we wake, Ere through the world our way we Till in the ocean of thy love [take, We lose ourselves in heaven above.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
[blocks in formation]

Where
of the friendless and the faint,
plair
should I lodge my deep com-
Wheat?

e but with thee, whose open door vites the helpless and the poor?

Crossed all the fair designs I schemed, Blasted my gourds, and laid me low. 6'Lord, why is this?' I trembling cried; Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?'

"Tis in this way,' the Lord replied, 'I answer prayer for grace and faith. 7'These inward trials I employ

From self and pride to set thee free, And break thy schemes of earthly joy, That thou may'st seek thy all in me.'

Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And thou refuse that mourner's plea? 26

Does not the word still fixed remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain?

That were a grief I could not bear,
Didst thou not hear and answer prayer;
But a prayer hearing, answering God
Supports me under every load.

Fair is the lot that's cast for me!
I have an Advocate with thee;
They whom the world caresses most
Have no such privilege to boast.
Poor though I am, despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not;
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Lord vouchsafes to
plead.

25

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

I ASKED the Lord that I might grow
In faith and love and every grace,
Might more of his salvation know,
And seek more earnestly his face.
'Twas he who taught me thus to pray;
And he, I trust, has answered prayer;
But it has been in such a way

As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that, in some favoured hour,
At once he'd answer my request,
And by his love's constraining power
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, he made me feel

The hidden evils of my heart,
And let the angry powers of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea, more, with his own hand he seemed

Intent to aggravate my woe,

1 O COME and mourn with me awhile!
The Saviour calls us to his side;
O come, together let us mourn:
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified!

2 Have we no tears to shed for him,
While soldiers scoff, and Jews de-
ride?

Ah! look how patiently he hangs:
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified!

3 Seven times he spoke, seven words of
love;

And all three hours his silence cried
For mercy on the souls of men:
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified!

4 O break, O break, hard heart of mine!
Thy weak self-love and guilty pride
His Pilate and his Judas were:
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified!

5 A broken heart, a fount of tears,
Ask, and they will not be denied;
A broken heart love's dwelling is:
Jesus, our Lord, is crucified!

6 O love of God! O sin of man!

In this dread act your strength is And victory remains with love: [tried, Jesus, our Lord, is crucified!

[blocks in formation]

The Free Church Hymn Book

3 Go, labour on; your hands are weak, Your knees are faint, your soul cast down;

Yet falter not; the prize you seek Is near, a kingdom and a crown. 4 Go, labour on while it is day; [on; The world's dark night is hastening Speed, speed thy work; cast sloth

away;

It is not thus that souls are won. 5 Men die in darkness at your side,

Without a hope to cheer the tomb; Take up the torch and wave it wide, The torch that lights time's thickest gloom.

6 Toil on, faint not, keep watch, and pray;

Be wise the erring soul to win; Go forth into the world's highway, Compel the wanderer to come in. 7 Toil on, and in thy toil rejoice;

For toil comes rest, for exile home; Soon shalt thou hear the Bridegroom's voice,

The midnight peal, 'Behold, I come!' 28

1 Gop hath two families of love,
In earth below, and heaven above;
One is in battle sharp and sore,
And one is happy evermore.

2 The holy Church on earth must fight
Against the devil and his might;
The Church in heaven with war hath
done;

And yet the two are only one.

3 For they who loved their Saviour here, And died in God's true faith and fear, Have joined the glorious Church on high,

And live and reign beyond the sky. 4 We thank thee, Saviour, for the grace By which they reached that blessed place,

By which they dwell in endless day,
And sin and sorrow flee away.

5 In thee, with all thy saints, they rest, And never more can be distressed; teach us so to live that we

ay follow them, as they did thee;

self, and tr 6 To think on all the lay be. Until thou callest usay dread To see thee as thou a ed; Before thy throne, as may

29

1 LORD, speak to me, that I elids In living echoes of thy to As thou hast sought, so let nous Thy erring children lost and 2 O lead me, Lord, that I may lead The wandering and the waver feet;

O feed me, Lord, that I may feed Thy hungering ones with mar sweet.

3 O strengthen me, that, while I star Firm on the rock, and strong in th I may stretch out a loving hand

To wrestlers with the troubled se 4 O teach me, Lord, that I may teach The precious things thou dost in part; [rea And wing my words, that they m The hidden depths of many a hear 5 O give thine own sweet rest to me, That I may speak with soothi A word in season, as from thee, [pow To weary ones in needful hour. 6 O fill me with thy fulness, Lord, Until my very heart o'erflow In kindling thought and glowing wor Thy love to tell, thy praise to sho 7 O use me, Lord, use even me,

Just as thou wilt, and when, a Until thy blessed face I see, [wher Thy rest, thy joy, thy glory shar

30

1 FROM every stormy wind that blows From every swelling tide of woes, There is a calm, a sure retreat; "Tis found beneath the mercy-seat.

2 There is a place where Jesus sheds The oil of gladness on our heads, A place than all beside more sweet It is the blood-stained mercy-seat. 3 There is a spot where spirits blend, And friend holds fellowship wi friend;

and lov

bow

do no

Though sundered far, by faith they 2 Once more 'tis eventide, and we,

meet

Around one common mercy-seat.

