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A thousand years are in Thy sight
But as the passing hours of night,

Or yesterday departed.

3 Fair laugh the flowers, whose beauty new
The dews of morning cherish:
Pale evening comes; with fading hue
They hang their heads and perish.
So fade we in Thy righteous wrath:
Thine eyes behold our secret path,

Our deeds and thoughts of evil. 4 To God the Father let us sing, &c.

PART II.

5 Soon, as a breath, the times are past Of those who seem the strongest: And if to seventy years they last,

Or fourscore, at the longest,
Life's proudest length is sorrow still.
Lord, who reveres Thy mighty will?

Who rightly dreads Thine anger? 6 teach us so to count our days

That we may prize them duly;
So guide our feet in wisdom's ways

That we may love Thee truly:
Return, O Lord, our griefs behold,
And with Thy goodness, as of old,
O satisfy us early.

7 For long have been our days of pain,
And long our years of sadness:
To us display Thy grace again,

And to our sons Thy gladness
O Lord our God, with favouring love
Shine forth; our handiwork approve,
And bless our daily labour.

10

Psalm cxxi. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, &c.

1 I LIFT mine eyes unto the hills:

Whence comes my promised aid?-
Even from the Lord, whose glory fills
The heaven and earth He made.-
2 He shall sustain thy foot, and keep
Around thee watch and ward:
He slumbereth not, He doth not sleep,
Our Keeper, Israel's Guard.

S The Lord Himself defends thy way,
The Lord upon thy right:

He shades thee from the sun by day,
And from the moon by night.

4 The Lord will guard thee from all ill;
To Him thy soul commend ;
The Lord will keep thy goings still
Through ages without end.

5 Give glory to the Three in One, &c.

11

As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all
be made alive. 1 Cor. xv.

1 WHEN the harping Seraphim
Sang creation's matin hymn,
Ere this world grew cold and dim,
All was holy, good, and fair;
Angel wings were in the air,
And the voice of God was there.
2 Oftentimes a dream will rise,
In the light of summer skies,
Of man's forfeit Paradise:
Fondly, vainly, we retrace
All the glory and the grace
Of that long-lost dwelling-place.
3 Bitter, bitter, was the shoot,
Deadly, deadly, was the fruit
Of the fatal knowledge-root:
When the serpent, preaching sin,
Dared his subtle way to win
The frail heart of Eve within.
4 Then our Eden was o'erthrown;
Man was driven forth alone
In the world to toil and groan.
Weary heart and aching brow,
Stubborn earth to dig and plough,
This must be his portion now.

5 But the heaven-born light of faith
Shines upon the couch of death,
Soothes and cheers the failing breath:
One there is who opens wide
Eden's portal long denied ;

Christ, our Saviour and our Guide.

6 Life has sorrow, death has fear;
But the Son of God is near,
Pointing to a happier sphere;
Where, their toils and trials o'er,
Souls by Him redeemed adore
God their Saviour evermore.

12

She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.
Gen. iii.

1 SHE saw, she took, she ate;
Death entered by the eye:

And, dallying with the tempter's bait, We lust, consent, and die.

2 But all mankind, restored,

Their Eden may retrieve;

And, lo, by faith we see our Lord,
We touch, and taste, and live.

3 Jesus, Thou art a tree

That makes the foolish wise;

New light is theirs who feed on Thee,.
New powers within them rise.

4 Wisdom divine Thou art,

Received through faith alone;
And when Thou dost Thyself impart,
We know as we are known.

5 We with the angel host, &c.

13

The power of His Christ. Rev. xil. 1 THE world in condemnation lay,

And death, from Adam reigning, O'er men's frail bodies held his sway, While sin, their souls enchaining, Foredoomed the second death to all Who shared the ruin of the fall:

But Christ's triumphant mission
Redeemed us from perdition.

2 Then round His manger let us throng,
Attend Him in temptation,
Carry our cross with joy along

His path of tribulation;
With Him to Olivet retire,
On Calvary at His feet expire,
Till, on Mount Zion seated,
Our bliss shall be completed.

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2 Our being is no shadow of thin air,
No vacant dream,

No fable of the things that never were
But only seem:

'Tis full of meaning as of mystery, Though strange and solemn may that meaning be.

3 Our sorrows are no phantoms of the night, No idle tale;

No cloud that floats along a sky of light
On summer gale:

They are the true realities of earth, Friends and companions even from our birth.

4 O life below-how brief and poor, and sad,

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scene.

Until the day break and the shadows flee away. Cant. ii.

