Page images
PDF
EPUB

67 Hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man

sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. Matt. xxvi.

1 THE day must come, the Judgment-day, To each fond idle dreamer,

To every wanderer from the way,

To every bold blasphemer:

The Christ will come in dread array,
Each eye must see,
each heart obey,
The Judge or the Redeemer.

2 We may grow hard, and not revere
Each old prophetic token,
Too wilful and too proud to hear
What God Himself hath spoken;
Yet shall the Son of Man appear,
And strongest hearts shall fail for fear,
And wrath and pride be broken.

3 He comes in clouds, each dazzled eye
And conscious heart confounding,
Myriads of Seraphim on high

His glorious sign surrounding:
Sun, moon, and stars sink in the sky;
The shout dies down ; the Archangel's

cry,

The trump of God, is sounding.

4 To God the Father let us sing, &c.

68

The day of the Lord is great and terrible.
Joel ii.

1 DAY of Judgment, day of wonders!
Hark, the trumpet's awful sound,
Louder than ten thousand thunders,
Shakes the vast creation round;
And the summons

Doth the sinner's heart confound.
2 See the Judge, our nature wearing,
Robed in majesty divine:
They who long for his appearing
Then shall in His glory shine.
Gracious Saviour,

Own us in that day for Thine. 3 Then to all who have confessèd

Faithfully the Lord below,
He will say, 'Come near, ye blessed,
Take the kingdom I bestow;
Ye for ever

Shall My love and glory know.'
4 We confess Thee, we adore Thee,
God the Father, with the Son
And the Spirit joined in glory
On the same eternal throne;
Thee we worship,

O mysterious Three in One.

Amen.

[blocks in formation]

1 GREAT God, what do I see and hear? The end of things created:

The Judge of men doth now appear

On clouds of glory seated.
The trumpet sounds; the graves restore
The dead which they contained before:
Prepare, my soul, to meet Him.

2 The dead in Christ shall first arise
At the last trumpet's sounding;
Caught up to meet Him in the skies,
With joy their Lord surrounding:
No gloomy fears their souls dismay;
His presence sheds eternal day

On those prepared to meet Him.

3 But sinners, filled with guilty fears,
Behold His wrath prevailing;
For they shall rise and find their tears
And sighs are unavailing :
The day of grace is past and gone,
Trembling they stand before the throne
All unprepared to meet Him.

4 O Christ, who diedst and dost live,
To me impart Thy merit:
My pardon seal, my sins forgive,

And cleanse me by Thy Spirit.
The trumpet sounds, the Judge is near;
With holy love and holy fear

Prepare, my soul, to meet Him.

70 That day is a day of wrath and trouble.

Zeph. i.

1 DAY of anger, day of mourning!
See once more the Cross returning,
Heaven and earth to ashes burning!
Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;
Through earth's sepulchres it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth.

2 Death is struck, and nature quaking, All creation is awaking,

To its Judge an answer making. Lo the book, exactly worded, Wherein all hath been recorded: Thence shall judgment be awarded. 3 What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding, When the just are mercy needing? King of majesty tremendous, Who dost free salvation send us, Fount of pity, then befriend us.

4 Blessed Jesu, my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation.

Low I kneel, with heart-submission :
See, like ashes, my contrition:
Help me in my last condition,

5 Ah that day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning,
Man for judgment must prepare him;
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him.
Lord, who didst our soul redeem,
Grant a blessed requiem.

71

Amen.

Abide in Him, that when He shall appear,
we may have confidence. I John ii.

1 WHEN, rising from the bed of death,
O'erwhelmed with guilt and fear,
I see my Maker face to face,
O how shall I appear?

2 If yet, while pardon may be won,
And mercy may be sought,

My heart with inward horror shrinks,
And trembles at the thought;

3 When Thou, O God, shalt stand disclosed In majesty severe

To sit in judgment on my soul,

O how shall I appear?

4 But Thou hast told the troubled mind,
That doth its sin deplore,
The Saviour suffered unto death
That sin might reign no more.
5 Then never shall my soul despair
Thy pardon to procure,

Since Christ, Thine only Son, hath died
To make that pardon sure.

6 Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, &c.

72

It is high time to wake out of sleep, for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. Rom. xiii.

10 GOD, Thy saving grace impart,
And deeply on each careless heart

Eternal things impress:
Give us to feel their solemn weight,
To tremble at a sleeping state,

And wake to righteousness.

2 Before us place, in dread array, The pomp of that tremendous day,

When Thou with clouds shalt come: That we may now ourselves prepare To stand before Thine awful bar

And hear our final doom.

3 Be this our one great purpose here,
With ceaseless care and holy fear
To make our calling sure;
Thine utmost counsel to fulfil,
To suffer all Thy righteous will,
And to the end endure.

