5 Hail, glad, millennial day!
O, shout, ye heavens above!
To-day ye nations sing
The song, redeeming love :
Redeeming love the song shall be:
Hail, blessed year of jubilee!
L. P. M.
Kingdom of Christ.
1 To Christ, the Son, the Father spake :
Lo, ask of me, and I will make
The heathen to thy sceptre bend;
The utmost parts of all the earth
Are thine inheritance by birth,
And wide thine empire shall extend.
2 Now Jesus waves his sceptre high,
Unfurls his banners in the sky,
While loud the gospel trumpets sound:
His enemies with sore dismay,
Retire in haste and yield the day,
While trophies to the Lord abound.
3 Before him kings and tyrants fall,
Detest their crowns, and on him call,
And he a pardon free doth give:
The world in sin was dead before;
To life the world he will restore,
And in him all the world shall live.
4 O Lord, thy government shall be
Extended wide from sea to sea,
And long thy sceptre thou shalt hold;
As long as sun or moon shall shine,
Thou King of earth shalt reign divine,
The mysteries of thy grace unfold.
REPENTANCE AND REFORMATION.
Prayer for Mercy in Spiritual Need.
1 LORD, have mercy
Strength to seek a better way;
When our wakening thoughts begin
First to loathe their cherished sin;
When our weary spirits fail,
And our aching brows are pale;
When our tears bedew thy word;
Then, O then, have mercy, Lord.
2 Lord, have mercy when we lie
On the restless bed and sigh,-
Sigh for death, yet fear it still;
From the thought of former ill;
When the dim, advancing gloom
Tells us that our hour is come;
When is loosed the silver cord;
Then, O then, have mercy, Lord.
3 Lord, have mercy, when we know
First how vain this world below:
When its darker thoughts oppress,
Doubts perplex, and fears distress;
When the earliest gleam is given
Of the bright but distant heaven;
Then thy fostering grace afford;
Then, O then, have mercy, Lord.
1 THE long-lost son, with streaming eyes,
From folly just awake,
Reviews his wanderings with surprise ;
His heart begins to break.
2 "1 starve," he cries, "nor can I bear
The famine in this land,
While servants of my Father share
The bounty of his hand.
3 "With deep repentance I'll return
And seek my Father's face;
Unworthy to be called a son,
I'll ask a servant's place."
4 Far off the Father saw him move,
In pensive silence mourn,
And quickly ran with arms of love,
To welcome his return.
5 0, let thy boundless mercy shine
On my benighted soul,
Correct my passions, mend my heart,
And all my fears control.
Imploring Forgiveness and Renewal of Heart.
1 FORGIVE us for thy mercy's sake;
Our multitude of sins forgive;
And for thy own possession take,
And bid us to thy glory live;
Live in thy sight and gladly prove
Our faith by our obedient love.
2 The covenant of forgiveness seal,
And all thy mighty wonders show;
Our hidden enemies expel,
Ana conquering them to conquer go,
Till all of pride and wrath be slain,
And not one evil thought remain.
3 0, put it in our inward parts
The living law of perfect love:
Write the new precept on our hearts;
We shall not then from thee remove,
Who in thy glorious image shine,
Thy people, and forever thine.
1 THE wandering star and fleeting wind
Are emblems of the fickle mind;
The morning cloud and early dew
Bring our inconstancy to view.
2 But cloud and wind and dew and star,
Only a faint resemblance bear;
Nor can there aught in nature be
So changeable and frail as we.
3 Our outward walk and inward frame
Are scarcely through an hour the same:
We vow, and straight our vows forget,
And then those very vows repeat.
4 With contrite hearts, Lord, we confess
Our folly and unsteadfastness:
When shall these hearts more stable be,
Fixed by thy grace alone on thee?
God's Mercy to the Penitent.
1 SWEET is the friendly voice
Which speaks of life and peace;
Which bids the penitent rejoice,
And sin and sorrow cease.
2 No balm on earth like this
Can cheer the contrite heart;
No flattering dreams of earthly bliss
Such pure delight impart.
3 Still merciful and kind,
Thy mercy, Lord, reveal:
The broken heart thy love can bind,
The wounded spirit heal.
4 Thy presence shall restore
Peace to my anxious breast:
Lord, let my steps be drawn no more
From paths which thou hast blessed.
1 LORD, we have wandered from thy way,
Like foolish sheep have gone astray,
Our pleasant pastures we have left,
And of their guard our souls bereft.
2 Exposed to want, exposed to harm,
Far from our gentle Shepherd's arm;
Nor will these fatal wanderings cease,
Till thou reveal the paths of peace.
3 O seek thy thoughtless servants, Lord,
Nor let us quite forget thy word;
Our erring feet do thou restore,
And keep us that we stray no more.
1 JESUS demands this heart of mine,
Demands my love, my joy, my care,
But ah, how dead to things divine,
How cold my best affections are!
2 'Tis sin, alas! with dreadful power,
Divides my Saviour from my sight;
O, for one happy, shining hour
Of sacred freedom, sweet delight!
|