1 THE sick soul lieth weary

On the world's heaving breast,
With clouds of care and sorrow
And weight of sins opprest.
Out of the night she crieth,

Out of the narrow room:
O Saviour, gentle Saviour,

When wilt Thou pierce the gloom?
2 Rise, rise above the mountains,
With healing on Thy wings;
Break, break into the chambers,
Where pain in secret stings.
Come while the morning tarries,
Our waiting eyes to bless:
Look through the lowly lattice,
Bright Sun of Righteousness.

3 Set for the hearts that love Thee
Thy mighty sign above,
The white rays of redemption,

And the red fire of love.
'Out of our gloom we call Thee,

Out of our helpless night;
Sun of the world, blest Saviour,
Show us Thy perfect light.

16

Lord, to whom should we go? John vi.
1 LORD, teach us how to pray aright
With holy love and fear;
Though dust and ashes in Thy sight,
We may, we must draw near.
We perish if we cease from prayer:

O grant us power to pray;
And when to meet Thee we prepare,

Lord, meet us by the way.

2 Weighed down with guilt, convinced of sin,
In weakness, want, and woe,
Without us wars, and fears within,
O whither shall we go?

We come, O God of grace, to Thee
With sad and contrite hearts:
Give what Thine eye delights to see,
Truth in the inward parts.

3 Give deep humility; the sense Of godly sorrow give, A strong, desiring confidence

To hear Thy voice, and live:
Give faith in Him whose sacrifice
Did once for sin atone;

To cast our hopes, to fix our eyes,

On Christ, and Christ alone:

4 Give patience still to watch and bear, Though mercy long delay; Courage the Saviour's cross to share,

And trust Thee, though Thou slay.
Enabled thus our race to run,

Lord of all power and might,
We, by Thy Spirit, through Thy Son,
Shall pray, and pray aright.

17

Thanksgiving to God. 2 Cor. ix.

1 FATHER of mercies, let our ways With Thee acceptance find;

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Thy loving-kindness we confess
To us and all mankind.

2 Thanks for creation are Thy due,
For life preserved by Thee,
And all the blessings life affords,
So great, and yet so free.

3 Thanks for redemption, above all,
To us in Jesus given;

Thanks for the means of grace on earth, And for the hope of heaven. 40 let a sense of these Thy gifts

Our best affections move,

That, while our lips Thy praise proclaim,
Our hearts may feel Thy love.

To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, &c.

18

The defence of the Most High. Ps. xci.

1 CALL Jehovah thy salvation;

Rest beneath the Almighty's shade;
In His sacred habitation
Dwell, nor ever be afraid.
There no tumult can alarm thee,

Thou shalt dread no hidden snare;
Guile nor violence can harm thee,
In eternal safeguard there.

2 From the sword at noonday wasting,
From the noisome pestilence
In the depth of midnight blasting,
God will be thy sure defence:
Fear not then the deadly quiver,
Though a thousand feel the blow;
Mercy shall thy soul deliver,
Though ten thousand be laid low.

3 If with pure and firm affection

On God's laws be set thy love,
With the wings of His protection

He will shield thee from above:
Thou shalt call when griefs oppress thee:
He will hearken, He will save;
Here with special favour bless thee,
Give thee life beyond the grave.

19 The world passeth away. 1 John ii.

1 AWAKE,

blown;

again the Gospel-trump is

From year to year it swells with louder tone;

From year to year the signs of wrath Are gathering round the Judge's path: Strange words fulfilled, and mighty works achieved,

And truth in all the world both hated and believed.

2 Behold, the world is thronging round to gaze

On the dread vision of the latter days, Constrained to own Thee, but in heart Prepared to take Barabbas' part; 'Hosanna' now, to-morrow' Crucify,' The changeful burden still of their rude lawless cry.

3 The bad and good their several warnings give

Of His approach, whom none may see and live:

Faith's ear, with awful still delight,

Counts them like minute-bells at night, Keeping the heart awake till dawn of moru, While to the funeral pile this aged world is borne.

4 But what are heaven's alarms to hearts

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The Spirit and the Bride say, Come.
Rev. xxii.

1 THE Church has waited long
Her absent Lord to see;
And still in loneliness she waits,
A friendless stranger she.
Age after age has gone,

Sun after sun has set,

And still, in weeds of widowhood,
She weeps a mourner yet.

2 We long to hear Thy voice,

To see Thee face to face,

To share Thy crown and glory then,

As now we share Thy grace.

Should not the loving Bride

The absent Bridegroom mourn? Should she not wear the weeds of grief

Until her Lord return?

3 The whole creation groans,

And waits to hear Thy voice,
That shall restore her comeliness,
And make her wastes rejoice.
Come, Lord, and wipe away

The curse, the sin, the stain:
Come, make this blighted world of ours
Thine own fair world again.

