The Christian Hymn Book
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Title: The Christian Hymn Book
Compiler: Alexander Campbell
Release date: June 20, 2014 [eBook #46041]
Most recently updated: October 24, 2024
Language: English
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46041
Credits: Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, based on scans made available
by the Internet Archive,
https://archive.org/details/christianhymnboo00campiala
*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CHRISTIAN HYMN BOOK ***
THE
CHRISTIAN HYMN BOOK:
A COMPILATION OF
PSALMS, HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS,
ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
BY
A. CAMPBELL AND OTHERS.
REVISED AND ENLARGED BY A COMMITTEE.
CINCINNATI:
H. S. BOSWORTH, PUBLISHER.
1870.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by
R. M. Bishop, C. H. Gould, W. H. Lape, O. A. Burgess, and J. B.
Bowman, _Trustees_,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for
the Southern District of Ohio.
MIAMI PRINTING COMPANY,
Printers, Stereotypers, and Binders,
WEST EIGHTH ST., NEAR MAIN.
INTRODUCTION.
This Hymn Book is the result of an agreement between Alexander
Campbell—the former proprietor of the Christian Hymn Book—and the
Christian brotherhood at large, as represented in the American
Christian Missionary Society. At the annual meeting of the Society, in
1864, an overture was made by Mr. Campbell, of the copy-right of the
Christian Hymn Book, to be held by certain brethren, in trust, on two
conditions: 1. That a committee be mutually agreed on by himself and
the Society, to revise and enlarge the book, so as to meet the general
wishes of the brotherhood of Disciples; 2. That the profits arising
from the sale of the book be given to the A. C. M. S. This overture was
accepted, and the Committee of Revision was immediately appointed. That
Committee, having fulfilled their task, now present the fruit of their
labors to the public.
It will be seen that, while the former book was made the basis of this,
the work of revision and enlargement has been made as thorough as
possible. Still, comparatively few hymns have been expunged. After
making as complete an exploration as our time would allow, of the
realms of Christian Hymnology, we were more than ever convinced of the
value of the labor, judgment, and taste, displayed in the compilation
of the book we have so long used and cherished. We have met with no
book of equal size, that possesses equal merit. The principal changes
we have made, are:
1.—A new classification of subjects—increasing the facility of
reference to hymns on the various subjects of song.
2.—An unbroken series of numbers to the hymns, which, while it
necessitates the abolition of the formal distinction between Psalms,
Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, enables us to avoid the confusion that
constantly grew out of the three series of numbers, which the former
classification required.
3.—The numbering of the stanzas of every hymn, for easy reference, when
any stanza is omitted in singing.
4.—An arrangement of _meters_, under every heading.
5.—A greatly enlarged number and variety of hymns, suited to the
diversified wants of personal, social, and public devotion.
We take pleasure in acknowledging our indebtedness to numerous
brethren, for counsel and assistance; especially to Elder William
Baxter, whose collected material and original contributions have been
cheerfully placed at our disposal.
While we have admitted a few original hymns, prepared expressly for
this work, the additions have been made mostly from the old authors, or
from the new resources furnished by the living authors of our own and
other lands. It is believed that the work is brought fully up to the
resources and demands of the present time.
Knowing that in Christian families, the Hymn Book is generally the most
popular book of sacred poetry, and, not seldom, the sole resource of
the family in that department, we have felt the importance of a large
variety of the choicest lyrical productions that our language affords.
We have done what our time and means would allow, toward this end. We
hope that it may minister to the comfort, strength, and purity of the
Church of God; throw over many a hearth-stone, and many a weary
pilgrim-path, the sweet radiance of heavenly song; and give fresh
encouragement to the cultivation of all pious sentiments and emotions,
alike in the closet, the family, the prayer-meeting, and the public
assembly.
ISAAC ERRETT,
W. K. PENDLETON,
W. T. MOORE,
T. M. ALLEN,
A. S. HAYDEN.
Cincinnati, O., August 7, 1865.
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES.
1 L. M.
The works and the word of God.
Psalm 19.
The heavens declare thy glory, Lord!
In every star thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold thy word,
We read thy name in fairer lines.
2 The rolling sun, the changing light,
And nights and days, thy power confess;
But the blest volume thou hast writ,
Reveals thy justice and thy grace.
3 Sun, moon, and stars, convey thy praise
Round the whole earth, and never stand;
So when thy truth began its race,
It touched and glanced on every land.
4 Nor shall thy spreading gospel rest
Till through the world thy truth has run;
Till Christ has all the nations blest
That see the light, or feel the sun.
5 Great Sun of Righteousness! arise;
Bless the dark world with heavenly light:
Thy gospel makes the simple wise,
Thy laws are pure, thy judgments right.
6 Thy noblest wonders here we view,
In souls renewed, and sins forgiven;
Lord! cleanse my sins, my soul renew,
And make thy word my guide to heaven.
2 L. M.
Divine love displayed, etc.
To thee my heart, Eternal King!
Would now its thankful tribute bring,
To thee its humble homage raise
In songs of ardent, grateful praise.
2 All nature shows thy boundless love,
In worlds below and worlds above;
But in thy blesséd word I trace
The richer glories of thy grace.
3 There what delightful truths are given;
There Jesus shows the way to heaven;
His name salutes my listening ear,
Revives my heart and checks my fear.
4 There Jesus bids our sorrows cease,
And gives the laboring conscience peace;
Raises our grateful feelings high,
And points to mansions in the sky.
5 For love like this, O, may our song
Through endless years thy praise prolong;
And distant climes thy name adore,
Till time and nature are no more!
3 L. M.
Nature and revelation.
The starry firmament on high,
And all the glories of the sky,
Yet shine not to thy praise, O Lord,
So brightly as thy written word.
2 The hopes that holy word supplies,
Its truths divine and precepts wise—
In each a heavenly beam I see,
And every beam conducts to thee.
3 Almighty Lord! the sun shall fail,
The moon forget her nightly tale,
And deepest silence hush on high
The radiant chorus of the sky—
4 But fixed for everlasting years,
Unmoved amid the wreck of spheres,
Thy word shall shine in cloudless day
When heaven and earth have passed away.
4 L. M.
Strength and peace from the divine word.
There is a stream whose gentle flow
Supplies the city of our God;
Life, love, and joy, still gliding through,
And watering our divine abode.
2 That sacred stream, thy holy word,
Supports our faith, our fear controls;
Sweet peace thy promises afford,
And give new strength to fainting souls.
5 L. M.
The Scriptures our light and guide.
When Israel through the desert passed,
A fiery pillar went before,
To guide them through the dreary waste,
And lessen the fatigues they bore.
2 Such is thy glorious word, O God;
’Tis for our light and guidance given;
It sheds a luster all abroad,
And points the path to bliss and heaven.
3 It fills the soul with sweet delight,
And quickens its inactive powers;
It sets our wandering footsteps right,
Displays thy love and kindles ours.
4 Its promises rejoice our hearts;
Its doctrine is divinely true;
Knowledge and pleasure it imparts;
It comforts and instructs us too.
5 Ye favored lands, who have this word!
Ye saints, who feel its saving power!
Unite your tongues to praise the Lord,
And his distinguished grace adore.
6 L. M.
Their words to the end of the world.
Psalm 19:4.
Upon the gospel’s sacred page
The gathered beams of ages shine;
And, as it hastens, every age
But makes its brightness more divine.
2 On mightier wing, in loftier flight,
From year to year, does knowledge soar;
And, as it soars, the gospel light
Becomes effulgent more and more.
3 More glorious still, as centuries roll,
New regions blest, new powers unfurled;
Expanding with the expanding soul,
Its radiance shall o’erflow the world;
4 Flow to restore, but not destroy;
As when the cloudless lamp of day
Pours out its flood of light and joy,
And sweeps the lingering mist away.
7 L. M.
Hold fast the form of sound words.
2 Tim. 1:13.
God’s law demands one living faith,
Not a gaunt crowd of lifeless creeds;
Its warrant is a firm “God saith;”
Its claim, not words, but living deeds.
2 Yet, Lord, forgive; thy simple law
Grows tarnished in our earthly grasp;
Pure in itself, without a flaw,
It dims in our too-worldly clasp.
3 We handle it with unwashed hands;
We stain it with unhallowed breath;
We gloss it with device of man’s,
And hide thine image underneath.
4 Forgive the sacrilege, and take
From off our souls th’ unworthy stain;
And show us, for thy Son’s dear sake
Thy pure and perfect law again.
8 L. P. M.
The entrance of thy word giveth light.
Psalm 119:130.
I love the volume of thy word;
What light and joy those leaves afford
To souls benighted and distressed!
Thy precepts guide my doubtful way,
Thy fear forbids my feet to stray,
Thy promise leads my heart to rest.
2 Thy threatenings wake my slumbering eyes,
And warn me where my danger lies;
But ’tis thy blessed gospel, Lord,
That makes my guilty conscience clean,
Converts my soul, subdues my sin,
And gives a free, but large reward.
3 Who knows the errors of his thoughts?
My God, forgive my secret faults,
And from presumptuous sins restrain;
Accept my poor attempts of praise,
That I have read thy book of grace,
And book of nature, not in vain.
9 C. M.
Thy word is a lamp.
Psalm 119:105.
How precious is the book divine,
By inspiration given!
Bright as a lamp its precepts shine,
To guide our souls to heaven.
2 It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts
In this dark vale of tears;
Life, light, and joy, it still imparts,
And quells our rising fears.
3 This lamp, through all the tedious night
Of life, shall guide our way,
Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.
10 C. M.
Thy testimonies are my delight.
Psalm 119:24.
Father of Mercies! in thy word
What endless glory shines!
For ever be thine name adored
For these celestial lines!
2 Here may the wretched sons of want
Exhaustless riches find;
Riches above what earth can grant,
And lasting as the mind.
3 Here the fair tree of knowledge grows,
And yields a rich repast:
Sublimer sweets than nature knows
Invite the longing taste.
4 Here springs of consolation rise
To cheer the fainting mind,
And thirsty souls receive supplies,
And sweet refreshment find.
5 Here the Redeemer’s welcome voice,
Spreads heavenly peace around;
And life and everlasting joys
Attend the blissful sound.
6 O may these heavenly pages be
My ever dear delight;
And still new beauties may I see,
And still increasing light.
7 Divine Instructor! gracious Lord,
Be thou for ever near;
Teach me to love thy sacred word,
And view my Saviour there!
11 C. M.
A light unto my path.
Psalm 119:105.
What glory gilds the sacred page,
Majestic like the sun!
It gives a light to every age—
It gives but borrows none.
2 The hand that gave it, still supplies
His gracious light and heat;
His truths upon the nations rise—
They rise, but never set.
3 Let everlasting thanks be thine
For such a bright display,
As makes the world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.
4 My soul rejoices to pursue
The paths of truth and love,
Till glory breaks upon my view
In brighter worlds above.
12 C. M.
Thy law is my delight.
Psalm 119:174.
Lord, I have made thy word my choice,
My lasting heritage;
There shall my noblest powers rejoice,
My warmest thoughts engage.
2 I’ll read the histories of thy love,
And keep thy laws in sight;
While through the promises I rove,
With ever fresh delight.
3 ’Tis a broad land, of wealth unknown,
Where springs of life arise,
Seeds of immortal bliss are sown,
And hidden glory lies.
4 The best relief that mourners have;
It makes our sorrows blest;
Our fairest hope beyond the grave,
And our eternal rest.
13 C. M.
Revelation welcomed.
Hail, sacred truth! whose piercing rays
Dispel the shades of night,
Diffusing o’er a sinful world
The healing beams of light.
2 Thy word, O Lord, with friendly aid,
Restores our wandering feet,
Converts the sorrows of the mind
To joys divinely sweet.
3 O, send thy light and truth abroad,
In all their radiant blaze;
And bid the admiring world adore
The glories of thy grace.
14 C. M.
O, how I love thy law.
Psalm 119:97.
O how I love thy holy law!
’Tis daily my delight;
And thence my meditations draw
Divine advice by night.
2 I wake before the dawn of day,
To meditate thy word;
My soul with longing melts away,
To bear thy gospel, Lord.
3 How doth thy word my heart engage,
How well employ my tongue;
And in my tiresome pilgrimage,
Yields me a heavenly song.
4 When nature sinks, and spirits droop,
Thy promises of grace
Are pillars to support my hope,
And there I write thy praise.
15 C. M.
Wherewithal shall a young man, etc.
Psalm 119:9.
How shall the young secure their hearts,
And guard their lives from sin?
Thy word the choicest rules imparts
To keep the conscience clean.
2 ’Tis like the sun, a heavenly light,
That guides us all the day,
And through the dangers of the night,
A lamp to lead our way.
3 Thy precepts make us truly wise;
We hate the sinner’s road;
We hate our own vain thoughts that rise,
But love the law, O God.
4 Thy word is everlasting truth;
How pure is every page!
That holy book shall guide our youth
And well support our age.
16 C. M.
Word of the everlasting God.
Lamp of our feet! whereby we trace
Our path when wont to stray;
Stream from the fount of heavenly grace!
Brook by the traveler’s way!
2 Bread of our souls, whereon we feed!
True manna from on high!
Our guide and chart! wherein we read
Of realms beyond the sky.
3 Pillar of fire through watches dark,
And radiant cloud by day!
When waves would whelm our tossing bark,
Our anchor and our stay!
4 Word of the everlasting God!
Will of his glorious Son!
Without thee how could earth be trod,
Or heaven itself be won?
17 C. M.
Quicken me according to thy word.
Psalm 119:25.
O Lord, thy precepts I survey:
I keep thy law in sight,
Through all the business of the day,
To form my actions right.
2 My heart in midnight silence cries,
“How sweet thy comforts be!”
My thoughts in holy wonder rise,
And bring their thanks to thee.
18 S. M.
The law of the Lord is perfect.
Psalm 19:7.
O Lord, thy perfect word
Directs our steps aright;
Nor can all other books afford
Such profit or delight.
2 Celestial light it sheds
To cheer this vale below;
To distant lands its glory spreads,
And streams of mercy flow.
3 True wisdom it imparts;
Commands our hope and fear:
O may we hide it in our hearts,
And feel its influence there!
19 S. M.
The books of nature and Scripture.
Behold! the lofty sky
Declares its maker, God;
And all his starry works, on high,
Proclaim his power abroad.
2 The darkness and the light
Still keep their course the same;
While night to day, and day to night,
Divinely teach his name.
3 In every different land,
Their general voice is known;
They show the wonders of his hand,
And orders of his throne.
4 Ye Christian lands! rejoice;
Here he reveals his word;
We are not left to nature’s voice,
To bid us know the Lord.
20 7s.
My Bible.
My Bible! book divine!
Precious treasure! thou art mine:
Mine to tell me whence I came;
Mine to teach me what I am;
2 Mine to chide me when I rove;
Mine to show a Saviour’s love;
Mine thou art to guide and guard;
Mine to punish or reward;
3 Mine to comfort in distress,
Suffering in this wilderness;
Mine to show, by living faith,
Man can triumph over death;
4 Mine to tell of joys to come,
And the rebel sinner’s doom:
O thou holy book divine!
Precious treasure thou art mine!
21 8s, 7 & 4.
Book of grace.
Book of grace, and book of glory!
Gift of God to age and youth;
Wondrous in thy sacred story,
Bright, bright with truth.
2 Book of love! in accents tender,
Speaking unto such as we;
May it lead us, Lord, to render
All, all to thee.
3 Book of hope! the spirit sighing,
Consolation finds in thee;
As it hears the Saviour crying—
“Come, come to me.”
4 Book of life! when we reposing,
Bid farewell to friends we love
Give us for the life then closing,
Life, life above.
22 P. M.
The word more precious than gold.
Precious Bible! what a treasure
Does the word of God afford!
All I want for life or pleasure,
Food and med’cine, shield and sword:
Let the world account me poor,
Having this I need no more.
2 Food to which the world’s a stranger,
Here my hungry soul enjoys;
Of excess there is no danger—
Though it fills, it never cloys:
On a dying Christ I feed,
He is meat and drink indeed!
3 When my faith is faint and sickly,
Or when Satan wounds my mind;
Cordials to revive me quickly,
Healing med’cines here I find:
To the promises I flee,
Each affords a remedy.
4 In the hour of dark temptation,
Satan can not make me yield;
For the word of consolation
Is to me a mighty shield:
While the scripture truths are sure,
From his malice I’m secure.
5 Vain his threats to overcome me,
When I take the Spirit’s sword;
Then, with ease, I drive him from me;
Satan trembles at the word:
’Tis a sword for conquest made,
Keen the edge, and strong the blade.
6 Shall I envy, then, the miser,
Doating on his golden store?
Sure I am, or should be, wiser;
I am rich—’tis he is poor:
Jesus gives me in his word,
Food and med’cine, shield and sword.
23 12s & 11s.
The family Bible.
How painfully pleasing the fond recollection
Of youthful connections and innocent joy,
When blessed with parental advice and affection,
Surrounded with mercies—with peace from on high!
I still view the chairs of my father and mother,
The seats of their offspring as ranged on each hand;
And that richest of books which excelled every other,
The family Bible that lay on the stand:
The old-fashioned Bible, the dear blesséd Bible,
The family Bible that lay on the stand.
2 That Bible, the volume of God’s inspiration,
At morn and at evening could yield us delight;
And the prayer of our sire was a sweet invocation
For mercy by day and for safety through night;
Our hymn of thanksgiving with harmony swelling,
All warm from the heart of the family band,
Has raised us from earth to that rapturous dwelling
Described in the Bible that lay on the stand:
The old-fashioned Bible, the dear, blesséd Bible,
The family Bible that lay on the stand.
3 Ye scenes of tranquillity, long have we parted,
My hopes almost gone, and my parents no more:
In sorrow and sadness I live broken-hearted,
And wander unknown on a far distant shore;
Yet how can I doubt a dear Saviour’s protection,
Forgetful of gifts from his bountiful hand!
O let me with patience receive his correction,
And think of the Bible that lay on the stand:
The old-fashioned Bible, the dear, blesséd Bible,
The family Bible that lay on the stand.
GOD: HIS BEING AND PERFECTIONS.
24 L. M.
Great is the Lord.
Praise ye the Lord! ’tis good to raise
Our hearts and voices in his praise:
His nature and his works invite
To make this duty our delight.
2 Great is the Lord! and great his might,
And all his glories infinite:
His wisdom vast, and knows no bound;
A deep where all our thoughts are drowned.
3 He loves the meek, rewards the just,
Humbles the wicked in the dust,
Melts and subdues the stubborn soul,
And makes the broken spirit whole.
4 His saints are precious in his sight;
He views his children with delight;
He sees their hope, he knows their fear,
Approves and loves his image there.
25 L. M.
Eternity of God.
Ere mountains reared their forms sublime,
Or heaven and earth in order stood—
Before the birth of ancient time,
From everlasting thou art God.
2 A thousand ages, in their flight,
With thee are as a fleeting day;
Past, present, future, to thy sight
At once their various scenes display.
3 But our brief life’s a shadowy dream,
A passing thought, that soon is o’er,
That fades with morning’s earliest beam,
And fills the musing mind no more.
