HYMNS FOR THE NEW YEAR

EW YEAR'S DAY is the "Octave of Christmas." It is the day of the circumcision and the naming of the child Jesus. In the Christian year this fact dominates the day. Hence it is that Keble emphasizes this thought in his hymn, in which the circumcision of Christ is the figure under which the course of human life is pictured.

In thinking of the name of Jesus one of the first hymns which comes to mind is that of John Newton, of which the two opening lines are:

"How sweet the name of Jesus sounds

In a believer's ear."

This tribute to the name of Jesus will be given added significance in our use of it when we know that the author in his early life was very wild, and cursed and blasphemed in the most shocking manner. He followed the sea and literally swore like a sailor, was captured by slave dealers, became a slave dealer himself, and, after a narrow escape from shipwreck, came to his senses, confessed his sins, and, when thirty-nine years of age, was ordained a clergyman of the Church of England. Knowing these facts, we will value the tribute to the name of Jesus, probably paraphrased from an old Latin hymn of St. Bernard, but made to express the inner conviction of a truly converted sailor.

Bishop How has paid high tribute to the name of Jesus in one of the several hymns which he has contributed to

the common hymnology of the Evangelical Church. This hymn, which was written in 1854, has as its opening

verse:

Jesus! Name of wondrous love!
Name all other names above!
Name at which must every knee
Bow in deep humility.

A hymn which has not yet found its way into the church hymnals, but which is loved by nearly all young people, and by some older ones too, comes from the pen of an American poet, the late George W. Bethune. It is a tribute to the name and work of Jesus, which, with its appropriate melody "Barnby," is most pleasing in thought as well as in its rhythm and music. The hymn is written in four-line stanzas with a chorus, the first verse and chorus being:

There is no name so sweet on earth

No name so dear in heaven,

As that before His wondrous birth
To Christ the Saviour given.

CHORUS

We love to sing around our King,
And hail Him blessed Jesus!
For there's no word ear ever heard
So dear, so sweet as Jesus!

Turning to the day as marking the opening of the year, a most appropriate religious sentiment is found in that hymn from the pen of Isaac Watts, which is a versification of the ninetieth psalm. The sentiment is divine, the versification so well done that the hymn must live and grow in favor as Christians add experience and years to their earthly lives.

WATT'S NINETIETH PSALM
Our God, our Help in ages past,
Our Hope for years to come;
Our Shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal Home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone.
And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Thy word commands our flesh to dust:
"Return, ye sons of men";

All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

Like flowery fields the nations stand,
Pleased with the morning light:
The flowers beneath the mower's hand
Lie withering ere 'tis night.

Our God, our Help in ages past,

Our Hope for years to come,

Be Thou our Guard while troubles last,
And our eternal Home.

The Rev. Philip Doddridge, D.D., a clergyman of the Church of England, has furnished two hymns which are in

favor and especially appropriate at the opening of the New Year. The one hymn is distinctively a hymn for the new year. It is expressive of gratitude for past guidance, for divine blessing and protection, and a prayer for God's mercy and help as well as an expression of implicit trust. As a New Year sentiment we quote it in full:

DR. DODDRIDGE'S NEW YEAR HYMN
"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.

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

"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.

"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.

"When death shall interrupt our songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our Helper, God, in whom we trust,
In better worlds our souls shall boast."

Another hymn, also by Dr. Doddridge, appropriate to the season, which is virtually a prayer to God to guide and protect and continue to bless with the bounties of His hand, is a hymn of providence appropriate at any season.

It is a hymn which is especially cheering and faith-inspiring when in trial or trouble of any kind. Our appreciation of it will be increased by knowing that it was a favorite hymn of Livingstone, the explorer. He declares that it often cheered him in his African wanderings. It was sung at his funeral as his body was being laid to rest in the famous Westminster Abbey. The hymn is popular because it most beautifully and forcefully speaks the religious experience of a rugged race.

A PRAYER TO THE GOD OF JACOB "O God of Jacob, by whose hand

Thy people still are fed;

Who, through this weary pilgrimage,
Hast all our fathers led!

"To Thee our humble vows we raise,
To Thee address our prayer;
And in Thy kind and faithful breast
Deposit all our care.

"Through each perplexing path of life
Our wandering footsteps guide;
Give us by day our daily bread,
And raiment fit provide.

"O spread Thy covering wings around,
Till all our wanderings cease;
And at our Father's loved abode
Our souls arrive in peace.

"To Thee, as to our covenant God,
We'll our whole selves resign;
And thankful own, that all we are,
And all we have, is Thine."

Frances Ridley Havergal has given us a most ap