"PRESENTING UNTO HIM GIFTS."

174

R. Heber.

HARVEY.

IO-II. A. Harvey.

BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the morning!

on our darkness, and lend us thine aid;

Star of the east, the horizon adorning,

Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
Cold on his cradle, the dew-drops are shining;
Low lies his head, with the beasts of the stall;
Angels adore him in slumber reclining-
Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all.

2 Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Edom, and offerings divine?
Gems of the mountain, and pearls of the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, or gold from the mine?
Vainly we offer each ample oblation,

Vainly with gold would his favor secure:
Richer, by far, is the heart's adoration,-

Dearer to God are the prayers of the poor.

176

I

HOW
OW sweetly flowed the gospel's sound
From lips of gentleness and grace,
When listening thousands gathered round,
And joy and reverence filled the place!

2 From heaven he came, of heaven he spoke,
To heaven he led his followers' way;
Dark clouds of gloomy night he broke,
Unveiling an immortal day.

3

"Come, wanderers, to my Father's home;
Come, all ye weary ones, and rest;'
Yes, sacred Teacher, we will come,
Obey thee, love thee, and be blest.

4 Decay, then, tenements of dust;
Pillars of earthly pride, decay:
A nobler mansion waits the just,
And Jesus has prepared the way.

I PETER ii. 21-25.

A. C. Coxe.

A-men.

GERMANY. L. M.

Beethoven.

I

HOW beauteous were the marks divine

That in thy meekness used to shine,

That lit thy lonely pathway, trod

In wondrous love, O Son of God!

2 O who like thee so calm and bright,
So pure, so made to live in light-
O who like thee did ever go
So patient through a world of woe?

177

3 O who like thee so humbly bore
The scorn, the scoffs of men, before?
So meek, forgiving, godlike, high,
So glorious in humility?

4 Ev'n death, which sets the prisoner free,
Was pang and scoff and scorn to thee;
Yet love through all thy torture glowed,
And mercy with thy life-blood flowed.

5 O in thy light be mine to go,
Illuming all my way of woe!
And give me ever on the road
To trace thy footsteps, Son of God!

OUR HIGH PRIEST.

I. Watts.

ST. AGNES.

A-men.

C. M. 7. B. Dykes.

I

WITH joy we meditate the grace

Of our High Priest above;

His heart is made of tenderness,
His bosom glows with love.

2 Touched with a sympathy within,
He knows our feeble frame;
He knows what sore temptations mean,
For he hath felt the same.

3 He in the days of feeble flesh
Poured out his cries and tears;
And in his measure feels afresh
What every member bears.

4 Then let our humble faith address
His mercy and his power;
We shall obtain delivering grace
In the distressing hour.

A-men.

178 OUR FRIEND.

R. Grant.

ST. PETERSBURG. L. M. 61.
Russian.

Ι

I WHEN gathering clouds around I view,

And days are dark, and friends are few,

On him I lean, who, not in vain,

Experienced every human pain:

He sees my wants, allays my fears,

And counts and treasures up my tears.

2 If aught should tempt my soul to stray
From heavenly wisdom's narrow way,
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the ill I would not do:

Still he who felt temptation's power,
Will guard me in that dangerous hour.

3 When, mourning, o'er some stone I bend,
Which covers all that was a friend;
And from his hand, his voice, his smile,
Divides me for a little while,-

My Saviour marks the tears I shed,
For "Jesus wept " o'er Lazarus dead.

4 And O! when I have safely passed,
Through every conflict but the last,
Still, Lord, unchanging, watch beside
My dying bed, for thou hast died:
Then point to realms of cloudless day,
And wipe the latest tear away.

A-men.

179

THE FRIEND OF SINNERS.

FRIENDSHIP. 8-7. D.

J. Newton.

From Mozart.

180

END.

NE there is, above all others,

ONE

Well deserves the name of Friend;

His is love beyond a brother's,

Costly, free, and knows no end.

Which of all our friends, to save us,

Could or would have shed his blood?

But our Jesus died to have us
Reconciled in him to God.

2 When he lived on earth abaséd,
Friend of sinners was his name;
Now above all glory raised,
He rejoices in the same.

O for grace our hearts to soften!
Teach us, Lord, at length to love;

We, alas! forget too often

What a Friend we have above.

OUR EXAMPLE.

I. Watts.

GRACE CHURCH. L. M

From Pleyel.

MY Y dear Redeemer and my Lord,

I read my duty in thy word;

But in thy life the law appears,
Drawn out in living characters.

D.S.