4 Then, gracious Lord, our souls receive,
Transported froin this world, to live
With Thee in realms above,
Where faith is lost in endless sight,
And hope in full supreme delight,
And all of life is love.

73 There shall be no night there. Rev. xxí.

1 COME, let us to the Lord our God
With contrite hearts return;

Our God is gracious, nor will leave
The desolate to mourn.

Long hath the night of sorrow reigned;
The dawn shall bring us light:
God shall appear, and we shall rise
With gladness in His sight.

2 Our hearts, if God we seek to know,
Shall know Him, and rejoice;
His coming like the morn shall be,
Like morning songs His voice.
As dew upon the tender herb

Diffusing fragrance round,

As showers that usher in the spring,
And cheer the thirsty ground,

3 So shall His presence bless our souls,
And shed a joyful light;

That hallowed morn shall chase away
The sorrows of the night.

To God the Father, God the Son,

And God the holy Ghost,

Sing praise with all the saints on earth,
And all the heavenly host.

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

He wrought by weight and measure;
And I was with Him then,
Myself the Father's pleasure,

And mine, the sons of men.'
3 Thus Wisdom's words discover
Thy glory and Thy grace,
Thou everlasting Lover

Of our unworthy race:
Thy gracious eye surveyed us
Ere stars were seen above;
In wisdom Thou hast made us,
And died for us in love.

4 And couldst Thou be delighted
With creatures such as we,
Who, when we saw Thee, slighted,
And nailed Thee to a tree?
Unfathomable wonder,

And mystery divine!

The voice that speaks in thunder
Says, 'Sinner, be thou Mine!'

75

In Him was life, and the Life was the
Light of men. 1 John i.

10 JESU, Light of heavenly day,

The shades of darkness chase away; Lead back the feet, that wildered roam, To Thy true fold, their happy home. 2 O let the deaf Thy trumpet hear, The dumb proclaim Thy coming near; To icy breasts Thy warmth impart, And melt the flinty sinner's heart. 3 O Lord, give sight unto the blind; Inform the rude and thoughtless mind; The scattered tribes recall to Thee; The wavering souls from doubt set free. 4 To all the hope of glory seal,

That all, as one, Thy truths may feel, All keep one heaven-directed road, One faith, one Saviour, and one God. 5 So they who sing Thy praise above

Shall knit with us the bands of love,
And Thee for all Thy grace adore
In heaven and earth for evermore.

[blocks in formation]

2 From the arts that would allure us,
From the toils that would ensnare,
Thou, who slumberest not, secure us
By Thy ever-watchful care;
And, if e'er from Thee we roam,
Fetch, O fetch the wanderers home.
3 And at last, our perils ended,
Take us to that blessed fold,

Where the flock Thou here hast tended
Shall in heaven Thy face behold,
And with songs of praise adore
Christ, their Shepherd, evermore.

77

Truth in the inward parts. Ps. li.

10 GOD of truth, whose living word
Upholds whate'er has breath,
Look down on Thy created sons
Enslaved by sin and death.
Set up Thy standard, Lord, that we,
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the lies
That vex Thy groaning earth.

2 And would we join that blest array,
And follow in the might

Of Him, the faithful and the true,
In raiment clean and white?
How can we fight for truth and God,
Enthralled to lies and sin?

He who would wage such war on earth
Must first be true within.

3 O God of truth, for whom we long,
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts,
And slay the falsehood there;
So, tried in Thy refining fire,

From every lie set free,
In us Thy perfect truth shall dwell,
And we may fight for Thee.

78

Deliver us from evil. Luke xi.

1 FROM all evil, all temptation That besets our earthly path, From Thy final condemnation,

From the scourging of Thy wrath, God of goodness, us deliver,

And Thy Name be praised for ever!

2 From a heart of hate and blindness,
From all envy, treachery, pride,
From all harshness, all unkindness,
All to sin or shame allied,

God of goodness, us deliver,
And Thy Name be praised for ever!

3 From the world's deceitful pleasures,
From its soul-invading snares,
From the plotter's crafty measures,
From vain thoughts and trifling cares,
God of goodness, us deliver,
And Thy Name be praised for ever!

4 From the tempest fiercely smiting,
Lightning's fire and battle's breath,
Pestilence, plague, famine, blighting,
Sudden and untimely death,
God of goodness, us deliver,
And Thy Name be praised for ever!

5 In the time of tribulation,

In the bright and prosperous way,
In the hour of life's prostration,
In the final Judgment-day,
God of goodness, us deliver,
And Thy Name be praised for ever!

79

The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains. Isa. ii.

1 BEHOLD, the mountain of the Lord
In latter days shall rise

On mountain tops above the hills,
The gaze of mortal eyes.

2 To this the joyful nations round,
All tribes, all tongues, shall flow;
Up to the hill of God, they say,

And to His house we go.

3 The beam that shines from Zion hill
Shall lighten every land;

The King who reigns in Salem's towers
Shall all the world command.