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Come, for Thy foes are strong;

With taunting lips they say, 'Where is the promised Advent now,

And where the dreaded day?'
2 Come, Lord; the good are few,
They lift the voice in vain :
Faith waxes fainter in the world,
And love is on the wane.
Come, for the corn is ripe ;
Put now Thy sickle in:

Reap the great harvest of the years,
Burn up the tares of sin.

3 Come, Lord; ordain at length
A new creation's birth;
Restore our forfeit Paradise,

Build up the ruined earth.
Come, let Thy reign begin,
Begin, nor ever cease,
The reign of holiness and truth,
The reign of love and peace.

23

Cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of light. Rom. xiii.

1 THOU plenteous Source of light and love, From whom all grace proceeds,

Chase from our souls the gloom of night,
And make us hate its deeds:

In armour clad of heavenly proof
We will not fear or fly,

But bravely through opposing hosts
Press onward to the sky.

2 If long and doubtful seem the strife,
Our pains and trials sore,

Such are the ills of mortal life,

And such our Saviour bore:
Once, humbled from His lofty throne,
He dwelt in weakness here,
And His has been the struggling sigh,
And His the falling tear.

3 When time has run its destined course, And all our years are fled,

He comes, with monarch's pomp and power,
To wake and judge the dead:
Then help us, Lord, while sinners' hearts
Shall sicken with dismay,

To lift our heads, and joyful hail
Redemption's perfect day.

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Walk in the light, and sin abhorred

Shall ne'er defile again;

The blood of Jesus Christ the Lord

Shall cleanse from every stain.

2 Walk in the light, and thou shalt find Thy heart made truly His

Who dwells in cloudless light enshrined, With whom no darkness is.

Walk in the light, and thou shalt own

Thy mists have passed away, Because in thee that light hath shone Which grows to perfect day.

3 Walk in the light, and e'en the tomb
No fearful shade shall wear;
Glory shall chase away its gloom,

For Christ hath conquered there.
Walk in the light, and thine shall be
A path, if thorny, bright;
For God by grace shall dwell in thee,
And God Himself is light.

25

I come to thee in the name of the Lord of
Hosts. 1 Sam. xvii.

1 A TOWER of strength our God doth stand,

A buckler to defend us;

In all the woes of life His hand

True help is nigh to lend us.
Our foe prepares him for the fight,
With cunning armed and hellish might;
On earth is not his fellow.

2 With force of arms we nothing can,
Full soon were we o'erridden;
But for us fights the goodly MAN

Whom God Himself hath bidden.
Ask ye His name? 'Tis Christ our Lord,
The God of Hosts alone adored,

Our Champion; none may brave Him. 3 Should hell's battalions round us press All banded to devour us,

Yet this should work us good success,
Nor fear e'en then o'erpower us:
Though this world's prince look fierce and
bold,

It matters not, his doom is told,

A single breath can foil him.

4 Our foes must let the Word stand sure;
No thanks for this are owing:
God's Spirit makes our way secure,
His light and strength bestowing.
Those foes may ravish earthly bliss;
Let be, no gain they reap from this:
God's kingdom still is left us.

26 Behold, I come quickly. Rev. xxii.

1 SAVIOUR of the nations, come;
Leave for us Thy glorious home:
Glad hosannas we will sing,
Greeting Thee, our heavenly King.
2 With a loyal kiss of love
We receive Thee from above,
With a solemn vow to pay

True allegiance to Thy sway.

3 Come, Lord Jesu, take Thy rest
In the convert sinner's breast;
Make the quickened heart Thy throne,
Son of God, the Virgin's Son.

4 Welcome to this vale of tears,
Ripeness of the perfect years,
Born as man with men to dwell,
Come, our true Immanuel.

5 God in man, incarnate God,
Sinless Child of flesh and blood,
Man in God, Thy brethren we,
Raise us up to God in Thee.

PART II.

6 Zion, at thy shining gates, Lo, the King of Glory waits: Haste thy Monarch's pomp to greet, Strew thy palms before His feet. 7 Christ, for Thee their triple light Faith and hope and love unite: This the beacon we display To proclaim Thine Advent-day. 8 Come, and give us peace within: Loose us from the bands of sin: Take away the galling weight Laid on us by Satan's hate. 9 Give us grace Thy yoke to wear, Give us strength Thy cross to bear; Make us Thine in deed and word, Thine in heart and life, O Lord. 10 Kill in us the carnal root,

That the Spirit may bear fruit;
Plant in us Thy lowly mind,
Keep us faithful, loving, kind.
11 So, when Thou shalt come again,
Judge of angels and of men,
We with all Thy saints shall sing
Hallelujahs to our King.

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