4 To us, O Lord, the wisdom give
Each passing moment so to spend,
That we at length with thee may live,
Where life and bliss shall never end.
26 L. M.
“How unsearchable are thy judgments.”
Rom. 11:33.
Lord, my weak thought in vain would climb
To search the starry vault profound:
In vain would wing her flight sublime,
To find creation’s outmost bound.
2 But weaker yet that thought must prove
To search thy great eternal plan—
Thy sovereign counsels, born of love
Long ages ere the world began.
3 When my dim reason would demand
Why that, or this, thou dost ordain,
By some vast deep I seem to stand,
Whose secrets I must ask in vain.
4 When doubts disturb my troubled breast,
And all is dark as night to me,
Here, as on solid rock, I rest;
That so it seemeth good to thee.
5 Be this my joy, that evermore
Thou rulest all things at thy will:
Thy sovereign wisdom I adore,
And calmly, sweetly trust thee still.
27 L. M.
Omnipresence of God.
Father of spirits! nature’s God,
Our inmost thoughts are known to thee:
Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle word,
And every private action see.
2 Could we, on morning’s swiftest wings,
Pursue our flight through trackless air,
Or dive beneath deep ocean’s springs,
Thy presence still would meet us there.
3 In vain may guilt attempt to fly,
Concealed beneath the pall of night:
One glance from thy all-piercing eye,
Can kindle darkness into light.
4 Search thou our hearts, and there destroy
Each evil thought, each secret sin,
And fit us for those realms of joy
Where naught impure shall enter in.
28 L. M.
The Lord reigneth.
Psalm 96:10.
Jehovah reigns; his throne is high;
His robes are light and majesty;
His glory shines with beams so bright
No mortal can sustain the sight.
2 His terrors keep the world in awe;
His justice guards his holy law;
His love reveals a smiling face.
His truth and promise seal the grace.
3 Through all his works his wisdom shines,
And baffles Satan’s deep designs;
His power is sovereign to fulfill
The noblest counsels of his will.
4 And will this glorious Lord descend
To be my father and my friend?
Then let my songs with angels join;
Heaven is secure, if God be mine.
29 L. M.
Psalm 100.
With one consent let all the earth
To God their cheerful voices raise;
Glad homage pay, with awful mirth,
And sing before him songs of praise:
2 Convinced that he is God alone,
From whom both we and all proceed;
We, whom he chooses for his own,
The flock that he vouchsafes to keep.
3 O, enter, then, his temple gate,
Thence to his courts devoutly press;
And still your grateful hymns repeat,
And still his name with praises bless.
4 For he’s the Lord supremely good,
His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth, which always firmly stood,
To endless ages shall endure.
30 L. M.
Of him are all things.
Rom. 11:36.
O source divine, and life of all,
The fount of being’s wondrous sea!
Thy depth would every heart appall,
That saw not love supreme in thee.
2 We shrink before thy vast abyss,
Where worlds on worlds eternal brood;
We know thee truly but in this—
That thou bestowest all our good.
3 And so, ’mid boundless time and space,
O grant us still in thee to dwell,
And through the ceaseless web to trace
Thy presence working all things well!
31 L. M.
In him we live and move.
Acts 17:28.
Unchangeable, all-perfect Lord!
Essential life’s unbounded sea!
What lives and moves, lives by thy word;
It lives, and moves, and is, from thee!
Whate’er in earth, or sea, or sky,
Or shuns, or meets, the wandering thought,
Escapes, or strikes, the searching eye,
By thee was to existence brought.
2 High is thy power above all hight;
Whate’er thy will decrees is done:
Thy wisdom, holiness and might
Can by no finite mind be known.
What our dim eyes could never see,
Is plain and naked in thy sight;
What thickest darkness vails, to thee
Shines clearly as the morning light.
3 Thine, Lord, is holiness, alone:
Justice and truth before thee stand:
Yet, nearer to thy sacred throne,
Love ever dwells at thy right hand.
And to thy love and ceaseless care,
Father! this light, this breath, we owe;
And all we have, and all we are,
From thee, great source of life! doth flow.
32 L. M.
The all-seeing God.
Lord, thou hast searched and seen me thro’;
Thine eye commands with piercing view
My rising and my resting hours,
My heart and flesh with all their powers.
2 My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my God distinctly known;
He knows the words I mean to speak,
Ere from my opening lips they break.
3 Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand:
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great!
What large extent! what lofty hight!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.
33 L. M.
Psalm 139.
Lord, thou hast formed mine every part,
Mine inmost thought is known to thee;
Each word, each feeling of my heart,
Thine ear doth hear, thine eye doth see.
2 Though I should seek the shades of night,
And hide myself in guilty fear,
To thee the darkness seems as light,
The midnight as the noonday clear.
3 The heavens, the earth, the sea, the sky,
All own thee ever present there;
Where’er I turn, thou still art nigh,
Thy Spirit dwelling everywhere.
4 O may that Spirit, ever blest,
Upon my soul in radiance shine,
Till welcomed to eternal rest,
I taste thy presence, Lord, divine!
34 L. M. 6 lines
God praised in all his works.
Thou art, O Lord, the boundless source,
Whence all our thousand blessings flow;
And nature, through her endless course,
Proclaims thy love to all below;
While all above join in the strain
Of ceaseless praises to thy name.
2 The sun on golden chariot rides,
And sends to earth his rays of light;
While darkness from his brightness hides,
And vanishes from human sight;
This sunlight, when it comes to earth,
Declares thy goodness gave it birth.
3 The moon and stars, that rule at night,
And smile upon this world of wrong,
Bear on each trembling chord of light
The notes of this sweet, sacred song;
“Thou, Lord, didst make all things that move;
All are the creatures of thy love.”
4 Then help my poor, unworthy heart
To join aloud in nature’s praise;
And may my song, in every part,
Proclaim the wonders of thy ways;
And when I reach the heavenly plains,
I’ll sing thy love in nobler strains.
35 C. M.
Lord, thou hast searched me, etc.
Psalm 139:1.
Lord, all I am is known to thee;
In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, or to flee
The notice of thine eye.
2 Thy all-observing eye surveys
My rising and my rest,
My public walks, my private ways,
The secrets of my breast.
3 My thoughts lie open to thee, Lord,
Before they’re formed within,
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
Thou knowest all I mean.
4 O let thine arms surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secured by sovereign love.
36 C. M.
Holy, holy, holy Lord.
O God, we praise thee, and confess
That thou the only Lord
And everlasting Father art,
By all the earth adored.
2 To thee all angels cry aloud,
To thee the powers on high,
Both cherubim and seraphim,
Continually do cry—
3 O holy, holy, holy Lord,
When heavenly hosts obey;
The world is with the glory filled
Of thy majestic sway.
4 The apostles’ glorious company,
The prophets crowned with light,
With all the martyrs’ noble host,
Thy constant praise recite.
5 The holy Church, throughout the world,
O Lord, confesses thee,
That thou th’ eternal Father art
Of boundless majesty.
37 C. M.
His praise endureth for ever.
Psalm 111:10.
Songs of immortal praise belong
To my Almighty God;
He has my heart, and he my tongue,
To spread his name abroad.
2 How great the works his hand has wrought;
How glorious in our sight;
And men in every age have sought
His wonders with delight.
3 How most exact is nature’s frame,
How wise the Eternal mind;
His counsels never change the scheme
That his first thoughts designed.
4 When he redeemed his chosen sons,
He fixed his covenant sure;
The orders that his lips pronounce
To endless years endure.
38 C. M.
O God, my heart is fixed.
Psalm 57:7.
O God! my heart is fully bent
To magnify thy name;
My tongue, with cheerful songs of praise,
Shall celebrate thy fame.
2 Be thou, O God! exalted high
Above the starry frame;
And let the world, with one consent
Confess thy glorious name.
39 C. M.
The Infinite One.
Great God! how infinite art thou,
What worthless worms are we;
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to thee.
2 Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere seas or stars were made:
Thou art the ever-living God,
Were all the nations dead.
3 Our lives through various scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares;
While thine eternal thoughts move on
Thine undisturbed affairs.
4 Great God! how infinite art thou,
What worthless worms are we;
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to Thee.
40 C. M.
He trieth the reins.
Psalm 7:9.
Great God! thy penetrating eye
Pervades my inmost powers;
With awe profound my wondering soul
Falls prostrate and adores.
2 To be encompassed round with God,
The Holy and the Just,
Armed with omnipotence to save,
Or crush me to the dust—
3 O how tremendous is the thought!
Deep may it be impressed,
And may thy Spirit firmly ’grave
This truth within my breast.
4 Begirt with thee, my fearless soul
The gloomy vale shall tread;
And thou wilt bind th’ immortal crown
Of glory on my head.
41 11s & 8s.
The Lord is great.
The Lord is great! ye hosts of heaven adore him,
And ye who tread this earthly ball;
In holy songs rejoice aloud before him,
And shout his praise who made you all.
2 The Lord is great; his majesty how glorious!
Resound his praise from shore to shore;
O’er sin, and death, and hell, now made victorious,
He rules and reigns for evermore.
3 The Lord is great; his mercy how abounding!
Ye angels, strike your golden chords;
O praise our God, with voice and harp resounding,
The King of kings and Lord of lords.
42 C. P. M.
The love of God.
My God! Thy boundless love I praise;
How bright on high its glories blaze!
How sweetly bloom below!
It streams from thine eternal throne;
Through heaven its joys for ever run,
And o’er the earth they flow.
2 ’Tis love that paints the purple morn,
And bids the clouds, in air upborne,
Their genial drops distill;
In every vernal beam it glows,
And breathes in every gale that blows,
And glides in every rill.
3 But in thy word I see it shine,
With grace and glories more divine,
Proclaiming sins forgiven;
There, Faith, bright cherub, points the way
To realms of everlasting day,
And opens all her heaven.
4 Then let the love, that makes me blest,
With cheerful praise inspire my breast,
And ardent gratitude;
And all my thoughts and passions tend
To thee, my Father and my Friend,
My soul’s eternal good.
GOD IN CREATION.
43 L. M.
The heavens declare the glory of God.
Psalm 19:1.
The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue ethereal sky,
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim.
2 Th’ unwearied sun, from day to day,
Does his Creator’s power display,
And publishes to every land
The work of an almighty hand.
3 Soon as the evening shades prevail,
The moon takes up the wondrous tale,
And nightly to the listening earth
Repeats the story of her birth:
4 While all the stars that round her burn,
And all the planets in their turn,
Confirm the tidings as they roll,
And spread the truth from pole to pole,
5 What though in solemn silence all
Move round this dark terrestrial ball—
What though no real voice nor sound
Amid their radiant orbs be found—
6 In reason’s ear they all rejoice,
And utter forth a glorious voice;
For ever singing as they shine,
The hand that made us is divine!
44 L. M.
He is clothed with majesty.
Psalm 93:1.
Jehovah reigns: he dwells in light,
Arrayed with majesty and might;
The world, created by his hands,
Still on its firm foundation stands.
2 But ere this spacious world was made,
Or had its first foundation laid,
His throne eternal ages stood,
Himself the ever-living God.
3 For ever shall his throne endure;
His promise stands for ever sure;
And everlasting holiness
Becomes the dwellings of his grace.
45 L. M.
All thy works praise thee.
Psalm 145:10.
Nature, with all her powers shall sing
God the Creator, and the King;
Nor air, nor earth, nor skies, nor seas
Deny the tribute of their praise.
2 Begin to make his glories known,
Ye seraphs, who sit near his throne;
Tune high your harps, and spread the sound
To the creation’s utmost bound.
3 Thus let our flaming zeal employ
Our loftiest thoughts, and loudest songs;
Nations, pronounce with warmest joy
Hosanna, from ten thousand tongues.
4 Yet, mighty God, our feeble frame
Attempts in vain to reach thy name;
The strongest notes that angels raise
Faint in the worship and the praise.
46 L. M.
Thy saints shall bless thee.
Psalm 145:10.
Greatest of beings, source of life;
Sovereign of air, and earth, and sea!
All nature feels thy pow’r, and all
A silent homage pay to thee.
2 Waked by thy hand, the morning sun
Pours forth to thee its earlier rays,
And spreads thy glories as it climbs;
While raptured worlds look up and praise.
3 The moon, to the deep shades of night,
Speaks the mild luster of thy name;
While all the stars, that cheer the scene,
Thee, the great Lord of light, proclaim.
4 And groves and vales, and rocks and hills,
And every flower, and every tree,
Ten thousand creatures, warm with life,
Have each a grateful song for thee.
5 But man was formed to rise to heaven;
And, blest with reason’s clearer light,
He views his Maker through his works,
And glows with rapture at the sight.
6 Nor can the thousand songs that rise,
Whether from air, or earth, or sea,
So well repeat Jehovah’s praise,
Or raise such sacred harmony.
47 L. M.
A hymn of praise.
PART FIRST.
Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
From realm to realm the notes shall sound,
And heaven’s exulting sons rejoice
To bear the full hosanna round.
2 When, starting from the shades of night,
Obedient, Lord, to thy behest,
The sun arrayed his limbs in light
And earth her virgin beauty drest;
3 Thy praise transported nature sung
In pealing chorus loud and far;
The echoing vault with rapture rung,
And shouted every morning star.
4 When bending from his native sky,
The Lord of life in mercy came,
And laid his bright effulgence by,
To bear on earth a human name;
5 The song, by cherub voices raised,
Rolled through the dark blue depths above,
And Israel’s shepherds heard amazed
The seraph notes of peace and love.
PART SECOND.
And shall not man the concert join,
For whom this bright creation rose—
For whom the fires of morning shine
And eve’s still lamps, that woo repose?
2 And shall not he the chorus swell,
Whose form the incarnate Godhead wore,
Whose guilt, whose fears, whose triumph tell
How deep the wounds his Saviour bore?
3 Long as yon glittering arch shall bend,
Long as yon orbs in glory roll,
Long as the streams of life descend
To cheer with hope the fainting soul,
4 Thy praise shall fill each grateful voice,
Shall bid the song of rapture sound;
And heaven’s exulting sons rejoice
To bear the full hosanna round.
48 L. M.
Praise of God peculiarly due from man.
There seems a voice in every gale,
A tongue in every opening flower,
Which tells, O Lord! the wondrous tale
Of thy indulgence, love, and power.
2 The birds that rise on soaring wing
Appear to hymn their Maker’s praise,
And all the mingling sounds of spring
To thee a general paean raise.
3 And shall my voice, great God, alone
Be mute ’midst nature’s loud acclaim?
No; let my heart with answering tone
Breathe forth in praise thy holy name.
4 And nature’s debt is small to mine;
Thou bad’st her being bounded be,
But—matchless proof of love divine—
Thou gav’st immortal life to me.
49 L. M. 6 lines
God the fountain of being, etc.
Thou art, O God, the life and light
Of all the wondrous world we see;
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from thee;
Where’er we turn, thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are thine.
2 When day, with farewell beam, delays
Among the opening clouds of even,
And we can almost think we gaze,
Through opening vistas, into heaven—
Those hues that mark the sun’s decline,
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are thine.
3 When night, with wings of starry gloom,
O’ershadows all the earth and skies,
Like some dark, beauteous bird, whose plume
Is sparkling with unnumbered dyes—
That sacred gloom, those fires divine,
So grand, so countless, Lord, are thine.
4 When youthful Spring around us breathes,
Thy Spirit warms her fragrant sigh;
And every flower that Summer wreathes
Is born beneath thy kindling eye;
Where’er we turn, thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are thine.
50 C. M.
God seen in all his works.
I sing th’ almighty power of God,
That made the mountains rise,
That spread the flowing seas abroad,
And built the lofty skies.
2 I sing the wisdom that ordained
The sun to rule the day;
The moon shines full at his command,
And all the stars obey.
3 I sing the goodness of the Lord,
That filled the earth with food;
He formed the creatures with his word,
And then pronounced them good.
4 Lord! how thy wonders are displayed,
Where’er I turn my eye!
If I survey the ground I tread,
Or gaze upon the sky!
5 There’s not a plant or flower below
But makes thy glories known;
And clouds arise, and tempests blow,
By order from thy throne.
6 Creatures that borrow life from thee
Are subject to thy care;
There’s not a place where we can flee
But God is present there.
51 C. M.
Bless the Lord, all his works.
Psalm 103:22.
Praise ye the Lord, immortal choir!
In heavenly hights above,
With harp, and voice, and soul of fire,
Burning with perfect love.
2 Shine to his glory, worlds of light!
Ye million suns of space;
Ye moon and glittering stars of night,
Running your mystic race.
3 Shout to Jehovah, surging main!
In deep eternal roar;
Let wave to wave resound the strain,
And shore reply to shore.
4 Storm, lightning, thunder, hail and snow,
Wild winds that keep his word,
With the old mountains far below,
Unite to bless the Lord.
5 And round the wide world let it roll,
Whilst man shall lead it on;
Join, every ransomed human soul,
In glorious unison.
52 C. M.
God seen in his works.
There’s not a tint that paints the rose
Or decks the lily fair,
Or streaks the humblest flower that blows,
But God has placed it there.
2 There’s not a star whose twinkling light
Illumes the distant earth,
And cheers the solemn gloom of night
But goodness gave it birth.
3 There’s not a cloud whose dews distill
Upon the parching clod,
And clothe with verdure vale and hill,
That is not sent by God.
4 There’s not a place in earth’s vast round,
In ocean deep, or air,
Where skill and wisdom are not found;
For God is everywhere.
5 Around, beneath, below, above,
Wherever space extends,
There heaven displays its boundless love,
And power with goodness blends.
53 C. M.
Praise him in the firmament of his power.
Psalm 150:1.
Begin my soul the lofty strain,
In solemn accents sing
A sacred hymn of grateful praise
To heaven’s almighty King.
2 Ye curling fountains, as ye roll
Your silver waves along,
Whisper to all your verdant shores
The subject of my song.
3 Retain it long, ye echoing rocks
The sacred sound retain,
And from your hollow winding caves
Return it oft again.
4 Bear it, ye winds, on all your wings,
To distant climes away,
And round the wide-extended world
The lofty theme convey.
5 Take the glad burden of his name,
Ye clouds, as you arise,
Whether to deck the golden morn
Or shade the evening skies.
6 Whilst we, with sacred rapture fired,
The great Creator sing,
And utter consecrated lays
To heaven’s eternal King.
54 C. M. D.
The hymn of the seasons.
The heavenly spheres to thee, O God,
Attune their evening hymn;
All-wise, all-holy, thou art praised
In song of seraphim.
Unnumbered systems, suns, and worlds,
Unite to worship thee,
While thy majestic greatness fills
Space, time, eternity.
2 Nature, a temple worthy thee,
Beams with thy light and love;
Whose flowers so sweetly bloom below,
Whose stars rejoice above;
Whose altars are the mountain cliffs
That rise along the shore;
Whose anthems, the sublime accord
Of storm and ocean roar.
3 Her song of gratitude is sung
By spring’s awakening hours;
Her summer offers at thy shrine
Its earliest, loveliest flowers;
Her autumn brings its golden fruits,
In glorious luxury given;
While winter’s silver hights reflect
Thy brightness back to heaven.
