Sidebilder
PDF
ePub

356.

S. M.

L. H. SIGOURNEY.

357.

Active Piety.

1 SERVANTS of Christ, arise,
And gird you for the toil;
The dew of promise from the skies
Already cheers the soil.

2 Go where the sick recline,

Where mourning hearts deplore;
And where the sons of sorrow pine,
Dispense your hallowed lore.

3 Urge, with a tender zeal,
The erring child along,
Where peaceful congregations kneel,
And pious teachers throng.

4 Be faith, which looks above,
With prayer, your constant guest,
And wrap the Saviour's changeless love
A mantle round your breast.

5 So shall you share the wealth,
That earth may ne'er despoil,
And the blest gospel's saving health
Repay your arduous toil.

L. M.

Example of the Saviour.

1 AND is the gospel peace and love?
So let our conversation be;
The serpent blended with the dove,
Wisdom and meek simplicity.

2 Whene'er the angry passions rise,

STEELE.

And tempt our thoughts or tongues to strife, On Jesus let us fix our eyes,

Bright pattern of the Christian life!

3 0, how benevolent and kind!
How mild how ready to forgive!
Be this the temper of our mind,
And his the rules by which we live.
4 Dispensing good where'er he came,
The labors of his life were love;
If, then, we love our Saviour's name
Thus let us our relation

[blocks in formation]

prove.

DODDRIDGE.

Watch!"

1 YE servants of the Lord,

Each in his office wait,
Observant of his heavenly word,
And watchful at his gate.

2 Let all your lamps be bright,
And trim the golden flame;
Gird up your loins, as in his sight,
For awful is his name.

3 Watch, 't is your Lord's command;

And while we speak, he's near;
Mark the first signal of his hand,
And ready all appear.

4 O, happy servant he,

In such a posture found!

He shall his Lord with rapture see
And be with honor crowned.

359.

S. M.

BULFINCH.

The Use of Present Opportunities.

1 CHILDREN of light, awake,
At Jesus' call arise,

Forth with your leader to partake

His toils, his victories.

360.

2 Ye must not idly stand,

His sacred voice who hear;
Arm for the strife the feeble hand,
The holy standard rear.

3 Nought doth the world afford,
But toil must be the price;
Wilt thou not, servant of the Lord,
Then toil for paradise?

4 Awake, ye sons of light,
Strive till the prize be won;
Far spent already is the night;
The day comes brightening on.

[blocks in formation]

The Christian's Contest, Rest, and Hope.

1 THROUGH Sorrow's night and danger's way,
Amid the deepening gloom,
The soldiers of an injured King
Are marching to the tomb.

2 Their service done, securely laid
In this their last retreat,
Unheeded o'er their silent dust
The storms of life shall beat.

3 Yet not thus lifeless in the grave
The vital spark shall lie ;

O'er nature's ruins it shall rise,
To reach its kindred sky.

4 Then heaven's soft dew o'er every eye
Shall shed its mildest rays;

And the long silent dust shall wake
In strains of endless praise.

361.

C. M.

The whole Armor.

ANONYMOUS.

1 0, SPEED thee, Christian, on thy way,
And to thy armor cling;
With girded loins the call obey
That grace and mercy bring.

2 There is a battle to be fought,
An upward race to run,

A crown of glory to be sought,
A victory to be won.

3 0, faint not, Christian, for thy sighs
Are heard before His throne;
The race must come before the prize,
The cross before the crown.

362.

L. M.

The Christian Warrior.

MONTGOMERY.

1 THE Christian warrior, see him stand
In the whole armor of his God;
The spirit's sword is in his hand;
His feet are with the gospel shod.

2 In panoply of truth complete,

Salvation's helmet on his head,
With righteousness, a breastplate meet,
And faith's broad shield before him spread.

3 With this omnipotence he moves;
From this the alien armies flee;
Till more than conqueror he proves,
Through Christ, who gives him victory.
4 Thus strong in his Redeemer's strength,
Sin, death and hell he tramples down,-
Fights the good fight; and takes at length,
Through mercy, an immortal crown.

363.

L. M.

Religion.

G. ROGERS

1 RELIGION! in its blessed ray

All thought of hopeless sorrow flies,
Despair and anguish melt away
Where'er its healing beams arise.
How dark our sinful world would be-
A flowerless desert, dry and drear!
Did not this light, O God, from thee
Its gloom dispel, its aspect cheer.

2 Oh! by it many a heart is soothed,

Which else would be with sorrow crushed,
And many a dying pillow smoothed,
And sob of parting anguish hushed.
Across the troubled sky of time

It doth the bow of promise bend,
A symbol of that cloudless clime

That waits the soul when time shall end.

3 Religion! may its holy light

364.

Our footsteps guide to paths of peace!
Our solace in deep sorrow's night,
Our stay as mortal powers decrease.
With this our guide, we care not when
Death's signal to depart is given;
Its word shall bring our spirits then
The calm and holy peace of heaven.

L. M.

The Humble and Pure Accepted.

1 THUS saith the high and lofty One:
"I sit upon my holy throne;

My name is God, I dwell on high,
Dwell in my own eternity.

WATTS.

« ForrigeFortsett »