4 Among the nations He shall judge;
His judgments truth shall guide;
His sceptre shall protect the just,
And quell the sinner's pride.

5 No strife shall rage, no hostile feud
Disturb those peaceful years;

To ploughshares men shall beat their swords,

To pruning-hooks their spears.

6 No longer hosts, assailing hosts,

Their heaps of slain deplore;
They hang the trumpet in the hall,
And study war no more.

7 Come then, O house of Jacob, haste
To worship at His shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauty shine.

80

The rich and poor meet together.
Prov. xxii.

1 COME the rich and come the poor
To the Christiau temple-door;
Let their mingled prayers ascend
To their everlasting Friend.
Here the rich and poor may claim
Common ancestry and name;
Claim a common heritage
In the Gospel's glorious page.
? Of the same materials wrought,
By the same instructor taught,
Walking in life's common way,
Tending to the same decay,—
Rich and poor at last shall meet
At the heavenly Judgment-seat,
And in bliss or bale shall be
Equal through eternity.

81

Psalm lxxii. Give the king Thy judgments,
O God, &c.

10 GOD, whose gifts alone can bless,
Thy judgments let the King possess;
Give the King's Son Thy righteousness.
His word shall judge Thy nation well,
His doom the sorrows shall dispel
Of such as mourn in Israel.

2 Rest for the people shall be shed
From every mountain's shining head,
And o'er the hills by truth be spread.
For He shall end the poor man's woes,
Win for the sons of want repose,
And crush their persecuting foes.

3 Thee with the sunlight men shall fear,
Beneath the nightly moon's career,
While year shall tread on flying year.
He shall come down upon the plain,
As on the mown grass drops the rain,
As showers that water herb and grain.
4 The just shall flourish in His day,

And peace shall rule with ample sway,
Even till the moon shall fade away.
Before His everlasting throne
Praise God the Father, God the Son,
And God the Spirit, Three in One.

[blocks in formation]

Hears the cry of tribulation, To the friendless brings salvation, Spares the needy, guards the meek. 2 Praise to Him the world shall render Long as suns shall rise in splendour; Evermore endures His Name. Glad shall be His saints, possessing In His rule their choicest blessing:

Heathen lands shall tell His fame. 3 Be the Lord our God confessèd Three in One, for ever blessèd: Praise the Father's boundless love, Praise the Son's atoning merit, Praise the sanctifying Spirit,

83

Saints beneath and saints above.

And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and to them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. Is. lix.

1 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 prisoners to release, In Satan's bondage held;

The gates of brass before Him break,

The iron fetters yield.

3 He comes from darkest films of vice
To clear the inward sight,
And on the eyelids of the blind
To pour celestial light.

4 He comes the broken heart to bind,
The bleeding soul to cure,
And with the riches of His grace
To bless the suffering poor.

peace,

5 Our glad hosannas, Prince of Thine Advent shall proclaim, And heaven's eternal arches ring With Thy beloved Name.

84

His Name is called the Word of God.
Rev. xix.

10 HEAVENLY Word, eternal Light,
Begotten of the Father's might,
Who, in these latter days, art born
For succour to a world forlorn,
Our hearts enlighten from above,
And kindle with Thine own true love;
That we, who hear Thy call to-day,
May cast earth's vanities away.
And when as Judge Thou drawest nigh,
The secrets of all hearts to try;
When sinners meet their awful doom,
And saints attain their heavenly home;

[blocks in formation]

1 How brightly dawns the Morning Star, With mercy coming from afar!

The host of heaven rejoices;
O righteous Branch, O Jesse's Rod,
Thou Son of man, and Son of God,
We too will lift our voices.
Jesu! Jesu!

Holy, holy, yet most lowly,
Draw Thou near us:

Great Emmanuel, stoop and hear us.

2 Though circled by the hosts on high,
He deigned to cast a pitying eye
Upon his helpless creature;
The whole creation's Head and Lord,
By highest Seraphim adored,
Assumed our very nature:
Jesu, grant us,

Through Thy merit, to inherit
Thy salvation;

Hear, O hear our supplication.

3 Then will we to the world make known The love Thou hast to outcasts shown

In calling them before Thee,
And seek each day to be more meet
To join the throng who at Thy feet
Uuceasingly adore Thee.
Living, dying,

From thy praises, mighty Jesus
Shrink we never.

Sing we forth Thy love for ever.

4 Rejoice, ye heavens; and earth reply:
With praise, ye sinners, fill the sky
For love so condescending.
Incarnate God, put forth Thy power,
Ride on, ride on, great Conqueror,
Thy glory wide extending.
Amen, amen!
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!

Praise be given

To Thy Name in earth and heaven.

86 The Redeemer shall come to Zion. Is.lix.

1 0 COME, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel,

C 4

« PreviousContinue »