55 C. H. M.
The ineffable glory of God.
Since o’er thy footstool here below
Such radiant gems are strewn,
O, what magnificence must glow,
Great God, about thy throne!
So brilliant here these drops of light—
There the full ocean rolls, how bright!
2 If night’s blue curtain of the sky—
With thousand stars inwrought,
Hung like a royal canopy
With glittering diamonds fraught—
Be, Lord, thy temple’s outer vail,
What splendor at the shrine must dwell!
3 The dazzling sun at noonday hour—
Forth from his flaming vase
Flinging o’er earth the golden shower
Till vale and mountain blaze—
But shows, Lord, one beam of thine;
What, then, the day where thou dost shine!
4 O, how shall these dim eyes endure
That noon of living rays!
Or how our spirits, so impure,
Upon thy glory gaze!
Anoint, Lord, anoint our sight,
And fit us for that world of light.
56 S. M.
The Lord Jehovah reigns.
The Lord Jehovah reigns,
Let all the nations fear;
Let sinners tremble at his throne,
And saints be humble there.
2 Jesus, the Saviour, reigns;
Let earth adore its Lord;
Bright cherubs his attendants wait,
Swift to fulfill his word.
3 In Zion stands his throne;
His honors are divine;
His church shall make his wonders known,
For there his glories shine.
4 How holy is his name!
How fearful is his praise!
Justice, and truth, and judgment join
In all the works of grace.
57 S. P. M.
Jehovah reigns.
The Lord Jehovah reigns,
And royal state maintains,
His head with awful glories crowned;
Arrayed in robes of light,
Begirt with sovereign might,
And rays of majesty around.
2 Upheld by thy commands,
The world securely stands,
And skies and stars obey thy word:
Thy throne was fixed on high
Before the starry sky:
Eternal is thy kingdom, Lord!
3 Thy promises are true;
Thy grace is ever new;
There fixed, thy church shall ne’er remove:
Thy saints, with holy fear,
Shall in thy courts appear,
And sing thine everlasting love.
58 7s.
Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.
Psalm 150.
Praise the Lord, his glories show,
Saints within his courts below,
Angels round his throne above,
All that see and share his love!
2 Earth to heaven, and heaven to earth,
Tell his wonders, sing his worth;
Age to age, and shore to shore,
Praise him, praise him, evermore!
3 Praise the Lord, his mercies trace;
Praise his providence and grace—
All that he for man hath done,
All he sends us through his Son.
4 Strings and voices, hands and hearts,
In the concert bear your parts:
All that breathe, your Lord adore;
Praise him, praise him, evermore!
59 7s, double.
Source of being, source of light.
Source of being, source of light,
With unfading beauties bright;
Thee, when morning greets the skies,
Blushing sweet with humid eyes;
Thee, when soft declining day
Sinks, in purple waves away;
Thee, O Parent, will I sing,
To thy feet my tribute bring!
2 Yonder azure vault on high,
Yonder blue, low, liquid sky;
Earth, on its firm basis placed,
And with circling waves embraced;
All-creating power confess,
All their mighty Maker bless;
Shaking nature with thy nod,
Earth and heaven confess their God,
3 Father, King, whose heavenly face
Shines serene upon our race;
Mindful of thy guardian care,
Slow to punish, prone to spare;
We thy majesty adore,
We thy well-known aid implore;
Not in vain thy aid we call,
Nothing want, for thou art all!
60 7s.
All the earth doth worship thee.
God eternal, Lord of all!
Lowly at thy feet we fall:
All the earth doth worship thee,
We amid the throng would be.
2 All the holy angels cry,
Hail, thrice holy, God Most High,
Glorified Apostles raise,
Night and day, continual praise.
61 7s, 6 lines.
God is love.
1 John 4:8.
Earth, with her ten thousand flowers,
Air, with all its beams and showers,
Ocean’s infinite expanse,
Heaven’s resplendent countenance;
All around, and all above,
Hath this record—God is love.
2 Sounds among the vales and hills,
In the woods and by the rills,
Of the breeze and of the bird,
By the gentle murmur stirred;
All these songs, beneath, above,
Have one burden—God is love.
3 All the hopes and fears that start
From the fountain of the heart;
All the quiet bliss that lies
In our human sympathies;
These are voices from above,
Sweetly whispering—God is love.
GOD: IN PROVIDENCE.
62 L. M.
Grace and glory.
The Almighty reigns exalted high
O’er all the earth, o’er all the sky;
Though clouds and darkness vail his feet,
His dwelling is the mercy-seat.
2 O ye that love his holy name,
Hate every work of sin and shame;
He guards the souls of all his friends,
And from the snares of hell defends.
3 Immortal light and joys unknown
Are for the saints in darkness sown;
Those glorious seeds shall spring and rise,
And the bright harvest bless our eyes.
4 Rejoice, ye righteous, and record
The sacred honors of the Lord;
None but the soul that feels his grace
Can triumph in his holiness.
63 L. M.
God in all.
There’s nothing bright, above, below,
From flowers that bloom to stars that glow,
But in its light my soul can see
Some features of the Deity.
2 There’s nothing dark below, above,
But in its gloom I trace thy love,
And meekly wait the moment when
Thy touch shall make all bright again.
3 The light, the dark, where’er I look,
Shall be one pure and shining book,
Where I may read, in words of flame,
The glories of thy wondrous name.
64 L. M.
Be thou exalted, O my God.
My God, in whom are all the springs
Of boundless love and grace unknown,
Hide me beneath thy spreading wings,
Till the dark cloud is overblown.
2 Up to the heavens I send my cry,
The Lord will my desires perform;
He sends his angels from the sky,
And saves me from the threatening storm,
3 My heart is fixed: my song shall raise
Immortal honors to thy name;
Awake, my tongue, to sound his praise,
My tongue, the glory of my frame.
4 High o’er earth his mercy reigns,
And reaches to the utmost sky;
His truth to endless years remains,
When lower worlds dissolve and die.
5 Be thou exalted, O my God!
Above the heavens where angels dwell;
Thy power on earth be known abroad,
And land to land thy wonders tell.
65 L. M.
Unchanging trust.
No change of time shall ever shock
My firm affection, Lord, to thee;
For thou hast always been my rock,
A fortress and defense to me.
2 Thou my deliverer art, my God;
My trust is in thy mighty power;
Thou art my shield from foes abroad—
At home my safeguard and my tower.
3 To thee I will address my prayer,
To whom all praise I justly owe;
So shall I by thy watchful care,
Be guarded from my treacherous foe.
66 L. M.
God ever near.
O love divine, that stooped to share
Our sharpest pang, our bitterest tear,
On thee is cast each earth-born care,
We smile at pain while thou art near!
2 Though long the weary way we tread,
And sorrow crown each lingering year,
No path we shun, no darkness dread,
Our hearts still whispering thou art near!
3 When drooping pleasure turns to grief,
And trembling faith is changed to fear,
The murmuring wind, the quivering leaf,
Shall softly tell us, thou art near!
4 On thee we fling our burdening woe,
O love divine, for ever dear,
Content to suffer while we know,
Living and dying, thou art near!
67 L. M.
Contentment.
Phil. 4:11.
O Lord, how full of sweet content
My years of pilgrimage are spent!
Where’er I dwell, I dwell with thee,
In heaven, in earth, or on the sea.
2 To me remains nor place nor time;
My country is in every clime:
I can be calm and free from care
On any shore, since God is there.
3 While place I seek, or place I shun,
The soul finds happiness in none;
But with my God to guide my way,
’Tis equal joy to go or stay.
4 Could I be cast where thou art not,
That were indeed a dreadful lot;
But regions none remote I call,
Secure of finding God in all.
68 L. M. 6 lines.
Thy will be done.
He sendeth sun, he sendeth shower;
Alike they’re needful for the flower;
And joys and tears alike are sent
To give the soul fit nourishment:
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father, thy will, not mine, be done!
2 Can loving children e’er reprove
With murmurs whom they trust and love?
Creator, I would ever be
A trusting, loving child to thee:
As comes to me or cloud or sun,
Father, thy will, not mine, be done!
3 O ne’er will I at life repine!
Enough that thou hast made it mine;
When fall the shadow cold of death,
I yet will sing, with parting breath—
As comes to me or shade or sun,
Father, thy will, not mine, be done!
69 L. M.
The wisdom of God.
Wait, O my soul, thy Maker’s will;
Tumultuous passions, all be still!
Nor let a murmuring thought arise;
His ways are just, his counsels wise.
2 He in the thickest darkness dwells,
Performs his work, the cause conceals;
But, though his methods are unknown,
Judgment and truth support his throne.
3 In heaven, and earth, and air, and seas,
He executes his firm decrees;
And by his saints it stands confest,
That what he does is ever best.
4 Wait then, my soul, submissive wait,
Prostrate before his awful seat;
And, ’midst the terrors of his rod,
Trust in a wise and gracious God.
70 L. M. 6 lines.
Psalm 23.
The Lord my pasture shall prepare,
And feed me with a shepherd’s care;
His presence shall my wants supply,
And guard me with a watchful eye:
My noonday walks he shall attend,
And all my midnight hours defend.
2 When in the sultry glebe I faint,
Or on the thirsty mountains pant,
To fertile vales and dewy meads
My weary, wandering steps he leads,
Where peaceful rivers, soft and slow,
Amid the verdant landscape flow.
3 Though in a bare and rugged way,
Through devious, lonely wilds I stray,
His bounty shall my pains beguile;
The barren wilderness shall smile,
With lively greens and herbage crowned,
And streams shall murmur all around.
4 Though in the paths of death I tread,
With gloomy horrors overspread,
My steadfast heart shall fear no ill,
For thou, O Lord! art with me still;
Thy friendly crook shall give me aid,
And guide me through the dismal shade.
71 L. M.
Who is like unto thee, O Israel?
Deut. 33:29.
With Israel’s God, who can compare?
Or who, like Israel, happy are?
O, people saved by the Lord,
He is our shield and great reward.
2 Upheld by everlasting arms,
We are secure from foes and harms;
In vain their plots, and false their boasts—
Our refuge is the Lord of hosts!
72 L. P. M.
Psalm 146.
I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers:
My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
While life and thought and being last,
And immortality endures.
2 Happy the man whose hopes rely
On Israel’s God: he made the sky,
And earth, and seas, with all their train.
His truth for ever stands secure:
He saves th’ oppressed, he feeds the poor,
And none shall find his promise vain.
3 The Lord pours eyesight on the blind;
The Lord supports the fainting mind,
He sends the laboring conscience peace:
He helps the stranger in distress,
The widow and the fatherless,
And grants the prisoner sweet release.
4 I’ll praise him while he gives me breath,
And when my voice is lost in death,
Praise shall employ my nobler powers:
My days of praise shall ne’er be past,
While life, and thought, and being last,
And immortality endures.
73 C. M.
God of Bethel.
Gen. 20:19-22.
O God of Bethel, by whose hand
Thy people still are fed;
Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led—
2 Our vows, our prayers we now present
Before thy throne of grace;
God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.
3 Through each succeeding path of life,
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us each day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.
4 O spread thy covering wings around,
Till all our wanderings cease,
And at our Father’s loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.
74 C. M.
God the trust of his saints.
O thou my light, my life, my joy,
My glory and my all!
Unsent by thee, no good can come,
Nor evil can befall.
2 Such are thy schemes of providence,
And methods of thy grace,
That I may safely trust in thee
Through all this wilderness.
3 ’Tis thine outstretched and powerful arm
Upholds me in the way;
And thy rich bounty well supplies
The wants of every day,
4 For such compassion, O my God!
Ten thousand thanks are due;
For such compassion I esteem
Ten thousand thanks too few.
75 C. M.
Our dwelling place in all generations.
Psalm 90.
Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home!
2 Under the shadow of thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure:
Sufficient is thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
3 Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting thou art God,
To endless years the same.
4 A thousand ages in thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
5 Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten as a dream
Dies at the opening day.
6 Our God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.
76 C. M.
The goodness of God.
Sweet is the memory of thy grace,
My God, my heavenly King;
Let age to age thy righteousness
In songs of glory sing.
2 God reigns on high, but ne’er confines
His goodness to the skies:
Through the whole earth his bounty shines,
And every want supplies.
3 With longing eyes thy creatures wait
On thee for daily food,
Thy liberal hand provides their meat,
And fills their mouths with good.
4 How kind are thy compassions, Lord!
How slow thine anger moves!
But soon he sends his pardoning word
To cheer the souls he loves.
5 Creatures, with all their endless race,
Thy power and praise proclaim:
But saints that taste thy richer grace,
Delight to bless thy name.
77 C. M.
Your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Matt. 6:25-34.
O why despond in life’s dark vale?
Why sink to fears a prey?
Th’ almighty power can never fail,
His love can ne’er decay.
2 Behold the birds that wing the air,
Nor sow nor reap the grain;
Yet God, with all a father’s care,
Relieves when they complain.
3 Behold the lilies of the field:
They toil nor labor know;
Yet royal robes to theirs must yield,
In beauty’s richest glow.
4 That God who hears the raven’s cry,
Who decks the lily’s form,
Will surely all your wants supply,
And shield you in the storm.
5 Seek first his kingdom’s grace to share:
Its righteousness pursue:
And all that needs your earthly care
He will bestow on you.
78 C. M.
Gratitude.
When all thy mercies, O my God,
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view I’m lost
In wonder, love, and praise.
2 Unnumbered comforts on my soul
Thy tender care bestowed,
Before my infant heart conceived
From whom those comforts flowed.
3 When in the slippery paths of youth
With heedless steps I ran,
Thine arm, unseen, conveyed me safe,
And led me up to man.
4 Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
My daily thanks employ,
Nor is the least a cheerful heart,
That tastes those gifts with joy.
5 Through every period of my life
Thy goodness I’ll pursue;
And after death, in distant worlds,
The glorious theme renew.
6 Through all eternity, to thee
A joyful song I’ll raise;
But O! eternity’s too short
To utter all thy praise!
79 C. M.
Thy judgments are a great deep.
Psalm 36:6.
God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps on the sea,
And rides upon the storm.
2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill,
He treasures up his bright designs,
And works his gracious will.
3 You fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds you so much dread
Are big with mercy, and shall break
In blessings on your head.
4 Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.
5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,
And scan his work in vain:
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
80 C. M.
My God, how wonderful thou art.
My God, how wonderful thou art,
Thy majesty how bright!
How glorious is thy mercy-seat,
In depths of burning light!
2 Yet I may love thee too, O Lord,
Almighty as thou art;
For thou hast stooped to ask of me
The love of my poor heart.
3 No earthly father loves like thee,
No mother half so mild
Bears and forbears, as thou hast done
With me, thy sinful child.
4 My God, how wonderful thou art,
Thou everlasting Friend!
On thee I stay my trusting heart,
Till faith in vision end.
81 C. M.
The God of my life.
Father of mercies! God of love!
My Father and my God!
I’ll sing the honors of thy name,
And spread thy praise abroad.
2 In every period of my life
Thy thoughts of love appear;
Thy mercies gild each transient scene,
And crown each passing year.
3 In all thy mercies, may my soul
A Father’s bounty see;
Nor let the gifts thy grace bestows
Estrange my heart from thee.
4 Teach me, in times of deep distress,
To own thy hand, O God!
And in submissive silence learn
The lessons of thy rod.
5 Then may I close my eyes in death,
Redeemed from anxious fear:
For death itself, my God, is life,
If thou be with me there.
82 C. M.
In the winds.
Isaiah 27:8.
Great Ruler of all nature’s frame,
We own thy power divine;
We hear thy breath in every storm
For all the winds are thine.
2 Wide as they sweep their sounding way,
They work thy sovereign will;
And, awed by the majestic voice,
Confusion shall be still.
3 Thy mercy tempers every blast
To them that seek thy face,
And mingles with the tempest’s roar,
The whispers of thy grace.
4 Those gentle whispers let me hear,
Till all the tumult cease;
And gales of paradise shall lull
My weary soul to peace.
83 C. M.
His tender mercies are over all his works.
Psalm 145:9.
Thy goodness, Lord, our souls confess;
Thy goodness we adore:
A spring whose blessings never fail;
A sea without a shore.
2 Sun, moon, and stars thy love attest
In every golden ray;
Love draws the curtains of the night,
And love brings back the day.
3 Thy bounty every season crowns
With all the bliss it yields,
With joyful clusters loads the vines,
With strengthening grain the fields.
4 But chiefly thy compassion, Lord,
Is in the gospel seen;
There, like a sun, thy mercy shines,
Without a cloud between.
5 There, pardon, peace, and holy joy,
Through Jesus’ name are given;
He on the cross was lifted high,
That we might reign in heaven.
84 C. M. 6 lines.
Seeing him who is invisible.
Beyond, beyond that boundless sea,
Above that dome of sky,
Further than thought itself can flee,
Thy dwelling is on high:
Yet dear the awful thought to me,
That thou, my God, art nigh!
2 Art nigh, and yet my laboring mind
Feels after thee in vain,
Thee in these works of power to find,
Or to thy seat attain.
Thy messenger the stormy wind;
Thy path, the trackless main:
3 These speak of thee with loud acclaim;
They thunder forth thy praise,
The glorious honor of thy name,
The wonders of thy ways:
But thou art not in tempest flame
Nor in the noontide blaze.
4 We hear thy voice when thunders roll
Through the wide fields of air;
The waves obey thy dread control;
But still, thou art not there:
Where shall I find him, O my soul!
Who yet is everywhere?
5 O! not in circling depth or hight,
But in the conscious breast,
Present to faith, though vailed from sight;
There doth his Spirit rest:
O, come, thou Presence infinite!
And make thy creature blest.
85 C. M.
Just and true are thy ways.
Rev. 15:3.
Since all the varying scenes of time
God’s watchful eye surveys,
O, who so wise to choose our lot,
Or to appoint our ways!
2 Good when he gives—supremely good—
Nor less when he denies;
E’en crosses, from his sovereign hand,
Are blessings in disguise.
3 Why should we doubt a Father’s love
So constant and so kind?
To his unerring, gracious will
Be every wish resigned.
86 C. M.
God is love.
1 John 4:8.
I can not always trace the way
Where thou, almighty One, dost move;
But I can always, always say,
That God is love.
2 When fear her chilling mantle flings
O’er earth, my soul to heaven above,
As to her native home, upsprings;
For God is love.
3 When mystery clouds my darkened path,
I’ll check my dread, my doubts reprove;
In this my soul sweet comfort hath,
That God is love.
4 O may this truth my heart employ,
And every gloomy thought remove;
It fills my soul with boundless joy,
That God is love!
87 C. M.
Thou hast taught me from my youth.
Psalm 71.
Almighty Father of mankind!
On thee my hopes remain;
And when the day of trouble comes,
I shall not trust in vain.
2 In early years, thou wast my guide,
And of my youth the friend;
And, as my days began with thee,
With thee my days shall end.
3 I know the Power in whom I trust,
The arm on which I lean;
He will my Saviour ever be,
Who has my Saviour been.
4 Thou wilt not cast me off, when age
And evil days descend;
Thou wilt not leave me in despair,
To mourn my latter end.
