JESUS, lover of my soul,
Let me to thy bosom fly, While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high! Hide me, O my Saviour, hide, Till the storm of life is past; Safe into thy haven guide,
O, receive my soul at last! Other refuge have I none,
Hangs my helpless soul on thee; Leave, ah! leave me not alone, Still support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed, All my help from thee I bring; Cover my defenceless head
With the shadow of thy wing.
Wilt thou not regard my call?
Wilt thou not regard my prayer?
Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall,
Lo! on thee I cast my care;
Reach me out thy gracious hand,
While I of thy strength receive ! Hoping against hope I stand,
Dying, and behold I live.
Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick, and lead the blind, Just and holy is thy name,
I am all unrighteousness; False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.
Plenteous grace with thee is found, ·
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound,
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
Freely let me take of thee;
Spring thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.
SWEETEST SAVIOUR, IF MY SOUL
SWEETEST Saviour, if my soul
Were but worth the having,
Quickly should I then controll
Any thought of waving.
But when all my care and pains
Cannot give the name of gains
To thy wretch so full of stains,
What delight or hope remains?
What (childe), is the balance thine,
Thine the poise and measure?
If I say, Thou shalt be mine,
Finger not my treasure. What the gains in having thee Do amount to, onely he Who for man was sold can see, That transferred the accounts to me.
But as I can see no merit
Leading to this favour:
So the way to fit me for it
Is beyond my savour.
As the reason then is thine,
So the way is none of mine:
I disclaim the whole designe;
Sinne disclaims and I resigne.
That is all, if that I could
Get without repining;
And my clay my creature would
Follow my resigning:
That as I did freely part
With my glorie and desert,
WHEN GATHERING CLOUDS AROUND I
WHEN gathering clouds around I view,
And days are dark, and friends are few,
On Him I lean who not in vain
Experienced every human pain;
He sees my wants, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.
If aught should tempt my soul to stray
From heavenly wisdom's narrow way,
To fly the good I would pursue,
Or do the sin I would not do,
Still he who felt temptation's power
Shall guard me in that dangerous hour.
If wounded love my bosom swell,
Deceived by those I prized too well,
He shall his pitying aid bestow
Who felt on earth severer woe,
At once betrayed, denied, or fled,
By those who shared his daily bread.
If vexing thoughts within me rise,
And sore dismayed my spirit dies,
Still he who once vouchsafed to bear
The sickening anguish of despair
Shall sweetly soothe, shall gently dry, The throbbing heart, the streaming eye. When sorrowing o'er some stone I bend, Which covers what was once a friend, And from his voice, his hand, his smile, Divides me for a little while,
Thou, Saviour, mark'st the tears I shed, For thou didst weep o'er Lazarus dead.
And O, when I have safely past Through every conflict but the last, Still, still unchanging, watch beside My painful bed, for thou hast died; Then point to realms of cloudless day, And wipe the latest tear away.
'T is done, the great transaction 's done!
I am my Lord's, and he is mine;
He drew me, and I followed on,
Charmed to confess the voice divine.
Now rest my long-divided heart, Fixed on this blissful centre, rest; Nor ever from thy Lord depart, With him of every good possessed.
High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,
That vow renewed shall daily hear;
Till in life's latest hour I bow,
And bless in death a bond so dear.
"THOU HAST PUT ALL THINGS
UNDER HIS FEET."
O NORTH, with all thy vales of green!
O South, with all thy palms!
From peopled towns and fields between
Uplift the voice of psalms.
Raise, ancient East! the anthem high,
And let the youthful West reply.
Lo! in the clouds of heaven appears
God's well-beloved Son.
He brings a train of brighter years,
His kingdom is begun.
He comes a guilty world to bless
With mercy, truth, and righteousness.
O Father! haste the promised hour,
When at his feet shall lie
All rule, authority, and power,
Beneath the ample sky;
When he shall reign from pole to pole,
The Lord of every human soul;
When all shall heed the words he said,
Amid their daily cares,
And by the loving life he led
Shall strive to pattern theirs :
And he who conquered Death shall win
The mightier conquest over Sin.
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
0, HAPPY DAY THAT FIXED MY CHOICE!
O, HAPPY day that fixed my choice
On thee, my Saviour and my God!
Well may this glowing heart rejoice,
And tell its raptures all abroad.
"Blessed are they who are homesick, for they shall come at last to their Father's house."- HEINRICH STILLING.
NOT as you meant, O learned man, and good!
Do I accept thy words of truth and rest;
God, knowing all, knows what for me is best.
And gives me what I need, not what he could,
Nor always as I would!
I shall go to the Father's house, and see
Him and the Elder Brother face to face,
What day or hour I know not. Let me be
Steadfast in work, and earnest in the race,
Not as a homesick child who all day long
Whines at its play, and seldom speaks in song
If for a time some loved one goes away,
And leaves us our appointed work to do,
Can we to him or to ourselves be true
In mourning his departure day by day,
And so our work delay?
Nay, if we love and honor, we shall make
The absence brief by doing well our task,
Not for ourselves, but for the dear One's sake!
And at his coming only of him ask
Approval of the work, which most was done,
Not for ourselves, but our Beloved One!
Our Father's house, I know, is broad and grand;
In it how many, many mansions are !
And far beyond the light of sun or star, Four little ones of mine through that fair land Are walking hand in hand! Think you I love not, or that I forget
These of my loins? Still this world is fair,
And I am singing while my eyes are wet
With weeping in this balmy summer air:
Yet I'm not homesick, and the children here
Have need of me, and so my way is clear.
I would be joyful as my days go by,
Counting God's mercies to me.
Grief and sighing quickly fled
When she heard his welcome voice;
Just before she thought him dead,
Now he bids her heart rejoice.
What a change his word can make,
Turning darkness into day!
You who weep for Jesus' sake,
He will wipe your tears away.
He who came to comfort her
When she thought her all was lost
Will for your relief appear,
Though you now are tempest-tossed.
On his word your burden cast,
On his love your thoughts employ ;
Weeping for a while may last,
But the morning brings the joy.
"BRIGHT portals of the sky,
Embossed with sparkling stars;
Doors of eternity,
With diamantine bars,
Your arras rich uphold;
Loose all your bolts and springs,
Ope wide your leaves of gold;
That in your roofs may come the King of kings.
"Scarfed in a rosy cloud,
He doth ascend the air;
Straight doth the Moon him shroud
With her resplendent hair;
The next encrystalled light
Submits to him its beams;
And he doth trace the height
Of that fair lamp which flames of beauty streams.
"The choirs of happy souls,
Waked with that music sweet,
Whose descant care controls,
Their Lord in triumph meet;
The spotless spirits of light
His trophies do extol,
And, arched in squadrons bright,
Greet their great Victor in his capitol.
"O glory of the Heaven!
O sole delight of Earth!
To thee all power be given,
God's uncreated birth;
Of mankind lover true,
Endurer of his wrong,
Who dost the world renew,
Still be thou our salvation, and our song."
From top of Olivet such notes did rise,
When man's Redeemer did transcend the skies.
TREMBLING, BEFORE THINE AWFUL THRONE
TREMBLING, before thine awful throne,
O Lord! in dust my sins I own:
Justice and Mercy for my life
Contend!-0, smile, and heal the strife.
The Saviour smiles! upon my soul
New tides of hope tumultuous roll,
His voice proclaims my pardon found,
Seraphic transport wings the sound!
Earth has a joy unknown in heaven, -
The new-born peace of sins forgiven!
Tears of such pure and deep delight,
Ye angels! never dimmed your sight.
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