4 Ah! whither could we flee for aid, When tempted, desolate, dismayed, Or how the hosts of hell defeat, Had suffering saints no mercy-seat? 5 There, there on eagle wing we soar, And time and sense seem all no more, And heaven comes down our souls to greet, lead And glory crowns the mercy-seat. O may my hand forget her skill, feed My tongue be silent, cold, and still, This bounding heart forget to beat, If I forget the mercy-seat!

waver

mar

[blocks in formation]

powe Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest,

ir.

vor

hov

ar

er

re

Whose waking is supremely blest; No fear, no woe shall dim that hour That manifests the Saviour's power. 4 Asleep in Jesus! O for me

May such a blissful refuge be!
Securely shall my ashes lie,
Waiting the summons from on high.
5 Asleep in Jesus! time nor space

Debars this precious hiding-place;
On Indian plains, or Lapland snows,
Believers find the same repose.

6 Asleep in Jesus! far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But thine is still a blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep.
32

1 AT even, ere the sun was set,

The sick, O Lord, around thee lay; O in what divers pains they met! O with what joy they went away!

Oppressed with various ills, draw What if thy form we cannot see, [near; We know and feel that thou art here. 3 O Saviour Christ, our woes dispel:

For some are sick, and some are sad, And some have never loved thee well, And some have lost the love they had,

4 And some are pressed with worldly

care,

And some are tried with sinful doubt, And some such grievous passions tear That only thou canst cast them out; 5 And some have found the world is vain, Yet from the world they break not free; [pain, And some have friends who give them Yet have not sought a friend in thee;

6 And none, O Lord, have perfect rest, For none are wholly free from sin; And they who fain would serve thee best

Are conscious most of wrong within 7 O Saviour Christ, thou too art Man; Thou hast been troubled, tempted tried:

Thy kind but searching glance can scan The very wounds that shame would hide;

8 Thy touch has still its ancient power; No word from thee can fruitless fall: Hear in this solemn evening hour, And in thy mercy heal us all.

33

1 WHERE high the heavenly temple stands,

The house of God not made with hands,

A great High Priest our nature wears, The Guardian of mankind appears.

2 He, who for men their Surety stood, And poured on earth his precious blood,

Pursues in heaven his mighty plan, The Saviour and the Friend of man. 3 Though now ascended up on high, He bends on earth a brother's eye; Partaker of the human name, He knows the frailty of our frame.

4 Our fellow-sufferer yet retains

A fellow-feeling of our pains,
And still remembers in the skies
His tears, his agonies, and cries.
5 In every pang that rends the heart
The Man of Sorrows had a part;
He sympathizes with our grief,
And to the sufferer sends relief.

6 With boldness, therefore, at the throne
Let us make all our sorrows known,
And ask the aids of heavenly power
To help us in the evil hour.

34

1 TAKE up thy cross, the Saviour said,
If thou wouldst my disciple be,
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after me.

2 Take up thy cross; let not its weight Fill thy weak spirit with alarm; His strength shall bear thy spirit up, And brace thy heart, and nerve thine arm.

3 Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame, Nor let thy foolish pride rebel; Thy Lord for thee the cross endured, To save thy soul from death and hell. 4 Take up thy cross then in his strength, And calmly every danger brave; "Twill guide thee to a better home, And lead to victory o'er the grave. 5 Take up thy cross, and follow Christ, Nor think till death to lay it down; For only he who bears the cross

May hope to wear the glorious crown. 35

1 'TWAS on that night when doomed to know

The eager rage of every foe,

That night in which he was betrayed, The Saviour of the world took bread,

2 And, after thanks and glory given

To him that rules in earth and heaven, That symbol of his flesh he broke, And thus to all his followers spoke :

3 My broken body thus I give

For you, for all; take, eat, and live;
And oft the sacred rite renew,
That brings my wondrous love to view.'

4 Then in his hands the cup he raised, And God anew he thanked and praised; While kindness in his bosom glowed, And from his lips salvation flowed. 5'My blood I thus pour forth,' he cries, "To cleanse the soul in sin that lies; In this the covenant is sealed,

And Heaven's eternal grace revealed. 6'With love to man this cup is fraught; Let all partake the sacred draught; Through latest ages let it pour In memory of my dying hour.' 36

1 BEHOLD a Stranger at the door!
He gently knocks, has knocked before,
Has waited long, is waiting still:
You treat no other friend so ill.

2

3

O lovely attitude! he stands
With melting heart and laden hands;
O matchless kindness! and he shows
This matchless kindness to his foes.

Admit him, for the human breast
Ne'er entertained so kind a guest;
No mortal tongue their joy can tell
With whom he condescends to dwell.

4 Admit him, ere his anger burn,

Lest he depart, and ne'er return; Admit him, or the hour's at hand When at his door denied you'll stand. 5 Yet know, nor of the terms complain, If Jesus comes, he comes to reign,To reign, and with no partial sway; Thoughts must be slain that disobey.

6 Sovereign of souls! thou Prince of Peace!

O may thy gentle reign increase; Throw wide the door, each willing mind;

And be his empire all mankind.

37

1 LORD of the Sabbath, hear our vows,
On this thy day, in this thy house;
And own, as grateful sacrifice,
The songs which from the desert rise.
2 Thine earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love;
But there's a nobler rest above;
To that our labouring souls aspire,
With ardent pangs of strong desire.

« ForrigeFortsett »