5 Therefore, in life I’ll trust in thee;
In death I will adore;
And after death will sing thy praise,
When time shall be no more.
88 C. M.
All things are yours.
1 Cor. 3:21.
Since God is mine, then present things
And things to come are mine;
Yea, Christ, his word, and Spirit, too,
And glory all divine.
2 Since he is mine, then from his love
He every trouble sends;
All things are working for my good,
And bliss his rod attends.
3 Since he is mine, I need not fear
The rage of earth and hell;
He will support my feeble power,
Their utmost force repel.
4 Since he is mine, let friends forsake,
Let wealth and honors flee:
Sure, he who giveth me himself,
Is more than these to me.
5 Since he is mine, I’ll boldly pass
Through death’s dark, lonely vale:
He is my comfort and my stay,
When heart and flesh shall fail.
6 And now, O Lord, since thou art mine,
What can I wish beside?
My soul shall at the fountain live,
When all the streams are dried.
89 C. M.
Providence.
Let the whole race of creatures lie
In dust before the Lord!
Whate’er his powerful hand has formed,
He governs with a word.
2 Ten thousand ages ere the skies
Were into motion brought,
All the long years and worlds to come
Stood present to his thought.
3 There’s not a sparrow, or a worm,
O’erlooked in his decrees:
He raises monarchs to a throne,
Or sinks with equal ease.
4 If light attend the course I go,
’Tis he provides the rays;
And ’tis his hand that hides the sun,
If darkness cloud my days.
5 Trusting his wisdom and his love,
I would not wish to know
What, in the book of his decrees,
Awaits me here below.
6 Be this alone my fervent prayer:
Whate’er my lot may be,
Or joys, or sorrows—may they form
My soul for heaven and thee!
90 C. M.
Majesty of God.
Psalm 18.
The Lord descended from above
And bowed the heavens most high,
And underneath his feet he cast
The darkness of the sky.
2 On cherubim and seraphim
Full royally he rode;
And on the wings of mighty winds,
Came flying all abroad.
3 He sat serene upon the floods,
Their fury to restrain;
And he, as sovereign Lord and King,
For evermore shall reign.
91 S. M.
Now we know in part.
1 Cor. 13:12.
Thy way is in the sea;
Thy paths we can not trace;
Nor solve, O Lord, the mystery
Of thy unbounded grace.
2 Here the dark vails of sense
Our captive souls surround;
Mysterious deeps of providence
Our wandering thoughts confound.
3 As through a glass we see
The wonders of thy love;
How little do we know of thee,
Or of the joys above.
4 In part we know thy will,
And bless thee for the sight;
Soon will thy love the rest reveal
In glory’s clearer light.
5 With joy shall we survey
Thy providence and grace;
And spend an everlasting day
In wonder, love and praise.
92 S. M.
He careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7.
How gentle God’s commands!
How kind his precepts are!
Come, cast your burdens on the Lord,
And trust his constant care.
2 His bounty will provide,
His saints securely dwell;
That hand which bears creation up,
Shall guard his children well.
3 Why should this anxious load
Press down your weary mind?
O, seek your heavenly Father’s throne,
And peace and comfort find.
4 His goodness stands approved,
Unchanged from day to day;
I’ll drop my burden at his feet,
And bear a song away.
93 S. M.
Praise for mercies.
O bless the Lord, my soul!
Let all within me join,
And aid my tongue to bless his name
Whose favors are divine.
2 O bless the Lord, my soul!
Nor let his mercies lie
Forgotten in unthankfulness,
And without praises die.
3 ’Tis he forgives thy sins;
’Tis he relieves thy pain;
’Tis he that heals thy sicknesses,
And gives thee strength again.
4 He crowns thy life with love,
When rescued from the grave;
He that redeemed our souls from death,
Hath boundless power to save.
5 He fills the poor with good;
He gives the sufferers rest:
The Lord hath justice for the proud,
And mercy for the oppressed.
6 His wondrous works and ways
He made by Moses known;
But sent the world his truth and grace
By his beloved Son.
94 S. M.
Psalm 23.
The Lord my shepherd is;
I shall be well supplied:
Since he is mine, and I am his,
What can I want beside?
2 He leads me to the place
Where heavenly pasture grows,
Where living waters gently pass,
And full salvation flows.
3 If e’er I go astray,
He doth my soul reclaim,
And guides me in his own right way,
For his most holy name.
4 While he affords his aid,
I can not yield to fear;
Tho’ I should walk thro’ death’s dark shade,
My shepherd’s with me there.
95 S. M.
His mercy endureth for ever.
Psalm 103.
My soul, repeat his praise
Whose mercies are so great;
Whose anger is so slow to rise,
So ready to abate.
2 High as the heavens are raised
Above the ground we tread,
So far the riches of his grace
Our highest thoughts exceed.
3 His power subdues our sins,
And his forgiving love,
Far as the east is from the west,
Doth all our guilt remove.
4 The pity of the Lord,
To those that fear his name,
Is such as tender parents feel:
He knows our feeble frame.
5 Our days are as the grass,
Or like the morning flower:
If one sharp blast sweeps o’er the field,
It withers in an hour.
6 But thy compassions, Lord,
To endless years endure;
And children’s children ever find
Thy words of promise sure.
96 S. M.
The fountain.
God is the fountain whence
Ten thousand blessings flow;
To him my life, my health, and friends,
And every good, I owe.
2 The comforts he affords
Are neither few nor small;
He is the source of fresh delights,
My portion and my all.
3 He fills my heart with joy,
My lips attunes for praise;
And to his glory I’ll devote
The remnant of my days.
97 7s, double.
Psalm 136.
Let us with a joyful mind
Praise the Lord, for he is kind;
For his mercies shall endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.
Let us sound his name abroad,
For of gods he is the God
Who by wisdom did create
Heaven’s expanse and all its state;
2 Did the solid earth ordain
How to rise above the main;
Who, by his commanding might,
Filled the new-made world with light;
Caused the golden-tresséd sun
All the day his course to run;
And the moon to shine by night,
’Mid her spangled sisters bright.
3 All his creatures God doth feed,
His full hand supplies their need;
Let us therefore warble forth
His high majesty and worth.
He his mansion hath on high,
’Bove the reach of mortal eye;
And his mercies shall endure,
Ever faithful, ever sure.
98 P. M.
Thou art my hiding place.
Psalm 32:7.
To thee, O God! to thee,
With lowly heart I bend;
Lord, to my prayer attend,
And haste to succor me,
Thou never-failing friend!
For seas of trouble o’er me roll,
And ’whelm with tears my sinking soul.
2 On thee, O God! on thee,
With humble hope I’ll lean;
Thou who hast ever been
A hiding place to me
In many a troubled scene;
Whose heart, with love and mercy fraught,
Back to the fold thy wanderer brought.
99 8s & 7s.
The elder brother.
Yes, for me, for me he careth
With a brother’s tender care;
Yes, with me, with me he shareth
Every burden, every fear.
2 Yes, o’er me, o’er me he watcheth,
Ceaseless watcheth, night and day;
Yes, e’en me, e’en me he snatcheth
From the perils of the way.
3 Yes, for me he standeth pleading
At the mercy-seat above;
Ever for me interceding,
Constant in untiring love.
4 Yes, in me abroad he sheddeth
Joys unearthly, love and light;
And to cover me he spreadeth
His paternal wing of might.
5 Yes, in me, in me he dwelleth;
I in him, and he in me!
And my empty soul he filleth,
Here and through eternity.
6 Thus I wait for his returning,
Singing all the way to heaven:
Such the joyful song of morning
Such the tranquil song of even.
100 10s & 11s.
Jehovah jireh.
Gen. 22:14.
Though troubles assail, and dangers affright,
Though friends should all fail, and foes all unite,
Yet one thing secures us, whatever betide,
The scripture assures us, The Lord will provide.
2 The birds without barn or storehouse are fed;
From them let us learn to trust for our bread:
His saints what is fitting shall ne’er be denied,
So long as ’tis written, The Lord will provide.
3 We may, like the ships, by tempests be tossed
On perilous deeps, but can not be lost:
Though Satan enrages the wind and the tide,
The promise engages, The Lord will provide.
4 His call we obey, like Abrah’m of old,
Not knowing our way, but faith makes us bold:
For though we are strangers, we have a good guide,
And trust, in all dangers, The Lord will provide.
5 No strength of our own, or goodness, we claim;
But since we have known the Saviour’s great name,
In this our strong tower for safety we hide—
The Lord is our power—The Lord will provide.
6 When life sinks apace, and death is in view,
The word of his grace shall comfort us through:
Not fearing or doubting, with Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting, The Lord will provide.
101 8s & 7s.
Praise the King of heaven.
Praise, my soul, the King of heaven;
To his feet thy tribute bring;
Ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven,
Who like me his praise should sing?
Praise him! praise him!
Praise the everlasting King!
2 Praise him for his grace and favor
To our fathers in distress;
Praise him, still the same for ever:
Slow to chide, and swift to bless;
Praise him! praise him!
Glorious in his faithfulness!
3 Father-like he tends and spares us;
Well our feeble frame he knows;
In his hands he gently bears us—
Rescues us from all our foes;
Praise him! praise him!
Widely as his mercy flows!
4 Angels, help us to adore him:
Ye behold him face to face;
Sun and moon, bow down before him;
Dwellers all in time and space,
Praise him! praise him!
Praise with us the God of grace!
102 10s & 11s.
God glorious.
O, worship the King all-glorious above,
And gratefully sing his wonderful love—
Our shield and defender, the ancient of days,
Pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise.
2 O tell of his might, and sing of his grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space;
His chariots of wrath the deep thunder-clouds form,
And dark is his path on the wings of the storm.
3 Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
4 Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In thee do we trust, nor find thee to fail,
Thy mercies how tender! how firm to the end,
Our Maker, Defender, Preserver, and Friend.
5 O Father Almighty, how faithful thy love!
While angels delight to hymn thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall lisp to thy praise.
103 11s.
Psalm 23.
The Lord is my Shepherd, no want shall I know;
I feed in green pastures, safe folded I rest;
He leadeth my soul where the still waters flow,
Restores me when wandering, redeems when opprest.
2 Through the valley and shadow of death tho’ I stray,
Since thou art my guardian, no evil I fear;
Thy rod shall defend me, thy staff be my stay;
No harm can befall, with my comforter near.
3 In the midst of affliction my table is spread;
With blessings unmeasured my cup runneth o’er;
With perfume and oil thou anointest my head;
O what shall I ask of thy providence more?
4 Let goodness and mercy, my bountiful God!
Still follow my steps till I meet thee above;
I seek, by the path which my forefathers trod,
Through the land of their sojourn, thy kingdom of love.
104 9s & 6s.
Fear not, little flock.
Luke 12:32.
Yes! our Shepherd leads with gentle hand,
Through the dark pilgrim-land,
His flock, so dearly bought,
So long and fondly sought.
Hallelujah!
2 When in clouds and mist the weak ones stray,
He shows again the way,
And points to them afar
A bright and guiding star.
Hallelujah!
3 Tenderly he watches from on high
With an unwearied eye;
He comforts and sustains,
In all their fears and pains.
Hallelujah!
4 Through the parched, dreary desert he will guide
To the green fountain-side:
Through the dark, stormy night,
To a calm land of light.
Hallelujah!
5 Yes! his “little flock” are ne’er forgot;
His mercy changes not:
Our home is safe above,
Within his arms of love.
Hallelujah!
IN REDEMPTION.
105 L. M.
God only wise.
Awake, my tongue; thy tribute bring
To him who gave thee power to sing;
Praise him who is all praise above,
The source of wisdom and of love.
2 How vast his knowledge! how profound!
A depth where all our thoughts are drowned;
The stars he numbers, and their names
He gives to all those heavenly flames.
3 Through each bright world above, behold
Ten thousand thousand charms unfold;
Earth, air, and mighty seas combine
To speak his wisdom all divine.
4 But in redemption, O what grace!
Its wonders, O, what thought can trace!
Here, wisdom shines for ever bright;
Praise him, my soul, with sweet delight.
106 L. M.
Grace.
My God, how excellent thy grace!
Whence all our hope and comfort springs;
The sons of Adam in distress,
Fly to the shadow of thy wings.
2 Life, like a fountain rich and free,
Springs from the presence of my Lord,
And in thy light our souls shall see
The glories promised in thy word.
107 L. M.
Creation and redemption.
Give to our God immortal praise;
Mercy and truth are all his ways:
Wonders of grace to God belong;
Repeat his mercies in your song.
2 Give to the Lord of lords renown,
The King of kings with glory crown:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When lords and kings are known no more.
3 He built the earth, he spread the sky,
And fixed the starry lights on high:
Wonders of grace to God belong;
Repeat his mercies in your song.
4 He fills the sun with morning light,
He bids the moon direct the night:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When suns and moons shall shine no more.
5 He sent his Son with power to save
From guilt, and darkness, and the grave:
Wonders of grace to God belong;
Repeat his mercies in your song.
6 Through this vain world he guides our feet,
And leads us to his heavenly seat:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When this vain world shall be no more.
108 L. M.
The reconciliation.
O love, beyond conception great,
That formed the vast, stupendous plan,
Where all divine perfections meet
To reconcile rebellious man:
2 There wisdom shines in fullest blaze,
And justice all her right maintains—
Astonished angels stoop to gaze,
While mercy o’er the guilty reigns.
3 Yes, mercy reigns, and justice too;
In Christ they both harmonious meet;
He paid to justice all her due;
And now he fills the mercy-seat.
109 L. M.
What is man?
Psalm 8.
Lord, what is man? Extremes how wide
In this mysterious nature join!
The flesh to worms and dust allied,
The soul immortal and divine.
2 Divine at first, a holy flame
Kindled by heaven’s inspiring breath;
Till sin, with power prevailing, came;
Then followed darkness, shame and death.
3 But Jesus, O amazing grace!
Assumed our nature as his own,
Obeyed and suffered in our place,
Then took it with him to his throne.
4 Now, what is man, when grace reveals,
The virtue of a Saviour’s blood?
Again a life divine he feels,
Despises earth and walks with God.
5 And what, in yonder realms above,
Is ransomed man ordained to be!
With honor, holiness, and love,
No seraph more adorned than he.
6 Nearest the throne, and first in song,
Man shall his hallelujahs raise;
While wondering angels round him throng
And swell the chorus of his praise.
110 L. M.
Love—that passeth knowledge.
O love of God, how strong and true!
Eternal and yet ever new:
Above all price, and still unbought;
Beyond all knowledge and all thought.
2 O, wide-embracing, wondrous love,
We read thee in the sky above;
We read thee in the earth below,
In seas that swell and streams that flow.
3 We read thee best in him who came
To bear for us the cross of shame;
Sent by the Father from on high,
Our life to live, our death to die.
4 O love of God, our shield and stay
Through all the perils of the way;
Eternal love, in thee we rest,
For ever safe, for ever blest.
111 C. M.
Nature and grace.
Father! how wide thy glory shines!
How high thy wonders rise!
Known through the earth by thousand signs,
By thousand through the skies.
2 Those mighty orbs proclaim thy power,
Their motions speak thy skill;
And on the wings of every hour,
We read thy patience still.
3 But when we view thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,
Where justice and compassion join
In their divinest forms,
4 Our thoughts are lost in reverent awe,
We love and we adore;
The brightest angel never saw
So much of God before.
5 Here the whole Deity is known;
But thought can never trace
Which of the glories brighter shine,
The justice, or the grace.
6 Now the full glories of the Lamb
Adorn the heavenly plains:
Bright seraphs learn Immanuel’s name,
And try their choicest strains.
7 O! may I bear some humble part
In that immortal song;
Wonder and joy shall tune my heart,
And love command my tongue.
112 C. M.
Heaven and earth are full of his glory.
Eternal Wisdom, thee we praise;
Thee all thy creatures sing:
While with thy name, rocks, hills, and seas,
And heaven’s high palace, ring.
2 Thy hand, how wide it spread the sky;
How glorious to behold!
Tinged with a blue of heavenly dye,
And decked with sparkling gold.
3 Almighty power, and equal skill,
Shine through the worlds abroad,
Our souls with vast amazement fill,
And speak the builder, God.
4 But still the wonders of thy grace
Our warmer passions move;
Here we behold our Saviour’s face,
And here adore his love.
113 C. M.
God is love.
Come, ye that know and fear the Lord,
And raise your souls above;
Let every heart and voice accord
To sing that—God is love.
2 This precious truth his word declares,
And all his mercies prove;
While Christ, th’ atoning Lamb, appears,
To show that—God is love.
3 Behold his loving-kindness waits
For those who from him rove,
And calls for mercy reach their hearts,
To teach them—God is love.
4 O! may we all, while here below,
This best of blessings prove;
Till warmer hearts, in brighter worlds,
Shall shout that—God is love.
114 C. M.
No joy without God.
Psalm 73.
God! my supporter and my hope,
My help for ever near,
Thine arm of mercy held me up
When sinking in despair.
2 Thy counsels, Lord, shall guide my feet
Through this dark wilderness;
Thy hand conduct me near thy seat,
To dwell before thy face.
3 Were I in heaven without my God,
’Twould be no joy to me;
And while this earth is my abode,
I long for none but thee.
4 What if the springs of life were broke,
And flesh and heart should faint?
God is my soul’s eternal rock,
The strength of every saint.
115 8s, 7s & 4.
Jehovah my strength.
Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
Hold me with thy powerful hand;
Bread of heaven,
Feed me till I want no more.
2 Open thou the crystal fountain
Whence the healing waters flow;
Let the fiery, cloudy pillar,
Lead me all my journey through;
Strong Deliverer,
Be thou still my strength and shield.
3 When I tread the verge of Jordan,
Bid the swelling stream divide;
Death of death, and hell’s destruction,
Land me safe on Canaan’s side!
Songs of praises
I will ever give to thee.
116 8s & 7s.
God is light and love.
God is love; his mercy brightens
All the path in which we move!
Bliss he grants, and woe he lightens;
God is light, and God is love.
2 Chance and change are busy ever;
Worlds decay and ages move;
But his mercy waneth never;
God is light, and God is love.
3 E’en the hour that darkest seemeth,
His unchanging goodness proves;
From the cloud his brightness streameth;
God is light, and God is love.
4 He our earthly cares entwineth
With his comforts from above;
Everywhere his glory shineth;
God is light, and God is love.
CHRIST: THE NATIVITY.
117 L. M.
Luke 2:11.
When Jordan hushed his waters still,
And silence slept on Zion’s hill,
When Bethlehem’s shepherds, thro’ the night,
Watched o’er their flocks by starry light—
2 Hark! from the midnight hills around,
A voice of more than mortal sound,
In distant hallelujahs stole,
Wild murmuring o’er the raptured soul.
3 On wheels of light, on wings of flame,
The glorious hosts of Zion came;
High heaven with songs of triumph rung,
While thus they struck their harps and sung:
4 “O Zion, lift thy raptured eye;
The long-expected hour is nigh;
The joys of nature rise again;
The Prince of Salem comes to reign.
5 “See, Mercy, from her golden urn,
Pours a rich stream to them that mourn;
Behold, she binds with tender care
The bleeding bosom of despair.
