Oh give me here a house of prayer,
Here Sabbath joys impart.

525

Sabbath Evening.

Montgomery.

C. M.

1 FREQUENT the day of God returns,
To shed its quickening beams;
And yet how slow devotion burns;
How languid are its flames!
2 Accept our faint attempts to love,
Our frailties, Lord, forgive;
We would be like thy saints above,
And praise thee while we live.

3 Increase, O Lord, our faith and hope,
And fit us to ascend

Where the assembly ne'er breaks up,
The Sabbath ne'er shall end;
4 Where we shall breathe in heavenly air,
With heavenly lustre shine;
Before the throne of God appear,
And feast on love divine;

5 Where we in high seraphic strains
Shall all our powers employ;

Delighted range th' ethereal plains,
And take our fill of joy.

526

The eternal Sabbath.

Browne.

1 THINE earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love,
But there's a nobler rest above;
To that our longing souls aspire
With cheerful hope and strong desire.
2 No more fatigue-no more distress,
Nor sin, nor death shall reach the place;
No groans shall mingle with the songs
Which warble from immortal tongues.
3 No rude alarms of raging foes,
No cares to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,
But sacred, high, eternal noon.
4 O long expected day, begin;

Dawn on these realms of wo and sin:
Fain would we leave this weary road,

L. M.

And sleep in death, to rest in God. Doddridge.

527

1 W

SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

Close of the Year.

HILE, with ceaseless course, the sun
Hasted through the former year,

Many souls their race have run,

Never more to meet us here:

Fixed in an eternal state,

They have done with all below; We a little longer wait,

But how little-none can know.

2 As the winged arrow flies

Speedily the mark to find; As the lightning from the skies

Darts, and leaves no trace behind,—
Swiftly thus our fleeting days

Bear us down life's rapid stream;
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise,
All below is but a dream.

3 Thanks for mercies past receive;
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us henceforth how to live
With eternity in view :

Bless thy word to young and old;
Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with thee above.

7s.

Newton.

1 AWAKE, ye saints, and raise your eyes,
And raise your voices high;

Awake, and praise that sovereign love
That shows salvation nigh.

2 On all the wings of time it flies;

Each moment brings it near; Then welcome each declining day, Welcome each closing year.

3 Not many years their rounds shall run,
Nor many mornings rise,

Ere all its glories stand revealed
To our admiring eyes.

C. M.

4 Ye wheels of nature, speed your course;
Ye mortal powers, decay;
Fast as ye bring the night of death,
Ye bring eternal day.

529

1

2

3

The New Year.

COME, let us anew

Our journey pursue,

Roll round with the year,

Doddridge.

5. 11.

And never stand still till the Master appear:
His adorable will

Let us gladly fulfill,

And our talents improve,

By the patience of hope, and the labor of love. Our life is a dream;

Our time, as a stream,
Glides swiftly away,

And the fugitive moment refuses to stay:

The arrow is flown

The moment is gone-
The millennial Year

Rushes on to our view, and Eternity's here!

Oh that each, in the day

Of his coming, may say,

"I have fought my way through;

I have finished the work which thou gav'st me to do."

Oh that each from his Lord
May receive the glad word,
"Well and faithfully done!

Enter into my joy, and sit down on my throne."

530

1

New Year :-Blessing implored.

C. Wesley.

NOW, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal,
And make thy glory known;

Now let us all thy presence feel,
And soften hearts of stone.

2 Help us to venture near thy throne,
And plead a Saviour's name:
For all that we can call our own
Is vanity and shame.

3 From all the guilt of former sin
May mercy set us free;

2A2

48*

C. M.

And let the year we now begin,
Begin and end with thee.

4 Send down thy Spirit from above,
That saints may love thee more,
And sinners now may learn to love,
Who never loved before.

5 And when before thee we appear,
In our eternal home,

May growing numbers worship here,
And praise thee in our room.

531

New Year :-Goodness of God.

Newton.

1 GREAT God, we sing that mighty hand
By which supported still we stand :
The opening year thy mercy shows,
Let mercy crown it till it close.

2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,
Still we are guarded by our God;
By his incessant bounty fed,
By his unerring counsel led.

3 With grateful hearts the past we own;
The future-all to us unknown-
We to thy guardian care commit,
And peaceful leave before thy feet.
4 In scenes exalted or depressed,
Be thou our joy, and thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Adored through all our changing days.
5 When death shall interrupt our songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
We'll rise to sing thy praise above,
And glory in thy boundless love.

532

1

2

THE

Spared another Year.

HE Lord of earth and sky,
The God of ages praise;
Who reigns enthroned on high,
Ancient of endless days;

Who lengthens out our trial here,
And spares us yet another year.
Barren and withered trees,

We cumbered long the ground;

L. M.

Doddridge,

H. M.

3

4

5

No fruit of holiness

On our dead souls was found;
Yet doth he us in mercy spare,
Another and another year.

When justice bared the sword,
To cut the fig-tree down,
The pity of the Lord

Cried, "Let it still alone."
The Father mild inclined his ear,
And spared us yet another year.
Jesus, thy speaking blood

From God obtained the grace;
Who therefore hath bestowed
On us a longer space;

Thou didst in our behalf appear,
And lo, we see another year.
Then dig about our root,
Break up our fallow ground,
And let our gracious fruit

To thy great praise abound;
Oh let us all thy praise declare,
And fruit unto perfection bear.

533 Reflections at the End of the Year.
1A of thy short life is past;
ND now, my soul, another

I cannot long continue here,
And this may be my last.

year

2 Much of my dubious life is gone,
Nor will return again;

And swift my passing moments run,
The few that yet remain.

3 Awake, my soul; with utmost care
Thy true condition learn;

C. Wesley.

What are thy hopes ?-how sure, how fair?
What is thy great concern?

4 Behold, another year begins;

Set out afresh for heaven; Seek pardon for thy former sins, In Christ so freely given.

5 Devoutly yield thyself to God, And on his grace depend;

C. M.