To rise again when Thou shalt come,
And enter our eternal home.

174

NOW let us come before Him,

With songs and prayers adore Him,
Who to our life from heaven
All needed strength hath given.

2 The stream of years is flowing,
And we are onward going,
From old to new surviving,
And by His mercy thriving.

3 In woe we often languish,
And pass through times of anguish,
Of wars and trepidation,
Alarming every nation.

4 A faithful mother keepeth
Guard, while her infant sleepeth,
Its fear and grief assuaging,
When angry storms are raging.

5 Thus God His children shieldeth
And full protection yieldeth;
When need and woe distress them,
His loving arms caress them.

6 In vain is all our doing;
The labor we're pursuing
In our hands prospers never,
Unless God watches ever.

7 Our song to Thee ascendeth,
Whose mercy never endeth;
Our thanks to Thee we render,
Who art our strong Defender.

78

8 O God of mercy! hear us,
Our Father! be Thou near us;
'Mid crosses and in sadness
Be Thou our Fount of gladness.

9 To all that bow before Thee
And for Thy grace implore Thee
O grant Thy benediction
And patience in affliction.

10 With richest blessings crown us,
In all our ways, Lord! own us;
Give grace, who grace bestowest
To all, e'en to the lowest.

11 To all forlorn be Father,

Thy erring children gather,
And of the poor and needy
Be Thou the Helper speedy.

12 Grant help to all afflicted; And to the souls dejected, By melancholy haunted,

May cheerful thoughts be granted.

13 O Lord! assistance lend us,

Thy Holy Spirit send us,

That He may make us glorious,
And lead to Thee victorious.

14 All this Thy hand bestoweth,

Thou Life, whence our life floweth ;
To me and all believers

Grant, Lord, these New Year's favors.

175

CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST

THE year begins with Thee,

And Thou begin'st with woe, To let the world of sinners see That blood for sin must flow.

2 Thine infant cries, O Lord,
Thy tears upon the breast
Are not enough, the legal sword
Must do its stern behest.

3 Seemeth it strange to me
My own will to deny?
Seemeth it sad, my soul, to Thee
Under the yoke to lie?

4 I look, and hold my peace:
The Giver of all good

8. M.

E'en from His birth takes no release
From suffering, tears, and blood.

5 That I may reap in love,

Help me to sow in fear:

So life a winter's morn may prove
To a bright endless year.

176

THE ancient Law departs,

And all its terrors cease;

8. M.

For Jesus makes with faithful hearts

A covenant of peace.

2 The Light of light divine,

True brightness undefiled,

He bears for us the shame of sin,
A holy, spotless Child.

1

3 His infant body now

Begins our pain to feel;

Those precious drops of blood that flow For death the victim seal.

4 Today the Name is Thine,

At which we bend the knee;
They call Thee Jesus, Child divine;
Our Jesus deign to be.

5 All praise, eternal Son,

For Thy redeeming love,

With Father, Spirit, ever one,
In glorious might above.

177

L. M.

O SACRED day, when first was poured
The blood of our redeeming Lord,
O solemn day, when first began
His sufferings for sinful man!

2 Just born into this world of woe,
His blood for man was made to flow;
His future death was thus expressed,
Thus, too, His early love confessed.

3 From heaven descending, to fulfil
The mandates of His Father's will,
E'en now behold the Victim lie,
The Lamb of God prepared to die.

4 Beneath the knife behold the Child,
The innocent, the undefiled:

For captives He the ransom pays,
For lawless man the Law obeys.

5 Lord, circumcise our hearts, we pray, Our fleshly natures purge away;

Thy name, Thy likeness, may we bear; O stamp Thy holy image there.

178

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

2 Jesus! Name decreed of old:
To the maiden-mother told,
Kneeling in her lowly cell,
By the angel Gabriel.

3 Jesus! Name of priceless worth
To the fallen sons of earth,
For the promise that it gave,-
"Jesus shall His people save."

4 Jesus! Name of mercy mild,
Given to the holy Child,
When the cup of human woe
First He tasted here below.

5 Jesus! only Name that's given
Under all the mighty heaven,
Whereby man, to sin enslaved,
Bursts his fetters, and is saved.

6 Jesus! Name of wondrous love!
Human name of God above;
Pleading only this we flee,
Helpless, O our God, to Thee.

78

179

EPIPHANY

O JESUS, King of glory!
Both David's Lord and Son!

Thy realm endures forever,

In heaven is fixed Thy throne;

7.6 81