6 “He comes to cheer the trembling heart:
Bids Satan and his host depart;
Again the day-star gilds the gloom,
Again the bowers of Eden bloom.”
118 L. M.
Genesis 3:15.
Behold the woman’s promised seed!
Behold the great Messiah come!
Behold the prophets all agreed
To give him the superior room!
2 Abrah’m, the saint, rejoiced of old,
When visions of the Lord he saw;
Moses, the man of God, foretold
This great fulfiller of his law.
3 The types bore witness to his name,
Obtained their chief design, and ceased—
The incense and the bleeding lamb,
The ark, the altar, and the priest.
4 Predictions in abundance join
To pour their witness on his head:
Jesus, we bow before thy throne,
And own thee as the promised seed.
HYMN FOR CHRISTMAS.
119 C. H. M.
Glory to God—good will to men.
In hymns of praise, eternal God,
When thy creating hand
Stretched the blue arch of heaven abroad,
And meted sea and land,
The morning stars together sung,
And shouts of joy from angels rung.
2 Than earth’s prime hour, more joyous far
Was the eventful morn,
When the bright beam of Bethlehem’s star
Announced a Saviour born!
Then sweeter strains from heaven began
“Glory to God—good will to man.”
3 Babe of the manger! can it be?
Art thou the Son of God?
Shall subject nations bow the knee,
And kings obey thy nod?
Shall thrones and monarchs prostrate fall
Before the tenant of a stall?
4 ’Tis he! the hymning seraphs cry,
While hovering drawn to earth;
’Tis he, the shepherds’ songs reply;
Hail! hail! Immanuel’s birth;
The rod of peace those hands shall bear,
That brow a crown of glory wear!
5 ’Tis he! the eastern sages sing,
And spread their golden hoard;
’Tis he! the hills of Zion ring,
Hosanna to the Lord!
The Prince of long prophetic years
To-day in Bethlehem appears!
120 C. M. double.
Song of the angels.
It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold:
“Peace to the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s all-gracious King;”
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.
2 Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled;
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world:
Above its sad and lowly plains
They bend on heavenly wing,
And ever o’er its Babel sounds
The blesséd angels sing.
3 Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel-strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And men, at war with men, hear not
The love-song which they bring:
O! hush the noise, ye men of strife,
And hear the angels sing!
4 And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow;
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing:
O! rest beside the weary road,
And hear the angels sing!
5 For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet-bards foretold,
When with the ever-circling years
Comes round the age of gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendor fling,
And the whole world send back the song
Which now the angels sing.
121 C. M.
Mortals, awake.
Mortals! awake, with angels join,
And chant the solemn lay;
Love, joy, and gratitude combine
To hail the auspicious day.
2 In heaven the rapturous song began,
And sweet seraphic fire
Through all the shining legions ran,
And swept the sounding lyre.
3 The theme, the song, the joy was new
To each angelic tongue;
Swift through the realms of light it flew,
And loud the echo rung.
4 Down through the portals of the sky
The pealing anthem ran,
And angels flew with eager joy
To bear the news to man.
5 Hark! the cherubic armies shout,
And glory leads the song,
Peace and salvation swell the note
Of all the heavenly throng.
6 With joy the chorus we’ll repeat,
“Glory to God on high!
Good will and peace are now complete—
Jesus was born to die!”
7 Hail, Prince of life! for ever hail!
Redeemer—brother—friend!
Though earth, and time, and life shall fail,
Thy praise shall never end.
122 C. M.
Isaiah 9:6.
To us a child of hope is born,
To us a Son is given;
Him shall the tribes of earth obey,
Him, all the hosts of heaven.
2 His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
For evermore adored,
The Wonderful, the Counsellor,
The great and mighty Lord.
3 His power, increasing, still shall spread;
His reign no end shall know;
Justice shall guard his throne above,
And peace abound below.
123 C. M.
The day-spring from on high.
Calm on the listening ear of night,
Come heaven’s melodious strains,
Where wild Judea stretches far
Her silver-mantled plains.
2 Celestial choirs, from courts above,
Shed sacred glories there,
And angels, with their sparkling lyres,
Make music on the air.
3 The answering hills of Palestine
Send back the glad reply;
And greet, from all their holy hights,
The day-spring from on high.
4 O’er the blue depths of Galilee
There comes a holier calm,
And Sharon waves, in solemn praise,
Her silent groves of palm.
5 “Glory to God!” the sounding skies
Loud with their anthems ring—
“Peace to the earth, good will to men,
From heaven’s eternal King.”
6 Light on thy hill, Jerusalem!
The Saviour now is born!
And bright on Bethlehem’s joyous plains
Breaks the first Advent morn.
124 C. M.
The Advent.
Hark, the glad sound! the Saviour comes!
The Saviour promised long!
Let every heart prepare a throne,
And every voice a song.
2 He comes, the prisoner to release
In Satan’s bondage held;
The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.
3 He comes, from thickest films of vice
To clear the mental ray,
And on the eyeballs of the blind
To pour celestial day.
4 He comes, the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the treasures of his grace
To enrich the humble poor.
5 Our glad hosannas, Prince of Peace,
The welcome shall proclaim,
And heaven’s eternal arches ring
With thy belovéd name.
125 C. M.
Joy to the world.
Joy to the world; the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King:
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.
2 Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!
Let men their songs employ;
While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,
Repeat the sounding joy.
3 No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make his blessings flow
Far as the curse is found.
4 He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.
126 7s.
Christ is born in Bethlehem.
Luke 2.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled.”
2 Joyful, all ye nations, rise;
Join the triumphs of the skies;
With th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem.”
3 See, he lays his glory by;
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth;
Born to give them second birth.
4 Vailed in flesh the Godhead see!
Hail, th’ incarnate Deity!
Pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Immanuel!
5 Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
6 Let us then with angels sing,
“Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled!”
127 7s.
The wonderful.
Bright and joyful was the morn
When to us a child was born;
From the highest realms of heaven
Unto us a Son was given.
2 On his shoulder he shall bear
Power and majesty—and wear
On his vesture and his thigh
Names most awful—names most high.
3 Wonderful in counsel he,
Christ th’ incarnate Deity;
Sire of ages ne’er to cease,
King of kings, and Prince of Peace.
4 Come and worship at his feet,
Yield to him the homage meet;
From his manger to his throne,
Homage due to God alone.
128 7s.
Watchman, what of the night?
Isaiah 21:11.
Watchman, tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveler, o’er yon mountain’s hights
See that glory-beaming star!
2 Watchman, does its beauteous ray
Aught of joy or hope foretell?
Traveler, yes: it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.
3 Watchman, tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends.
Traveler, blessedness and light,
Peace and truth, its course portends.
4 Watchman, will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveler, ages are its own:
See! it bursts o’er all the earth!
5 Watchman, tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn.
Traveler, darkness takes its flight,
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.
6 Watchman, let thy wandering cease;
Hie thee to thy quiet home.
Traveler, lo! the Prince of Peace,
Lo! the Son of God is come!
129 7s.
A Bethlehem hymn.
He has come! the Christ of God;
Left for us his glad abode;
Stooping from his throne of bliss,
To this darksome wilderness.
2 He has come—the Prince of Peace—
Come to bid our sorrows cease;
Come to scatter, with his light,
All the shadows of our night.
3 He, the mighty King, has come!
Making the poor earth his home
Come to bear sin’s heavy load;
Son of David, Son of God.
4 He has come, whose name of grace
Speaks deliverance to our race;
Left for us his glad abode;
Son of Mary, Son of God!
5 Unto us a child is born!
Ne’er has earth beheld a morn
Numbered in the morns of time,
Half so glorious in its prime.
6 Unto us a Son is given!
He has come from God’s own heaven;
Bringing with him from above,
Holy peace and holy love.
130 7s.
Immanuel.
God with us! O glorious name!
Let it shine in endless fame;
God and man in Christ unite—
O mysterious depth and hight!
2 God with us! amazing love
Brought him from his courts above;
Now, ye saints, his grace admire,
Swell the song with holy fire.
3 God with us! O wondrous grace!
Let us see him face to face;
That we may Immanuel sing,
As we ought, our God and King.
131 P. M.
Silent night.
Silent night! hallowed night!
Land and deep silent sleep;
Softly glitters bright Bethlehem’s star,
Beckoning Israel’s eye from afar
Where the Saviour is born.
2 Silent night! hallowed night!
On the plain wakes the strain,
Sung by heavenly harbingers bright,
Fraught with tidings of boundless delight:
Christ the Saviour has come.
3 Silent night! hallowed night!
Earth awake, silence break,
High your anthems of melody raise,
Heaven and earth in full chorus of praise:
Peace for ever shall reign.
132 H. M.
Good tidings of great joy.
Luke 2.
Hark! hark! the notes of joy
Roll o’er the heavenly plains,
And seraphs find employ
For their sublimest strains:
Some new delight in heaven is known;
Loud sound the harps around the throne.
2 Hark! hark! the sound draws nigh—
The joyful host descends;
The Lord forsakes the sky,
To earth his footsteps bends:
He comes to bless our fallen race;
He comes with messages of grace.
3 Bear, bear the tidings round!
Let every mortal know
What love in God is found,
What pity he can show:
Ye winds that blow, ye waves that roll,
Bear the glad news from pole to pole.
4 Strike, strike the harps again,
To great Immanuel’s name!
Arise, ye sons of men,
And all his grace proclaim:
Angels and men, wake every string,
’Tis God the Saviour’s praise we sing!
133 8s & 7s.
Shepherds, hail the wondrous stranger.
Shepherds! hail the wondrous stranger,
Now to Bethlehem speed your way;
Lo! in yonder humble manger,
Christ, the Lord, is born to-day.
2 Bright the star of your salvation,
Pointing to his rude abode;
Rapturous news for every nation:
Now, behold the Son of God.
3 Love eternal moved the Saviour,
Thus to lay his radiance by;
Blessings on the Lamb for ever;
Glory be to God on high.
134 8s & 7s.
Chorus of the angels.
Luke 2:14.
Hark! what joyful notes are swelling
On the quiet midnight air!
’Tis the voice of angels telling,
Jesus comes our sins to bear!
Now the music, in its gladness,
Breaks and swells, and glides along!
Now, earth, waking from her sadness,
Joins the chorus of the song!
Glory in the highest heaven!
Peace on earth, good-will to man!
Let all praise to God be given,
For Redemption’s glorious plan!
2 See all darkness disappearing,
As the star begins to rise!
Sin and death stand trembling, fearing,
As the light falls on their eyes:
Now, again, the earth rejoices,
Satan’s powerful kingdom shakes,
As, from all the heavenly voices,
Louder still the chorus breaks!
Glory in the highest heaven! etc.
3 Rise and shine, Star of Salvation!
Spread thy beams o’er all the earth,
Till each distant land and nation
Owns and speaks thy matchless worth!
Till all tongues, thy praises singing,
Shall thy mighty wonders tell,
Till all heaven with joy is ringing,
As our hearts the chorus swell:
Glory in the highest heaven! etc.
4 When our days on earth are ended,
And we rise to worlds above,
Then our songs shall all be blended
In one song of pardoning love!
Then we’ll tell the wondrous story,
And our blesséd Lord adore;
In our home of bliss and glory
We shall sing for evermore!
Glory in the highest heaven!
Sound aloud the joyful strain!
Glory to the Lamb be given,
Who for sinners once was slain!
135 8s & 7s.
Hark! what mean those holy voices?
Hark! what mean those holy voices,
Sweetly sounding through the skies?
Lo! th’ angelic host rejoices!
Heavenly hallelujahs rise.
2 Hear them tell the wondrous story,
Hear them chant in hymns of joy—
“Glory to the highest, glory!
Glory be to God most high!
3 “Peace on earth, good-will from heaven,
Reaching far as man is found;
Souls redeemed and sins forgiven!”
Loud our golden harps shall sound.
4 “Christ is born, the great anointed;
Heaven and earth his praises sing;
O receive whom God appointed,
For your Prophet, Priest, and King!
5 “Haste, ye mortals, to adore him;
Learn his name, and taste his joy;
Till in heaven ye sing before him—
“‘Glory be to God most high!’”
136 8s & 7s.
Christ, the Saviour, born.
Hail, thou long-expected Jesus!
Born to set thy people free;
From our sins and fears release us,
Let us find our rest in thee.
2 Israel’s strength and consolation,
Hope of all the saints, thou art;
Longdesired of every nation,
Joy of every waiting heart.
3 Born, thy people to deliver—
Born a child, yet Christ, our King—
Born to reign in us for ever—
Now thy gracious kingdom bring.
4 By thine own eternal Spirit,
Rule in all our hearts alone;
By thine all-sufficient merit,
Raise us to thy glorious throne.
137 8s, 7s & 4.
Come and worship.
Angels, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o’er all the earth,
Ye who sang creation’s story,
Now proclaim Messiah’s birth:
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
2 Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o’er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing,
Yonder shines the infant light;
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
3 Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great desire of nations;
Ye have seen his natal star!
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
4 Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly, the Lord descending,
In his temple shall appear;
Come and worship,
Worship Christ, the new-born King.
138 11s & 10s.
Hail the blest morn.
Hail the blest morn! when the great Mediator
Down from the regions of glory descends!
Shepherds, go worship the babe in the manger;
Lo! for your guide the bright angel attends!
CHORUS.
Brightest and best of the sons of the morning,
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thy aid:
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid.
2 Cold on his cradle the dew-drops are shining,
Low lies his head with the beasts of the stall:
Angels adore him in slumbers reclining,
Maker, and Monarch, and Saviour of all!
3 Say, shall we yield him, in costly devotion,
Odors of Eden, and offerings divine;
Gems from the mountain, and pearls from the ocean,
Myrrh from the forest, and gold from the mine?
4 Vainly we offer earth’s richest 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!
139 12s.
Hallelujah to the Lamb.
From the regions of love, lo! an angel descended,
And told the strange news how the babe was attended;
Go, shepherds, and visit the wonderful stranger;
See yonder bright star! there’s your Lord in a manger.
CHORUS.
Hallelujah to the Lamb who has purchased our pardon,
We’ll praise him again when we pass over Jordan!
2 Glad tidings I bring unto you and each nation!
Glad tidings of joy—now behold your salvation;
Then suddenly multitudes raise their glad voices,
And shout hallelujahs, while heaven rejoices!
3 Now glory to God in the highest be given,
All glory to God is re-echoed from heaven;
Around the whole earth let us tell the glad story,
And sing of his love, his salvation, and glory.
4 O Jesus! ride on, thy kingdom is glorious;
Over sin, death, and hell, thou’lt make us victorious!
Thy banner unfurl—let the nations surrender,
And own thee their Saviour, their Lord and Defender!
140 P. M.
Glory to God in the highest.
Hark! from the world on high
Glory to God!
Now swells along the sky
Glory to God!
Songs, like sweet notes of praise,
Pour forth in rapturous lays,
As all the voices raise
Glory to God!
2 Hear how the angels sing
Glory to God!
Through all the heavens ring
Glory to God!
Now, let each heart on earth
Sing of the Saviour’s birth,
Telling his matchless worth,
Glory to God!
LIFE AND MINISTRY.
141 L. M.
His teaching.
How sweetly flowed the gospel sound
From lips of gentleness and grace,
When listening thousands gathered round,
And joy and gladness 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,
Unvailing 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.
142 L. M. 6 lines.
His baptism.
In Jordan’s tide the Baptist stands,
Immersing the repenting Jews;
The Son of God the rite demands,
Nor dares the holy man refuse:
Jesus descends beneath the wave,
The emblem of his future grave!
2 Wonder, ye heavens! your Maker lies
In deeps concealed from human view;
Ye saints, behold him sink and rise;
A fit example this for you:
The sacred record, while you read,
Calls you to imitate the deed.
3 But, lo! from yonder opening skies,
What beams of dazzling glory spread!
Dove-like the Holy Spirit flies,
And lights on the Redeemer’s head:
Amazed they see the power divine
Around the Saviour’s temples shine.
4 But, hark! my soul, hark, and adore!
What sounds are those that roll along?
Not loud, like Sinai’s awful roar;
But soft and sweet as Gabriel’s song:
“This is my well-belovéd Son,
I see well-pleased what he hath done.”
5 Thus the eternal Father spoke,
Who shakes creation with a nod,
Through parting skies the accents broke,
And bid us hear the Son of God;
O hear the awful word to-day;
Hear, all ye nations, and obey!
143 L. M.
His holy life.
And is the gospel peace and love?
Such let our conversation be:
The serpent blended with the dove—
Wisdom and meek simplicity.
2 Whene’er the angry passions rise,
And tempt our thoughts or tongues to strife
On Jesus let us fix our eyes,
Bright pattern of the Christian life.
3 O how benevolent and kind!
How mild! how ready to forgive!
Be his the temper of our mind,
And his the rules by which we live.
4 To do his heavenly Father’s will
Was his employment and delight;
Humility, and love, and zeal,
Shone through his life divinely bright.
5 Dispensing good where’er he came,
The labors of his life were love—
O! if we love the Saviour’s name,
Let his divine example move.
6 But ah! how blind, how weak we are!
How frail, how apt to turn aside!
Lord, we depend upon thy care;
O may thy spirit be our guide!
7 Thy fair example may we trace,
To teach us what we ought to be;
Make us, by thy transforming grace,
Lord Jesus, daily more like thee.
144 L. M.
The meekness and gentleness of Christ.
2 Cor. 10:1.
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, so bright,
So pure, so made to live in light?
O, who like thee did ever go
So patient through a world of woe?
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 The bending angels stooped to see,
The lisping infant clasp thy knee,
And smile, as in a father’s eye,
Upon thy mild divinity.
5 And 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.
6 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!
145 L. M.
His miracles.
Behold the blind their sight receive!
Behold the dead awake and live!
The dumb speak wonders, and the lame
Leap like the hart, and bless his name!
2 Thus doth the Holy Spirit own
And seal the mission of the Son;
The Father vindicates his cause,
While he hangs bleeding on the cross.
3 He dies: the heavens in mourning stood;
He rises by the power of God:
Behold the Lord ascending high,
No more to bleed, no more to die!
4 Hence and for ever from my heart
I bid my doubts and fears depart;
And to those hands my soul resign,
Which bear credentials so divine.
146 L. M.
His example.
My dear Redeemer and my Lord,
I read my duty in thy word;
But in thy life the law appears
Drawn out in living characters.
2 Such was thy truth, and such thy zeal,
Such deference to thy Father’s will,
Such love, and meekness so divine;
I would transcribe and make them mine.
3 Cold mountains and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor of thy prayer;
The desert thy temptations knew,
Thy conflict and thy victory too.
4 Be thou my pattern; make me bear
More of thy gracious image here;
Then God the judge shall own my name
Among the followers of the Lamb.
147 L. M.
He so loved the world.
John 3:16.
Not to condemn the sons of men,
Did Christ, the Son of God, appear;
No weapons in his hands are seen,
No flaming sword, nor thunder there.
2 Such was the pity of our God,
He loved the race of man so well,
He sent his Son to bear our load
Of sins, and save our souls from hell.
