But, through each melancholy day,
I call on thee, and still will pray,
Imploring still thy kind return.

HYMN 442. C. M. [b or #]
Human Frailty and divine Support.

1 LET others boast how strong they be,
Nor death nor danger fear;
But we'll confess, O Lord, to thee,
What feeble things we are.

2 Fresh as the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay,

A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.

3 Our life contains a thousand springs,
And dies if one be gone;

Strange, that a harp of thousand strings
Should keep in tune so long!

4 But 'tis our God supports our frame,
The God that built us first;
Salvation to Jehovah's name

That reared us from the dust.

5 While we have breath, or use our tongues, Our Maker we'll adore :

His spirit moves our heaving lungs,
Or they would breathe no more.

HYMN 443. S. M. [b or # ]

Comfort in Sickness and Death.

1 WHEN sickness shakes the frame, Each dazzling pleasure flies;

Phantoms of bliss no more obscure
Our long-deluded eyes.

2 Their charms deceive no more,
When death his sceptre shows,
And nature faints beneath the weight
Of complicated woes.

3 The trembling frame of life
Shall crumble into, dust;

Nature shall faint; but learn, each soul,
On nature's God to trust.

4 The man whose heart is fixed
On his all-gracious God,
In every frown may comfort find,
And kiss the chastening rod.

5 Nor him shall death alarm;
On heaven his soul relies,
With joy he views his Maker's love,
And with composure dies.

HYMN 444. L. M. [b]
Blessed are they that mourn.

1 DEEM not that they are blest alone,
Whose days a peaceful tenor keep;
The God, who loves our race, has shown
A blessing for the eyes that weep.
2 The light of smiles shall fill again

The lids that overflow with tears,
And weary hours of wo and pain

Are earnests of serener years.

3 O there are days of sunny rest

For every dark and troubled night; Grief may abide an evening guest,

But joy shall come with early light:

4 For God hath marked each anguished day,
And numbered every secret tear;
And heaven's long age of bliss shall pay
For all his children suffer here.

HYMN 445. H. M. [b or #]

Sorrow and Consolation.

1 How transient and how vain
Is all this world bestows!
How fleet, how full of pain,
And void of sweet repose!
All earthly joys are unrefined,
Nor give contentment to the mind.

2 But heavenly things are pure,
More lasting and more sweet,
Forever will endure,

With comforts more replete. Should worlds be wrapped in blazing fire, The love of God would not expire.

3 Believers have a hope

Which overcomes their fear ;
Which bears their courage up,
When death approaches near:
Each
says, O come, my angel, come,
Bear me to my eternal home.

HYMN 446. P. M. [b]
Dying Christian.

1 VITAL spark of heavenly flame,
Quit, O quit this mortal frame!
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying,
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!

2 Hark! they whisper! Angels say,
Sister spirit, come away :
What is this absorbs me quite,
Steals my senses, shuts my sight,
Drowns my spirits, draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3 The world recedes; it disappears;
Heaven opens to mine eyes; mine ears
With sounds seraphic ring:

Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly !
O grave, where is thy victory?

O death, where is thy sting?

HYMN 447. L. M. [# or b ]
Longing for Heaven.

1 O COULD I soar to worlds above,
That state of perfect peace and love,
How gladly would I mount and fly
On angels' wings to joys on high!

2 But, ah, still longer must I stay,
Ere darksome night is changed to day;

More crosses, sorrows, conflicts bear,
Exposed to trials, pains and care.
3 My Father knows what road is best,
And how to lead to peace and rest;
To him I, cheerful, give my all,

Go where he leads, and wait his call.
4 When he commands my soul away,
Not kingdoms then shall tempt my stay;
With rapture I shall wake, and rise
To join my friends above the skies.

HYMN 448. C. M. [b]

God the Refuge of the Afflicted. 1 AFFLICTION is a stormy deep, Where wave resounds to wave; Though o'er our heads the billows roll, We know the Lord can save.

2 When darkness and when sorrows rose, And pressed on every side,

The Lord hath still sustained our steps,
And still hath been our Guide.

3 Perhaps, before the morning dawn,
He will restore our peace;
For he who bade the tempest roar,
Can bid the tempest cease.

4 Here will we rest, here build our hopes, Nor murmur at his rod;

He's more to us than all the world,

Our Health, our Life, our God.