4 My care, my hope, my first request,
Are all comprised in this,

To follow where Thy saints have led,
And then partake their bliss.

THOMAS GIBBONS. 1820.

10s.

1179 Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation.

1

WE

Ps. 51. 12.

EARY of earth, and laden with my sin, I look at heaven and long to enter in; But there no evil thing may find a home, And yet I hear a voice that bids me "Come!" 2 So vile I am, how dare I hope to stand In the pure glory of that holy land?

Before the whiteness of His throne appear? Yet there are hands stretched out to draw me

near.

3 The while I fain would tread the heavenly way, Evil is ever with me day by day;

Yet on mine ears the gracious tidings fall, "Repent, believe, thou shalt be loosed from all." 4 It is the voice of Jesus that I hear;

[near;

His are the hands stretched out to draw me And His the blood that can for all atone, And set me faultless there before the Throne. 5 'Twas He who found me on the deathly wild, And made me heir of heaven, the Father's child,

And day by day, whereby my soul may live, Gave me His grace of pardon and will give! 6 O great Absolver, grant my soul may wear The lowliest garb of penitence and prayer, That in the Father's courts my glorious dress May be the garment of Thy righteousness.

7 Yes, Thou wilt answer for me, righteous Lord! Thine all the merit, mine the great reward!

Thine the sharp thorns, and mine the golden crown,

Mine the life won, and Thine the life laid down.

8 Nought can I bring, dear Lord, for all I owe, Yet let my full heart, what it can bestow; Like Mary's gift, let my devotion prove, Greatly forgiven, how I greatly love.

11.10.

S. J. STONE. 1865.

1180 The Lord will bless His people with peace.

1

Ps. 29. 11.

H! for the peace which floweth as a river, Making life's desert places bloom and smile!

[ever, Oh! for the faith to grasp heaven's light for Amid the shadows of earth's "little while."

2 "A little while" for patient vigil keeping

.

To face the storm, to wrestle with the strong; "A little while" to sow the seed with weeping, Then bind the sheaves, and sing the harvest song.

3 "A little while " mid shadow and illusion,

To strive by faith love's mysteries to spell; Then read each dark enigma's clear solution, And hail light's verdict, "He doth all things well."

4"A little while" the earthen pitcher taking To wayside brooks, from far-off fountains

fed;

Then the parched lip, its thirst for ever slaking, Beside the fulness of the Fountain-head.

5 "A little while" to keep the oil from failing, "A little while" faith's flickering lamp to

trim, [hailing, And then the Bridegroom's cordial welcome And bow before Him with the bridal hymn. JANE CREWDSON. 1863,

1181

1

2

3

4

5

6

S. M.

Your life is hid with Christ in God.
Col. 3. 3.

OUR

UR life is hid with Christ,
With Christ in God above;
Upward our heart would go to Him,
Whom, seeing not, we love.

He liveth, and we live ;

His life for us prevails;

His fulness fills our emptiness,
His strength for us avails.

Life worketh in us now,

And shall for evermore;

Death shall be swallowed up of life,

The grave its trust restore.

When He who is our life

In glory shall appear,

We too shall be revealed with Him,
And His bright raiment wear.

Shine as the sun shall we

When He shall come again;
Our sky without a cloud or mist,

Ourselves without a stain.

Like Him we then shall be
Transformed and glorified;
For we shall see Him as He is,
And in His light abide.

H. BONAR. 1863.

L.M.

1182 For we walk by faith, not by sight.

1

2 Cor. 5. 7.

IS by the faith of joys to come

We walk through deserts dark as night,
Till we arrive at heaven our home,

Faith is our guide, and Faith our light.
2 The want of sight she well supplies,
She makes the pearly gates appear;
Far into distant worlds she pries,
And brings eternal glories near.

3 Cheerful we tread the desert through,
While faith inspires a heavenly ray,
Though lions roar, and tempests blow,
And rocks and dangers fill the way.
4 So Abraham by divine command
Left his own house to walk with God;
His faith beheld the promised land,
And fired his zeal along the road.

8.7.

ISAAC WATTS. 1719.

1183 Nevertheless, afterward.—Heb. 12. 11.

NOW

1 NOW, the sowing and the weeping, Working hard, and waiting long; Afterward, the golden reaping,

Harvest-home and grateful song.

2 Now, the pruning, sharp, unsparing:
Scattered blossom, bleeding shoot;
Afterward, the plenteous bearing
Of the Master's pleasant fruit.

3 Now, the long and toilsome duty,
Stone by stone to carve and bring;
Afterward, the perfect beauty
Of the palace of the King.

4 Now, the spirit conflict-riven, Wounded heart, unequal strife; Afterward, the triumph given,

And the victor's crown of life.

5 Now, the training, strange and lowly, Unexplained and tedious now; Afterward, the service holy,

And the Master's "Enter thou!"

11s.

F. R. HAVERGAL. 1870.

1184 Let us labour to enter into that rest.

1

OUR

Heb. 4. 11.

UR rest is in heaven, our rest is not here, Then why should we murmur when trials are near? [can come Be hushed our complainings, the worst that But shortens our journey, and hastens us home.

2 It is not for us to be seeking our bliss,

And building our hopes, in a region like this;
We look for a city which hands have not piled,
We pant for a country by sin undefiled.

3 The thorn and the thistle around us may grow,
We would not lie down upon roses below;
We ask not our portion, we seek not our rest,
Till we find them at last in the land of the blest.

4 Let doubts, then, and dangers our progress

oppose,

They only make heaven more sweet at its close: The road may be rough, but it cannot be long, And we'll smooth it with hope, and cheer it

with song.

H. F. LYTE. 1834.