3 Sinners, believe the Saviour’s word;
Trust in his mighty name, and live:
A thousand joys his lips afford,
His hands a thousand blessings give.
148 C. H. M.
His poverty.
As much have I of worldly good
As e’er my Master had;
I diet on as dainty food,
And am as richly clad;
Though plain my garb, though scant my hoard,
As Mary’s Son and nature’s Lord.
2 The manger was his infant bed,
His home the mountain cave;
He had not where to lay his head—
He borrowed e’en his grave;
Earth yielded him no resting-spot;
Her Maker, but she knew him not.
3 As much the world’s good-will I share,
Its favors and applause,
As he whose blessed name I bear,
Hated without a cause;
Despised, rejected, mocked by pride,
Betrayed, forsaken, crucified.
4 Why should I court my Master’s foe?
Why should I fear its frown?
Why should I seek for rest below?
Or sigh for brief renown?
A pilgrim to a better land,
An heir of joy at God’s right hand.
149 C. M.
He went about doing good.
Acts 10:38.
Behold, where, in a mortal form,
Appears each grace divine;
The virtues, all in Jesus met,
With mildest radiance shine.
2 To spread the rays of heavenly light,
To give the mourner joy,
To preach glad tidings to the poor,
Was his divine employ.
3 ’Midst keen reproach, and cruel scorn,
Patient and meek he stood;
His foes, ungrateful, sought his life;
He labored for their good.
4 In the last hour of deep distress,
Before his Father’s throne,
With soul resigned, he bowed, and said,
“Thy will, not mine, be done!”
5 Be Christ our pattern and our guide;
His image may we bear;
O, may we tread his holy steps,
His joy and glory share!
150 C. M.
The man of sorrows.
A pilgrim through this lonely world,
The blessed Saviour passed;
A mourner all his life was he,
A dying Lamb at last.
2 That tender heart which felt for all,
For us its life-blood gave;
It found on earth no resting-place,
Save only in the grave!
3 Such was our Lord: and shall we fear
The cross with all its scorn?
Or love a faithless, evil world,
That wreathed his brow with thorn?
4 No; facing all its frowns or smiles,
Like him, obedient still,
We homeward press, through storm or calm,
To Zion’s blessed hill.
151 C. M.
Mighty to save.
The winds were howling o’er the deep;
Each wave a watery hill;
The Saviour wakened from his sleep;
He spake, and all was still.
2 The madman in a tomb had made
His mansion of despair;
Woe to the traveler who strayed,
With heedless footsteps, there.
3 He met that glance so thrilling sweet,
He heard those accents mild;
And, melting at Messiah’s feet,
Wept like a weanéd child.
4 O, madder than the raving man!
O, deafer than the sea!
How long the time since Christ began
To call in vain to me!
5 Yet could I hear him once again,
As I have heard of old,
Methinks he should not call in vain
His wanderer to the fold.
152 C. P. M.
His unsearchable riches.
O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth,
Which in my Saviour shine;
I’d soar, and touch the heavenly strings,
And vie with Gabriel, while he sings
In notes almost divine.
2 I’d sing the precious blood he spilt,
My ransom from the dreadful guilt
Of sin, and wrath divine;
I’d sing his glorious righteousness,
In which all-perfect, heavenly dress,
My soul shall ever shine.
3 I’d sing the characters he bears,
And all the forms of love he wears,
Exalted on his throne;
In loftiest songs of sweetest praise,
I would to everlasting days
Make all his glories known.
4 Well, the delightful day will come,
When my dear Lord will bring me home,
And I shall see his face;
Then, with my Saviour, Brother, Friend,
A blest eternity I’ll spend,
Triumphant in his grace.
153 11s.
A bruised reed he shall not break.
Matt. 12:20.
To the hall of that feast came the sinful and fair:
She heard in the city that Jesus was there:
Unheeding the splendor that blazed on the board,
She silently knelt at the feet of her Lord!
2 The hair on her forehead, so sad and so meek,
Hung dark on the blushes that glowed on her cheek;
And so sad and so lowly she knelt in her shame,
It seemed that her spirit had fled from her frame.
3 The frown and the murmur went round thro’ them all,
That one so unhallowed should tread in the hall;
And some said the poor would be objects more meet
For the wealth of the perfume she showered on his feet.
4 She heard but her Saviour—she spoke but in sighs,
She dared not look up to the heaven of his eyes:
And the hot tears gushed forth at each heave of her breast,
As her lips to his sandals she throbbingly pressed.
5 In the sky, after tempest, as shineth the bow,
In the glance of the sunbeam as melteth the snow,
Ho looked on the lost one—her sins were forgiven,
And Mary went forth in the beauty of heaven!
154 10s & 11s, peculiar.
Sacred tears.
Draw near, ye weary, bowed, and broken-hearted,
Ye onward travelers to a peaceful bourne;
Ye from whose path the light hath all departed;
Ye who are left in solitude to mourn;
Though o’er your spirits hath the storm-cloud swept,
Sacred are sorrow’s tears, since “Jesus wept.”
2 The bright and spotless heir of endless glory,
Wept o’er the woes of those he came to save;
And angels wondered when they heard the story
That he who conquered death wept o’er the grave;
For ’twas not when his lonely watch he kept
In dark Gethsemane, that “Jesus wept.”
3 But with the friends he loved, whose hope had perished,
The Saviour stood, while through his bosom rushed
A tide of sympathy for those he cherished,
And from his eyes the burning tear-drops gushed;
And bending o’er the tomb where Lazarus slept,
In agony of spirit, “Jesus wept.”
4 Lo! Jesus’ power the sleep of death hath broken,
And wiped the tear from sorrow’s drooping eye!
Look up, ye mourners, hear what he hath spoken:
“He that believes on me, shall never die.”
Through faith and love your spirits shall be kept;
Hope brighter grew on earth when “Jesus wept.”
155 C. M. D.
He made himself of no reputation.
Phil. 2:7.
He came with his heavenly crown,
His scepter clad with power;
His coming was in feebleness,
The infant of an hour;
An humble manger cradled, first,
The Virgin’s holy birth,
And lowing herds surrounded there
The Lord of heaven and earth.
2 He came, not in his robe of wrath,
With arm outstretched to slay;
But on the darkling paths of earth,
To pour celestial day;
To guide in peace the wandering feet,
The broken heart to bind,
And bear upon the painful cross,
The sins of human kind.
3 And thou hast borne them, Saviour meek!
And therefore unto thee,
In humbleness and gratitude,
Our hearts shall offered be;
Our contrite hearts, an offering, Lord,
Which thou wilt not despise,
Our souls, our bodies, all be thine,
A living sacrifice!
156 8s, 7s & 7s.
Jesus wept.
Jesus wept! those tears are over,
But his heart is still the same;
Kinsman, Friend, and Elder Brother,
Is his everlasting name.
Saviour, who can love like thee?
Gracious one of Bethany!
2 When the pangs of trial seize us,
When the waves of sorrow roll,
I will lay my head on Jesus—
Pillow of the troubled soul.
Truly, none can feel like thee,
Weeping one of Bethany!
3 Jesus wept, and still in glory
He can mark each mourner’s tear—
Living to retrace the story
Of the hearts he solaced here.
Lord, when I am called to die,
Let me think of Bethany!
4 Jesus wept! that tear of sorrow
Is a legacy of love;
Yesterday, to-day, to-morrow,
He the same shall ever prove.
Thou art all in all to me,
Living one of Bethany!
CHRIST: SUFFERINGS.
157 L. M.
Christ the sufferer.
O suffering Friend of human kind!
How, as the fatal hour drew near,
Came thronging on thy holy mind
The images of grief and fear!
2 Gethsemane’s sad midnight scene,
The faithless friends, th’ exulting foes,
The thorny crown, the insult keen,
The scourge, the cross, before thee rose.
3 Did not thy spirit shrink dismayed,
As the dark vision o’er it came;
And, though in sinless strength arrayed,
Turn, shuddering, from the death of shame?
4 Onward, like thee, through scorn and dread,
May we our Father’s call obey,
Steadfast thy path of duty tread,
And rise, through death, to endless day.
158 L. M.
Led as a lamb to the slaughter.
The morning dawns upon the place
Where Jesus spent the night in prayer;
Through yielding glooms behold his face!
Nor form, nor comeliness is there.
2 Brought forth to judgment, now he stands
Arraigned, condemned, at Pilate’s bar;
Here, spurned by fierce pretorian bands;
There, mocked by Herod’s men of war.
3 He bears their buffeting and scorn—
Mock-homage of the lip, the knee—
The purple robe, the crown of thorn—
The scourge, the nail, the accursed tree.
4 No guile within his mouth is found;
He neither threatens nor complains;
Meek as a lamb for slaughter bound,
Dumb ’mid his murderers he remains.
5 But hark, he prays; ’tis for his foes
And speaks: ’tis comfort to his friends;
Answers: and paradise bestows;
He bows his head: the conflict ends.
159 L. M.
The midnight agony.
’Tis midnight; and on Olive’s brow
The star is dimmed that lately shone;
’Tis midnight; in the garden now,
The suffering Saviour prays alone.
2 ’Tis midnight; and, from all removed,
The Saviour wrestles lone, with fears;
E’en that disciple whom he loved
Heeds not his Master’s grief and tears.
3 ’Tis midnight; and for others’ guilt
The man of sorrows weeps in blood;
Yet he that hath in anguish knelt
Is not forsaken by his God.
4 ’Tis midnight; from the heavenly plains
Is borne the song that angels know;
Unheard by mortals are the strains
That sweetly soothe the Saviour’s woe.
160 C. M.
The bitter cup.
Dark was the night, and cold the ground
On which the Lord was laid:
His sweat like drops of blood ran down;
In agony he prayed.
2 “Father, remove this bitter cup,
If such thy sacred will;
If not, content to drink it up,
Thy pleasure I fulfill.”
3 Go to the garden, sinner: see
Those precious drops that flow;
The heavy load he bore for thee:
For thee he lies so low.
4 Then learn of him the cross to bear,
Thy Father’s will obey;
And, when temptations press thee near,
Awake to watch and pray.
161 S. M.
He beheld the city, and wept over it.
Luke 19:41.
Did Christ o’er sinners weep,
And shall our cheeks be dry?
Let tears of penitential grief
Flow forth from every eye.
2 The Son of God in tears,
The wondering angels see;
Be thou astonished, O my soul,
He shed those tears for thee.
3 He wept that we might weep,
Each sin demands a tear,
In heaven alone no sin is found
And there’s no weeping there.
162 7s, 6 lines.
His example in suffering.
Go to dark Gethsemane,
Ye that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see;
Watch with him one bitter hour:
Turn not from his griefs away;
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
2 Follow to the judgment hall:
View the Lord of life arraigned;
O, the wormwood and the gall!
O, the pangs his soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss;
Learn of him to bear the cross.
3 Calvary’s mournful mountain climb;
There, admiring at his feet,
Mark that miracle of time,
God’s own sacrifice complete:
“It is finished,” hear him cry;
Learn of Jesus Christ to die.
163 6s & 5s.
Christ in the garden.
Night with ebon pinion,
Brooded o’er the vale;
All around was silent,
Save the night-wind’s wail;
When Christ the man of sorrows,
In tears, and sweat, and blood,
Prostrate in the garden,
Raised his voice to God.
2 Smitten for offenses
Which were not his own,
He, for our transgressions,
Had to weep alone,
No friend with words to comfort,
Nor hand to help was there.
When the meek and lowly,
Humbly bowed in prayer.
3 Abba, Father, Father!
If indeed it may,
Let this cup of anguish,
Pass from me, I pray.
Yet, if it must be suffered,
By me, thine only Son,
Abba, Father, Father,
Let thy will be done.
164 P. M.
Gethsemane.
Beyond where Cedron’s waters flow,
Behold the suffering Saviour go
To sad Gethsemane;
His countenance is all divine,
Yet grief appears in every line.
2 He bows beneath the sins of men;
He cries to God, and cries again,
In sad Gethsemane:
He lifts his mournful eyes above—
“My Father, can this cup remove?”
3 With gentle resignation still,
He yielded to his Father’s will
In sad Gethsemane;
“Behold me here, thine only Son;
And, Father, let thy will be done.”
4 The Father heard; and angels, there,
Sustained the Son of God in prayer,
In sad Gethsemane:
He drank the dreadful cup of pain—
Then rose to life and joy again.
5 When storms of sorrow round us sweep,
And scenes of anguish make us weep,
To sad Gethsemane
We’ll look, and see the Saviour there,
And humbly bow, like him, in prayer.
165 C. H. M.
Agony in the garden.
He knelt; the Saviour knelt and prayed,
When but his Father’s eye
Looked, through the lonely garden shade,
On that dread agony;
The Lord of high and heavenly birth
Was bowed with sorrow unto death.
2 The sun went down in fearful hour;
The heavens might well grow dim,
When this mortality had power
Thus to o’ershadow him;
That he who came to save might know
The very depths of human woe.
3 He knew them all—the doubt, the strife,
The faint, perplexing dread;
The mists that hang o’er parting life
All darkened round his head;
And the Deliverer knelt to pray;
Yet passed it not, that cup, away.
4 It passed not, though the stormy wave
Had sunk beneath his tread;
It passed not, though to him the grave
Had yielded up its dead;
But there was sent him, from on high,
A gift of strength, for man to die.
5 And was his mortal hour beset
With anguish and dismay?
How may we meet our conflict yet
In the dark, narrow way?
How, but through him that path who trod:
“Save, or we perish, Son of God.”
166 S. H. M.
Betrayal.
Among the mountain trees,
The winds were whispering low,
And night’s ten thousand harmonies
Were harmonies of woe;
A voice of grief was on the gale,
It came from Cedron’s gloomy vale.
2 It was the Saviour’s prayer
That on the silence broke,
Imploring strength from heaven to bear
The sin-avenging stroke,
As in Gethsemane he knelt,
And pangs unknown his bosom felt.
3 The fitful starlight shone
In dim and misty gleams,
Deep was his agonizing groan,
And large the vital streams
That trickled to the dewy sod,
While Jesus raised his voice to God.
4 The chosen three that staid,
Their nightly watch to keep,
Left him through sorrows deep to wade,
And gave themselves to sleep:
Meekly and sad he prayed alone;
Strangely forgotten by his own.
5 Along the streamlet’s bank
The reckless traitor came,
And heavy on his bosom sank
The load of guilt and shame;
Yet unto them that waited nigh
He gave the Lamb of God to die.
6 Among the mountain trees
The winds were whispering low,
And night’s ten thousand harmonies
Were harmonies of woe;
For cruel voices filled the gale
That came from Cedron’s gloomy vale.
167 11s.
Thou sweet gliding Cedron.
Thou sweet gliding Cedron, by thy silver stream
Our Saviour would linger in moonlight’s soft beam:
And by thy bright waters till midnight would stay,
And lose in thy murmurs the toils of the day.
CHORUS.
Come, saints, and adore him; come bow at his feet;
O give him the glory, the praise that is meet;
Let joyful hosannas unceasing arise,
And join the full chorus that gladdens the skies.
2 How damp were the vapors that fell on his head,
How hard was his pillow, how humble his bed;
The angels beholding, amazed at the sight,
Attended their Master with solemn delight.
3 O garden of Olives! thou dear honored spot,
The fame of thy wonders shall ne’er be forgot;
The theme most transporting to seraphs above,
The triumph of sorrow, the triumph of love!
THE CRUCIFIXION.
168 L. M.
The bitter cry.
From Calvary a cry was heard—
A bitter and heart-rending cry:
My Saviour! every mournful word
Bespeaks thy soul’s deep agony.
2 A horror of great darkness fell
On thee, thou spotless holy One!
And all the swarming hosts of hell
Conspired to tempt God’s only Son.
3 The scourge, the thorns, the deep disgrace—
These thou couldst bear, nor once repine;
But when Jehovah vailed his face,
Unutterable pangs were thine.
4 Let the dumb world its silence break;
Let pealing anthems rend the sky;
Awake, my sluggish soul, awake!
He died, that we might never die.
5 Lord! on thy cross I fix mine eye;
If e’er I lose its strong control,
O! let that dying, piercing cry,
Melt and reclaim my wandering soul.
169 L. M.
Looking to the cross.
O Lord! when faith with fixéd eyes
Beholds thy wondrous sacrifice,
Love rises to an ardent flame,
And we all other hope disclaim.
2 With cold affections who can see
The thorns, the scourge, the nails, the tree,
The flowing tears and crimson sweat,
The bleeding hands, and head, and feet?
3 Jesus, what millions of our race
Have seen the triumphs of thy grace!
And millions more to thee shall fly,
And on thy sacrifice rely.
4 The sorrow, shame, and death, were thine,
And all the stores of wrath divine!
Ours are the pardon, life, and bliss;
What love can be compared to this!
170 L. M.
Herein is love!
1 John 4:10.
Have we no tears to shed for him,
While soldiers scoff, and Jews deride?
Ah! look, how patiently he hangs—
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
2 What was thy crime, my dearest Lord?
By earth, by heaven, thou hast been tried,
And guilty found of too much love;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
3 Found guilty of excess of love,
It was thine own sweet will that tied
Thee tighter far than helpless nails;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
4 O break, O break, hard heart of mine!
Thy weak self-love and guilty pride
His Pilate and his Judas were;
Jesus, our Love, is crucified!
171 L. M.
Behold the Man!
Behold the Man! how glorious he!
Before his foes he stands unawed,
And, without wrong or blasphemy,
He claims equality with God.
2 Behold the Man! by all condemned,
Assaulted by a host of foes;
His person and his claims contemned:
A Man of suffering and of woes.
3 Behold the Man! he stands alone,
His foes are ready to devour;
Not one of all his friends will own
Their Master in this trying hour.
4 Behold the Man! though scorned below,
He bears the greatest name above;
The angels at his footstool bow,
And all his royal claims approve.
172 L. M.
Darkness and light.
He dies, the friend of winners dies!
Lo! Salem’s daughters weep around!
A solemn darkness vails the skies,
A sudden trembling shakes the ground.
2 Here’s love and grief beyond degree!
The Lord of glory dies for men!
But, lo! what sudden joys we see—
Jesus the dead revives again!
3 The rising Lord forsakes the tomb!
(The tomb in vain forbids his rise!)
Cherubic legions guard him home,
And shout him welcome to the skies!
4 Break off your tears, you saints, and tell
How high our great Deliverer reigns;
Sing how he spoiled the hosts of hell,
And led the monster Death in chains.
5 Say, “Live for ever, wondrous King!
Born to redeem, and strong to save!”
Then ask the monster, “Where’s thy sting?
And where’s thy victory, boasting grave?”
173 C. M.
His condescension.
And did the holy and the just,
The Sovereign of the skies,
Stoop down to wretchedness and dust
That guilty man might rise?
2 Yes, the Redeemer left his throne,
His radiant throne on high;
Surpassing mercy! love unknown!
To suffer, bleed, and die.
3 He took the dying rebel’s place,
And suffered in our stead;
For sinful man, O wondrous grace!
For sinful man he bled!
4 O Lord! what heavenly wonders dwell
In thy most precious blood?
By this are sinners saved from hell,
And rebels brought to God.
174 C. M.
He conquered when he fell.
We sing the Saviour’s wondrous death—
He conquered when he fell:
’Tis finished, said his dying breath,
And shook the gates of hell.
2 ’Tis finished, our Immanuel cries,
The dreadful work is done;
Hence shall his sovereign throne arise,
His kingdom is begun.
3 His cross a sure foundation laid
For glory and renown,
When through the regions of the dead
He passed to reach the crown.
4 Raise your devotion, mortal tongues,
His praises to record;
Sweet be the accents of your songs
To your victorious Lord.
5 Bright angels, strike your loudest strings,
Your sweetest voices raise;
Let heaven and all created things
Sound our Immanuel’s praise!
175 C. M.
They nailed him to the cross.
Behold the Saviour of mankind
Nailed to the shameful tree!
How vast the love that him inclined
To bleed and die for me!
2 Hark! how he groans, while nature shakes,
And earth’s strong pillars bend!
The temple’s vail asunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.
3 ’Tis finished! now the ransom’s paid,
“Receive my soul!” he cries:
See—how he bows his sacred head!
He bows his head and dies!
4 But soon from death he’ll rise again,
And in full glory shine;
O Lamb of God! was ever pain—
Was ever love like thine?
176 C. M.
The dying penitent.
As on the cross the Saviour hung,
And groaned, and bled, and died,
He looked with pity on a wretch
That languished by his side.
2 The dying thief in Jesus saw
A majesty divine;
While scoffing Jews around him stood,
And asked him for a sign!
3 The kingdom, Lord, is thine, he said;
’Tis thine o’er men to reign:
Thy wondrous works thy lordship prove,
These pains thy love proclaim:
4 Honors divine await thee soon,
A scepter and a crown:
With shame thy foes shall yet behold
Thee seated on a throne.
5 Then, gracious Lord, remember me!
Is not forgiveness thine?
My crimes have brought me to thy side—
Thy love brought thee to mine!
6 His prayer the dying Jesus hears,
And instantly replies,
To-day your parting soul shall be
With me in paradise.
177 7s & 6s.
Surely he hath borne our griefs.
O sacred head, now wounded,
With grief and shame weighed down—
O sacred brow, surrounded
With thorns, thine only crown:
Once on a throne of glory,
Adorned with light divine;
Now all despised and gory,
I joy to call thee mine.
2 On me, as thou art dying,
O, turn thy pitying eye;
To thee for mercy crying,
Before thy cross I lie.
Thine, thine the bitter passion;
Thy pain is all for me;
Mine, mine the deep transgression;
My sins are all on thee.
3 What language can I borrow
To praise thee, heavenly Friend,
For all this dying sorrow,
Of all my woes the end?
O, can I leave thee ever?
Then do not thou leave me;
Lord, let me never, never
Outlive my love to thee.
4 Be near when I am dying;
Then close beside me stand;
Let me, while faint and sighing,
Lean calmly on thy hand:
These eyes, new faith receiving,
From thee shall never move,
For he who dies believing,
Dies safely—in thy love.
178 8s, 7s & 4.
It is finished.
John 19:30.
Hark! the voice of love and mercy
Sounds aloud from Calvary;
See! it rends the rocks asunder,
Shakes the earth and vails the sky!
It is finished!
Hear the dying Saviour cry.
2 It is finished! O what pleasure
Do these precious words afford!
Heavenly blessings without measure
Flow to us from Christ the Lord;
It is finished!
Saints, the dying words record.
3 Finished all the types and shadows
Of the ceremonial law!
Finished all that God had promised;
Death and hell no more shall awe:
It is finished!
Saints, from this your comfort draw.
4 Tune your harps anew, you seraphs,
Join to sing the pleasing theme;
All on earth and all in heaven,
Join to praise Immanuel’s name:
Hallelujah!
Glory to the bleeding Lamb!
179 8s & 6s.
Behold the Lamb of God.
John 1:20.
The Son of Man they did betray;
He was condemned, and led away,
Think, O my soul, on that dread day,
Look on Mount Calvary;
Behold him, lamb-like, led along
Surrounded by a wicked throng,
Accused by every lying tongue,
And then the Lamb of God they hung
Upon the shameful tree.
2 Now, hung between the earth and skies,
Behold! in agony he dies;
O sinners, hear his mournful cries,
Come, see his torturing pain!
The morning sun withdrew his light,
Blushed, and refused to view the sight,
The azure clothed in robes of night,
All nature mourned, and stood affright,
When Christ the Lord was slain.
3 All glory be to God on high,
Who reigns enthroned above the sky;
Who sent his Son to bleed and die;
Glory to him be given:
While heaven above his praise resounds,
O Zion, sing—his grace abounds;
I hope to shout eternal rounds,
In flaming love that knows no bounds,
When glorified in heaven.
BURIAL AND RESURRECTION.
180 L. M.
He rose—according to the Scriptures.
1 Cor. 15:4.
When we the sacred grave survey,
In which the Saviour deigned to lie,
We see fulfilled what prophets say,
And all the power of death defy,
2 This empty tomb shall now proclaim
How weak the bands of conquered death;
Sure pledge that all who trust his name
Shall rise and draw immortal breath.
3 Our surety freed declares us free,
For whose offenses he was seized:
In his release our own we see,
And joy to see Jehovah pleased.
4 Jesus, once numbered with the dead,
Unseals his eyes to sleep no more;
And ever lives their cause to plead,
For whom the pains of death he bore.
5 Then, though in dust we lay our head,
Yet, gracious God, thou wilt not leave
Our flesh for ever with the dead,
Nor lose thy children in the grave!
181 L. M.
The joy that was set before him.
Heb. 12:2.
Now for a song of lofty praise
To great Jehovah’s only Son;
Awake, my voice, in heavenly lays,
And tell the wonders he hath done.
2 Sing how he left the worlds of light,
And those bright robes he wore above:
How swift and joyful was his flight,
On wings of everlasting love!
3 Deep in the shades of gloomy death,
Th’ almighty Captive prisoner lay;
Th’ almighty Captive left the earth,
And rose to everlasting day.
4 Among a thousand harps and songs,
Jesus, the Lord, exalted reigns:
His sacred name fills all their tongues,
And echoes through the heavenly plains.
182 C. M.
He hath begotten us to a lively hope.
1 Peter 1:3.
Blessed be the everlasting God,
The Father of our Lord;
Be his abounding mercy praised,
His majesty adored.
2 When from the dead he raised his Son,
And called him to the sky,
He gave our souls a lively hope
That they should never die.
3 What though the first man’s sin requires
Our flesh to see the dust;
Yet, as the Lord our Saviour rose,
So all his followers must.
4 There’s an inheritance divine,
Reserved against that day;
’Tis uncorrupted, undefiled,
And can not fade away!
5 Saints by the power of God are kept,
Till the salvation come;
We walk by faith as strangers here,
Till Christ shall take us home.
183 C. M.
Now is Christ risen from the dead.
1 Cor. 15:20.
Blest morning! whose young dawning rays
Beheld our rising Lord:
That saw him triumph o’er the dust,
And leave his dark abode.
2 In the cold prison of a tomb
The great Redeemer lay,
Till the revolving skies had brought
The third, th’ appointed day.
3 Hell and the grave unite their force
To hold our Lord, in vain;
The sleeping Conqueror arose,
And burst their feeble chain.
4 To thy great name, almighty Lord,
These sacred hours we pay;
And loud hosannas shall proclaim
The triumph of the day.
5 Salvation and immortal praise
To our victorious King!
Let heaven, and earth, and rocks, and seas,
With glad hosannas ring.
184 C. M.
The forsaken sepulcher.
Ye humble souls that seek the Lord,
Chase all your fears away;
And bow with reverence down, to see
The place where Jesus lay.
2 Thus low the Lord of life was brought;
Such wonders love can do!
Thus cold in death that bosom lay,
Which throbbed and bled for you.
3 If ye have wept at yonder cross,
And still your sorrows rise,
Stoop down and view the vanquished grave,
Then wipe your weeping eyes.
4 But dry your tears, and tune your songs,
The Saviour lives again;
Not all the bolts and bars of death
The Conqueror could detain.
5 High o’er the angelic band he rears
His once dishonored head;
And through unnumbered years he reigns,
Who dwelt among the dead.
185 C. M.
The Resurrection, and the Life.
Hosanna to the Prince of light,
That clothed himself in the clay,
Entered the iron gates of death,
And tore the bars away.
2 Death is no more the king of dread,
Since our Immanuel rose;
He took the tyrant’s sting away,
And spoiled our hellish foes.
3 Raise your devotion, mortal tongues,
To reach his blest abode;
Sweet be the accents of your songs
To our incarnate God.
4 Bright angels, strike your loudest strings,
Your sweetest voices raise,
Let heaven and all created things,
Sound our Immanuel’s praise.
186 C. H. M.
The Lord is risen.
How calm and beautiful the morn
That gilds the sacred tomb
Where once the Crucified was borne,
And vailed in midnight gloom!
Oh! weep no more the Saviour slain;
The Lord is risen—he lives again.
2 Ye mourning saints! dry every tear
For your departed Lord;
“Behold the place—he is not here;”
The tomb is all unbarred:
The gates of death were closed in vain,
The Lord is risen—he lives again.
3 Now cheerful to the house of prayer
Your early footsteps bend,
The Saviour will himself be there,
Your advocate and friend:
Once by the law your hopes were slain,
But now in Christ ye live again.
4 How tranquil now the rising day!
’Tis Jesus still appears,
A risen Lord to chase away
Your unbelieving fears:
O! weep no more your comforts slain;
The Lord is risen—he lives again.
5 And when the shades of evening fall,
When life’s last hour draws nigh—
If Jesus shine upon the soul,
How blissful then to die:
Since he has risen who once was slain,
Ye die in Christ to live again.
187 S. M.
Redemption completed.
“The Lord is risen indeed!”
Then is his work performed;
The mighty captive now is freed,
And death, our foe, disarmed.
2 “The Lord is risen indeed!”
He lives to die no more;
He lives, his people’s cause to plead,
Whose curse and shame he bore.
3 “The Lord is risen indeed!”
The grave has lost his prey:
With him is risen the ransomed seed,
To reign in endless day.
4 “The Lord is risen indeed!”—
Attending angels! hear;
Up to the courts of heaven with speed,
The joyful tidings bear.
5 Then wake your golden lyres,
And strike each cheerful chord;
Join, all ye bright, celestial choirs!
To sing our risen Lord.
188 H. M.
Thou reigning Son of God.
Yes, the Redeemer rose:
The Saviour left the dead,
And o’er his hellish foes
High raised his conquering head:
In wild dismay,
The guards around
Fall to the ground,
And sink away.
2 Lo! the angelic bands
In full assembly meet,
To wait his high commands,
And worship at his feet:
Joyful they come,
And wing their way
From realms of day
To Jesus’ tomb.
3 Then back to heaven they fly,
The joyful news to bear;
Hark! as they soar on high
What music fills the air:
Their anthems say,
Jesus who bled
Has left the dead—
He rose to-day!
4 You mortals, catch the sound,
Redeemed by him from hell,
And send the echo round
The globe on which you dwell:
Transported cry,
Jesus who bled
Has left the dead
No more to die!
5 All hail! triumphant Lord,
Who saved us by thy blood:
Wide be thy name adored,
Thou reigning Son of God!
With thee we rise,
With thee we reign,
And kingdoms gain
Beyond the skies.
189 7s.
The stone rolled away.
Angels! roll the rock away;
Death! yield up thy mighty prey;
See! the Saviour leaves the tomb,
Glowing with immortal bloom.
2 Hark! the wondering angels raise
Louder notes of joyful praise:
Let the earth’s remotest bound
Echo with the blissful sound.
3 Now, ye saints! lift up your eyes,
See him high in glory rise!
Ranks of angels, on the road,
Hail him—the incarnate God.
4 Heaven unfolds its portals wide,
See the Conqueror through them ride!
King of glory! mount thy throne—
Boundless empire is thine own.
5 Praise him, ye celestial choirs!
Tune, and sweep your golden lyres:
Raise, O earth! your noblest songs,
From ten thousand thousand tongues.
190 7s.
Christ, the first fruits.
Christ, the Lord, is risen to-day!
Sons of men and angels say:
Raise your joys and triumphs high:
Sing ye heavens! thou earth reply!
2 Love’s redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the battle won:
Lo! our Sun’s eclipse is o’er;
Lo! he sets in blood no more.
3 Vain the stone, the watch, the seal—
Christ hath burst the gates of hell;
Death in vain forbids his rise,
Christ hath opened paradise.
4 Lives again our glorious King!
Where, O Death, is now thy sting?
Once he died, our souls to save:
Where’s thy victory, boasting grave?
5 Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our exalted Head:
Made like him, like him we rise,
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies!
6 King of glory, Fount of bliss,
Everlasting life is this:
Thee to know, thy power to prove,
Thus to sing, and thus to love.
191 7s.
The Resurrection.
Morning breaks upon the tomb,
Jesus scatters all its gloom;
Day of triumph through the skies—
See the glorious Saviour rise!
2 Ye who are of death afraid,
Triumph in the scattered shade;
Drive your anxious cares away;
See the place where Jesus lay!
3 Christian! dry your flowing tears,
Chase your unbelieving fears;
Look on his deserted grave;
Doubt no more his power to save.
192 7s, double.
Mary at the tomb.
Mary to the Saviour’s tomb
Hasted at the early dawn;
Spice she brought, and sweet perfume,
But the Lord she loved had gone:
For a while she lingering stood,
Filled with sorrow and surprise;
Trembling, while a crystal flood
Issued from her weeping eyes.
2 Jesus who is always near,
Though too often unperceived,
Came her drooping heart to cheer,
Kindly asking why she grieved:
Though at first she knew him not,
When he called her by her name,
She her heavy griefs forgot,
For she found him still the same.
3 And her sorrows, quickly fled,
When she heard his welcome voice;
Christ had risen from the dead,
Now he bids her heart rejoice:
What a change his word can make—
Turning darkness into day;
You who weep for Jesus’ sake,
He will wipe your tears away.
193 8s.
He hath abolished death.
2 Tim. 1:10.
The angels that watched round the tomb
Where low the Redeemer was laid,
When deep in mortality’s gloom
He hid for a season his head;
2 That vailed their fair face while he slept,
And ceased their sweet harps to employ,
Have witnessed his rising, and swept
The chords with the triumphs of joy.
3 You saints, who once languished below,
But long since have entered your rest,
I pant to be glorified too,
To lean on Immanuel’s breast.
4 The grave in which Jesus was laid
Has buried my guilt and my fears;
And while I contemplate its shade,
The light of his presence appears.
5 O sweet is the season of rest,
When life’s weary journey is done!
The blush that spreads over its west,
The last lingering ray of its sun!
6 Though dreary the empire of night,
I soon shall emerge from its gloom,
And see immortality’s light
Arise on the shades of the tomb.
7 Then welcome the last rending sighs,
When these aching heartstrings shall break,
When death shall extinguish these eyes,
And moisten with dew the pale cheek.
8 No terror the prospect begets,
I am not mortality’s slave,
The sunbeam of life as it sets,
Paints a rainbow of peace on the grave.
194 8s.
The darkness is passed, etc.
1 John 2:8.
Behold, the bright morning appears,
And Jesus revives from the grave;
His rising removes all our fears,
And shows him almighty to save.
2 How strong were his tears and his cries,
The worth of his blood, how divine!
How perfect was his sacrifice,
Who rose though he suffered for sin.
3 The man that was crownéd with thorns,
The man that on Calvary died,
The man that bore scourging and scorns,
Whom sinners agreed to deride—
4 Now blesséd for ever is made,
And life has rewarded his pain,
Now glory has crownéd his head;
Heaven sings of the Lamb that was slain.
3 Believing, we share in his joy;
By faith, we partake in his rest;
With this we can cheerfully die,
For with him we hope to be blest.
THE ASCENSION.
195 L. M.
Lift up your heads, ye gates.
Psalm 24:7.
Our Lord is risen from the dead,
Our Jesus is gone up on high;
The powers of hell are captive led,
Dragged to the portals of the sky.
2 There his triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay;
Lift up your heads, you heavenly gates!
You everlasting doors give way!
3 Loose all your bars of massy light,
And wide unfold the radiant scene!
He claims those mansions as his right—
Receive the King of glory in!
4 Who is the King of glory?—Who?
The Lord, who all his foes o’ercame;
The world, sin, death, and hell o’erthrew,
And Jesus is the conqueror’s name.
5 Lo! his triumphal chariot waits,
And angels chant the solemn lay:
Lift up your heads, you heavenly gates!
You everlasting doors, give way!
6 Who is the King of glory?—who?
The Lord, of boundless might possessed,
The King of saints and angels too,
Lord over all, for ever blest.
196 L. M.
The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory.
Psalm 24.
Lift up your heads, ye gates! and wide
Your everlasting doors display;
Ye angel-guards, like flames divide,
And give the King of glory way.
2 Who is the King of glory?—he,
The Lord omnipotent to save;
Whose own right arm, in victory,
Led captive death, and spoiled the grave.
3 Lift up your heads, ye gates! and high
Your everlasting portals heave;
Welcome the King of glory nigh:
Him must the heaven of heavens receive.
4 Who is the King of glory—who?
The Lord of hosts; behold his name!
The kingdom, power, and honor due,
Yield him, ye saints, with glad acclaim!
197 C. M,
Psalm 24.
Lift up your stately heads, ye doors,
With hasty reverence rise,
Ye everlasting doors that guard
The passage to the skies.
Chorus.—For see, for see
The King of glory comes,
The King of glory comes
Along the eternal road.
2 Swift from your golden hinges leap,
Your barriers roll away,
And throw your blazing portals wide,
And burst the gates of day.
198 C. M.
Received up into glory.
1 Tim. 3:16.
Triumphant, Christ ascends on high,
The glorious work complete;
Sin, death, and hell, now vanquished lie
Beneath his awful feet.
2 There, with eternal glory crowned,
The Lord, the Conqueror reigns;
His praise the heavenly choirs resound,
In their immortal strains.
3 Amid the splendors of his throne,
Unchanging love appears;
The names he purchased for his own,
Still on his heart he bears.
4 O, the rich depths of love divine!
Of bliss a boundless store:
Dear Saviour, let me call thee mine;
I can not wish for more.
5 On thee alone, my hope relies;
Beneath thy cross I fall,
My Lord, my Life, my Sacrifice,
My Saviour, and my All.
199 C. M.
God is gone up with a shout.
Psalm 47:5.
Arise, ye people, and adore,
Exulting strike the chord;
Let all the earth, from shore to shore,
Confess th’ almighty Lord.
2 Glad shouts aloud—wide echoing round,
Th’ ascending Lord proclaim;
The angelic choir respond the sound,
And shake creation’s frame.
3 They sing of death and hell o’erthrown
In that triumphant hour;
And God exalts his conquering Son
To his right hand of power.
4 O shout, ye people, and adore,
Exulting strike the chord;
Let all the earth, from shore to shore,
Confess th’ almighty Lord.
200 6s & 10s.
He became obedient unto death.
Phil. 2:8.
Thou, who didst stoop below
To drain the cup of woe,
And wear the form of frail mortality,
Thy blesséd labors done,
Thy crown of victory won,
Hast passed from earth—passed to thy home on high.
2 It was no path of flowers,
Through this dark world of ours,
Belovéd of the Father! thou didst tread;
And shall we in dismay
Shrink from the narrow way,
When clouds and darkness are around it spread.
3 O thou who art our Life,
Be with us through the strife;
Thy own meek head with rudest storms was bowed!
Raise thou our eyes above
To see a Father’s love
Beam, like the bow of promise, through the cloud.
4 E’en through the awful gloom
Which hovers o’er the tomb,
That light of love our guiding star shall be;
Our spirits shall not dread
The shadowy way to tread,
Friend, Guardian, Saviour! which doth lead to thee.
201 6s & 4s.
Rule thou, in the midst of thine enemies.
Psalm 110:2.
Rise, glorious Conqueror, rise
Into thy native skies—
Assume thy right;
And where in many a fold,
The clouds are backward rolled—
Pass through those gates of gold,
And reign in light!
2 Victor o’er death and hell!
Cherubic legions swell
The radiant train;
Praises all heaven inspire,
Each angel sweeps his lyre,
And waves his wings of fire,
Thou Lamb once slain!
3 Enter, incarnate God!
No feet but thine have trod
The serpent down:
Blow the full trumpets, blow!
Wider yon portals throw!
Saviour, triumphant, go
And take thy crown!
4 Lion of Judah—hail!
And let thy name prevail
From age to age:
Lord of the rolling years—
Claim for thine own the spheres,
For thou hast bought with tears
Thy heritage.
202 7s, 6s & 7s.
Psalm 45.
Burst, ye emerald gates, and bring
To my raptured vision
All the ecstatic joys that spring
Round the bright elysian;
Lo! we lift our longing eyes!
Break, ye intervening skies!
Sons of righteousness, arise,
Ope the gates of paradise.
2 Floods of everlasting light
Freely flash before him;
Myriads, with supreme delight,
Instantly adore him
Angelic trumps resound his fame;
Lutes of lucid gold proclaim
All the music of his name;
Heaven resounding with the theme.
3 Hark! the thrilling symphonies
Seem, methinks, to seize us;
Join we too the holy lays—
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
Sweetest sound in seraph’s song,
Sweetest note on mortal tongue,
Sweetest carol ever sung—
Jesus, Jesus, flow along.
THE CORONATION.
203 C. M.
All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all.
2 Crown him, you martyrs of our God,
Who from his altar call;
Extol the stem of Jesse’s rod,
And crown him Lord of all.
3 You chosen seed of Israel’s race,
A remnant weak and small,
Hail him who saves you by his grace,
And crown him Lord of all.
4 You gentle sinners, ne’er forget
The wormwood and the gall;
Go, spread your trophies at his feet,
And crown him Lord of all.
5 Babes, men, and sires, who know his love,
Who feel your sin and thrall,
Now join with all the hosts above,
And crown him Lord of all.
6 Let every kindred, every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To him all majesty ascribe,
And crown him Lord of all.
7 O that with yonder sacred throng
We at his feet may fall!
We’ll join the everlasting song,
And crown him Lord of all.
204 C. M.
Sit thou at my right hand.
Psalm 110:1.
Jesus, our Lord, ascend thy throne,
And near thy Father sit:
In Zion shall thy power be known,
And make thy foes submit.
2 What wonders shall thy gospel do!
Thy converts shall surpass
The numerous drops of morning dew,
And own thy saving grace.
3 Jesus, our Priest, for ever lives
To plead for us above;
Jesus, our King, for ever gives
The blessings of his love.
4 God shall exalt his glorious head,
And his high throne maintain;
Shall strike the powers and princes dead,
Who dare oppose his reign.
205 8s & 7s.
Thou art worthy.
Crown his head with endless blessing,
Who, in God the Father’s name,
With compassion never ceasing,
Comes, salvation to proclaim.
2 Jesus, thee our Saviour hailing,
Thee our God in praise we own;
Highest honors, never failing,
Rise eternal round thy throne.
3 Now, ye saints, his power confessing,
In your grateful strains adore;
For his mercy, never ceasing,
Flows, and flows for evermore.
206 C. M.
Worthy the Lamb.
Come, let us join our cheerful songs
With angels round the throne;
Ten thousand thousand are their tongues,
But all their joys are one.
2 Worthy the Lamb that died, they cry,
To be exalted thus!
Worthy the Lamb, our lips reply,
For he was slain for us!
3 Jesus is worthy to receive
Honor and power divine;
And blessings more than we can give,
Be, Lord, for ever thine.
4 Let all who dwell above the sky,
On earth, in air, and seas,
Conspire to lift thy glories high,
And speak thy endless praise.
5 The whole creation join in one,
To bless the sacred name
Of him that sits upon the throne,
And to adore the Lamb.
207 8s, 7s & 4.
King of kings, etc.
Rev. 19:16.
Look, ye saints—the sight is glorious;
See the Man of Sorrows now
From the fight returned victorious;
Every knee to him shall bow.
Crown him! crown him!
Crowns become the Victor’s brow.
2 Crown the Saviour! angels, crown him!
Rich the trophies Jesus brings;
In the seat of power enthrone him,
While the heavenly concert rings,
Crown him! crown him!
Crown the Saviour King of kings.
3 Sinners in derision crowned him,
Mocking thus the Saviour’s claim;
Saints and angels! crowd around him,
Own his title, praise his name.
Crown him! crown him!
Spread abroad the Victor’s name.
4 Hark! those bursts of acclamation!
Hark! those loud triumphant chords!
Jesus takes the highest station;
O, what joy the sight affords!
Crown him! crown him!
King of kings, and Lord of lords.
MEDIATORIAL REIGN.
208 L. M.
Of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luke 1:33.
King Jesus, reign for evermore,
Unrivaled in thy courts above;
While we, with all thy saints, adore
The wonders of redeeming love.
2 No other Lord but thee we’ll know
No other power but thine confess;
We’ll spread thine honors while below,
And heaven shall hear us shout thy grace.
3 We’ll sing along the heavenly road
That leads us to thy blest abode;
Till with the vast unnumbered throng
We join in heaven’s triumphant song—
4 Till with pure hands and voices sweet,
We cast our crowns at Jesus feet,
And sing of everlasting love
In everlasting strains above.
209 L. M.
All nations shall serve him.
Psalm 72:11.
Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
2 For him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown his head;
His name like sweet perfume shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
3 People and realms of every tongue
Dwell on his love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.
4 Blessings abound where’er he reigns;
The prisoner leaps to loose his chains,
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.
5 Where he displays his healing power,
Death and the curse are known no more;
In him the tribes of Adam boast
More blessings than their father lost.
6 Let every creature rise, and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the long Amen.
210 L. M.
Give the King thy judgments.
Psalm 72:1.
Exalted Prince of Life, we own
The royal honors of thy throne;
’Tis fixed by God’s almighty hand,
And seraphs bow at thy command.
2 Exalted Saviour, we confess
The mighty triumphs of thy grace;
Where beams of gentle radiance shine
And temper majesty divine.
3 Wide thy resistless scepter sway,
Till all thine enemies obey;
Wide let thy cross its virtues prove,
And conquer millions by its love!
211 L. M.
My heart is inditing a good matter.
Psalm 45:1.
Now be my heart inspired to sing
The glories of my Saviour King;
He comes with blessings from above,
And wins the nations to his love.
2 Thy throne, O Lord, for ever stands;
Grace is the scepter in thy hands;
Thy laws and works are just and right,
But truth and mercy thy delight.
3 Let endless honors crown thy head;
Let every age thy praises spread;
Let all the nations know thy word,
And every tongue confess thee Lord.
212 L. M.
I know that my Redeemer liveth.
Job 19:25.
He lives! the great Redeemer lives!
What joy the blest assurance gives!
And now, before his Father, God,
Pleads the full merit of his blood.
2 Repeated crimes awake our fears,
And justice armed with frowns appears;
But in the Saviour’s lovely face
Sweet mercy smiles, and all is peace.
3 In every dark, distressful hour,
When sin and Satan join their power,
Let this dear hope repel the dart,
That Jesus bears us on his heart.
4 Great Advocate, almighty Friend!
On him our humble hopes depend;
Our cause can never, never fail,
For Jesus pleads, and must prevail.
213 L. M.
Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Psalm 72:19.
Great God! whose universal sway
The known and unknown worlds obey,
Now give the kingdom to thy Son;
Extend his power, exalt his throne.
2 Thy scepter well becomes his hands;
All heaven submits to his commands;
His justice shall avenge the poor,
And pride and rage prevail no more.
3 The heathen lands, that lie beneath
The shades of overspreading death,
Revive at his first dawning light;
And deserts blossom at the sight.
4 The saints shall flourish in his days,
Dressed in the robes of joy and praise;
Peace, like a river, from his throne
Shall flow to nations yet unknown.
214 L. M.
The Lord is King.
The Lord is King! lift up thy voice,
O earth, and all ye heavens, rejoice!
From world to world the joy shall ring—
“The Lord omnipotent is King!”
2 The Lord is King! who then shall dare
Resist his will, distrust his care?
Holy and true are all his ways:
Let every creature speak his praise.
215 L. M.
He humbled himself.
Phil. 2:8.
O Christ! our King, Creator, Lord!
Saviour of all who trust thy word!
To them who seek thee, ever near,
Now to our praises bend thine ear.
2 In thy dear cross a grace is found—
It flows from every streaming wound—
Whose power our inbred sin controls,
Breaks the firm bond and frees our souls!
3 Thou didst create the stars of night:
Yet thou hast vailed in flesh thy light—
Hast deigned a mortal form to wear,
A mortal’s painful lot to bear.
4 When thou didst hang upon the tree,
The quaking earth acknowledged thee;
When thou didst there yield up thy breath,
The world grew dark as shades of death.
5 Now in the Father’s glory high,
Great Conqueror, never more to die,
Us by thy mighty power defend,
And reign through ages without end!
216 L. M.
His promises are yea and amen.
Saviour, I lift my trembling eyes,
To that bright seat, where, placed on high,
The great, the atoning sacrifice,
For me, for all, is ever nigh.
2 Be thou my guard on peril’s brink;
Be thou my guide through weal or woe;
And teach me of thy cup to drink,
And make me in thy faith to go.
3 For what is earthly change or loss?
Thy promises are still my own:
The feeblest frame may bear thy cross,
The lowliest spirit share thy throne.
217 L. M.
Let all the angels of God worship him.
Heb. 1:6.
Thee we adore, O gracious Lord!
We praise thy name with one accord;
Thy saints, who here thy goodness see,
Through all the world do worship thee.
2 To thee aloud all angels cry,
And ceaseless raise their songs on high,
Both cherubim and seraphim,
The heavens and all the powers therein:
3 The apostles join the glorious throng;
The prophets swell the immortal song;
The martyrs’ noble army raise
Eternal anthems to thy praise.
4 Thee, holy, holy, holy King!
Thee, O Lord God of hosts, they sing:
Thus earth below, and heaven above,
Resound thy glory and thy love.
218 L. M.
He hath the keys of hell and of death.
Rev. 1:18.
Hail to the Prince of Life and Peace,
Who holds the keys of death and hell;
The spacious world unseen is his,
The sovereign power becomes him well.
2 In shame and anguish once he died;
But now he lives for ever more;
Bow down, you saints, around his seat,
And all you angel bands adore.
3 Live, live for ever, glorious Lord,
To crush thy foes and guard thy friends,
While all thy chosen tribes rejoice
That thy dominion never ends.
4 Worthy thy hand to hold the keys,
Guided by wisdom and by love;
Worthy to rule our mortal lives,
O’er worlds below and worlds above.
5 For ever reign, victorious King!
Wide through the earth thy name be known;
And call our longing souls to sing
Sublimer anthems near thy throne.
219 L. M.
My Redeemer liveth.
Job 19:25.
I know that my Redeemer lives;
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, he lives who once was dead,
He lives, my ever-living Head!
2 He lives to bless me with his love,
He lives to plead for me above,
He lives my hungry soul to feed,
He lives to bless in time of need.
3 He lives to grant me rich supply,
He lives to guide me with his eye,
He lives to comfort me when faint,
He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.
4 He lives, my kind, wise, heavenly friend,
He lives, and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while he lives I’ll sing,
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King!
5 He lives, and grants me daily breath;
He lives, and I shall conquer death;
He lives my mansion to prepare,
He lives to bring me safely there.
6 He lives, all glory to his name!
He lives, my Jesus, still the same!
O the sweet joy this sentence gives—
I know that my Redeemer lives!
220 L. M.
No other name.
Acts 4:12.
Jesus, the spring of joys divine,
Whence all our hopes and comforts flow:
Jesus, no other name but thine
Can save us from eternal woe.
2 In vain would boasting reason find
Thy way to happiness and God;
Her weak directions leave the mind
Bewildered in a dubious road.
3 No other name will heaven approve;
Thou art the true, the living way,
Ordained by everlasting love,
To the bright realms of endless day.
4 Here let our constant feet abide,
Nor from the heavenly path depart;
O let thy Spirit, gracious Guide!
Direct our steps, and cheer our heart.
5 Safe lead us through this world of night,
And bring us to the blissful plains—
The regions of unclouded light
Where perfect joy for ever reigns.
221 L. M.
Excellency of the knowledge of Christ.
Let everlasting glories crown
Thy head, my Saviour and my Lord;
Thy hands have brought salvation down,
And stored the blessings in thy word.
2 In vain the trembling conscience seeks
Some solid ground to rest upon;
With long despair the spirit breaks,
Till we apply to Christ alone.
3 How well thy blesséd truths agree!
How wise and holy thy commands!
Thy promises, how firm they be!
How firm our hope and comfort stands!
4 Should all the forms that men devise
Assault my faith with treacherous art,
I’d call them vanity and lies,
And bind the gospel to my heart.
222 L. M.
Lord, to whom shall we go?
John 6:68.
Thou only Sovereign of my heart,
My Refuge, my almighty Friend—
And can my soul from thee depart,
On whom alone my hopes depend?
2 Whither, ah! whither shall I go,
A wretched wanderer from my Lord?
Can this dark world of sin and woe
One glimpse of happiness afford?
3 Eternal life thy words impart;
On these my fainting spirit lives;
Here sweeter comforts cheer my heart,
Than all the round of nature gives.
4 Let earth’s alluring joys combine;
While thou art near, in vain they call!
One smile, one blissful smile of thine,
My dearest Lord, outweighs them all.
5 Thy name my inmost powers adore;
Thou art my life, my joy, my care;
Depart from thee—’tis death—’tis more—
’Tis endless ruin, deep despair!
6 Low at thy feet my soul would lie;
Here safety dwells, and peace divine;
Still let me live beneath thine eye,
For life, eternal life, is thine.
223 L. M.
Christ the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Thou art the way; and he who sighs,
Amid this starless waste of woe,
To find a pathway to the skies,
A light from heaven’s eternal glow,
By thee must come, thou gate of love,
Through which the saints undoubting trod,
Till faith discovers, like the dove,
An ark, a resting-place in God.
2 Thou art the Truth, whose steady day
Shines on through earthly blight and bloom;
The pure, the everlasting Ray,
The Lamp that shines e’en in the tomb;
The light that out of darkness springs,
And guideth those that blindly go;
The Word whose precious radiance flings
Its luster upon all below.
3 Thou art the Life, the blesséd Well
With living waters gushing o’er,
Which those that drink shall ever dwell
Where sin and thirst are known no more,
Thou art the mystic Pillar given,
Our Lamp by night, our Light by day;
Thou art the sacred Bread from heaven;
Thou art the Life, the Truth, the Way.
224 L. M. 6 lines.
A very present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1.
Still nigh me, O my Saviour, stand,
And guard in fierce temptation’s hour;
Support by thy almighty hand,
Show forth in me thy saving power;
Still be thine arm my sure defense,
Nor earth nor hell shall pluck me thence.
2 In suffering be thy love my peace,
In weakness be thy love my power;
And when the storms of life shall cease,
O, Saviour, in that trying hour,
In death, as life, be thou my guide,
And save me, who for me hast died.
225 L. M. 6 lines.
Christ all and in all.
Jesus, thou source of calm repose,
All fullness dwells in thee divine;
Our strength, to quell the proudest foes;
Our light, in deepest gloom to shine;
Thou art our fortress, strength, and tower,
Our trust, and portion, evermore.
2 Jesus, our Comforter, thou art
Our rest in toil, our ease in pain;
The balm to heal each broken heart:
In storms our peace, in loss our gain;
Our joy, beneath the worldling’s frown;
In shame, our glory and our crown:
3 In want, our plentiful supply;
In weakness, our almighty power;
In bonds, our perfect liberty;
Our refuge in temptation’s hour;
Our comfort, ’midst all grief and thrall;
Our life in death; our all in all.
226 L. M. 6 lines.
Prophet, Priest, and King.
My Prophet thou, my heavenly Guide,
Thy sweet instructions I will hear;
The words that from thy lips proceed,
O how divinely sweet they are!
Thee, my great Prophet, I would love,
And imitate the blest above.
2 My great High Priest, whose precious blood
Did once atone upon the cross,
Who now dost intercede with God,
And plead the friendless sinner’s cause:
In thee I trust, thee would I love,
And imitate the blest above.
3 My King supreme, to thee I bow
A willing subject at thy feet;
All other lords I disavow,
And to thy government submit;
My Saviour King, this heart would love,
And imitate the blest above.
227 L. M.
He is precious.
1 Peter 2:7.
Jesus! the very thought is sweet;
In that dear name all heart-joys meet;
But sweeter than the honey far
The glimpses of his presence are.
2 No word is sung more sweet than this;
No name is heard more full of bliss;
No thought brings sweeter comfort nigh,
Than Jesus, Son of God, most high.
3 Jesus, the hope of souls forlorn!
How good to them for sin that mourn;
To them that seek thee, O how kind!
But what art thou to them that find?
4 No tongue of mortal can express,
No letters write its blessedness;
Alone, who hath thee in his heart,
Knows, love of Jesus, what thou art.
228 C. M.
Christ a merciful High Priest
With joy we meditate the grace
Of our High Priest above:
His heart is full 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 has 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 each distressing hour.
229 C. M.
The bright and morning star.
Rev. 22:16.
Bright was the guiding star that led,
With mild, benignant ray,
The Gentiles to the lowly shed
Where the Redeemer lay.
2 But, lo! a brighter, clearer light
Now points to his abode;
It shines through sin and sorrow’s night
To guide us to our God.
3 O haste to follow where it leads;
The gracious call obey,
Be rugged wilds or flowery meads
The Christian’s destined way.
4 O gladly tread the narrow path
While light and grace are given:
Who meekly follow Christ on earth,
Shall reign with him in heaven.
230 C. M.
They shall speak of the glory, etc.
Psalm 145:11.
Come, you that love the Saviour’s name,
And joy to make it known;
The Sovereign of your heart proclaim,
And bow before his throne.
2 Behold your King, your Saviour, crowned
With glories al
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