103 "LOVEST THOU ME?" JOHN xxi. 16.
'Tis a point I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought,-
Do I love the Lord, or no?
Am I His, or am I not?
If I love, why am I thus ?
Why this dull, this lifeless frame?
Hardly, sure, can they be worse,
Who have never heard His name.
Could my heart so hard remain,
Prayer a task and burden prove,
Every trifle give me pain,
If I knew a Saviour's love?
If I pray, or hear, or read,
Sin is mixed with all I do :
You that love the Lord indeed,
Tell me, Is it thus with you?
Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
Find my sin a grief and thrall;
Should I grieve for what I feel,
If I did not love at all?
Could I joy his saints to meet,
Choose the ways I once abhorred,
Find at times the promise sweet,
If I did not love the Lord?
Lord, decide the doubtful case!
Thou who art Thy people's sun,
Shine upon Thy work of grace,
If it be indeed begun.
Let me love Thee more and more,
If I love at all, I pray;
If I have not loved before,
Help me to begin to-day.
104 "ABSENT FROM THE BODY AND PRESENT WITH THE LORD."
To Jesus, the crown of my hope,
My soul is in haste to be gone;
Oh, bear me, ye cherubim, up,
And waft me away to His throne !
My Saviour, whom absent I love,
Whom not having seen I adore,
Whose name is exalted above
All glory, dominion, and power.
Dissolve then these bonds that detain
My soul from its portion in Thee,
And strike off this adamant chain,
And set me eternally free,
When that happy era begins,
When arrayed in Thy beauties I shine,
Nor grieve any more by my sins,
The bosom on which I recline;
Oh, then shall the veil be removed,
And round me new glories be poured,
I shall meet Thee, whom absent I loved,
I shall see, whom unseen I adored.
And then never more shall the fears,
The trials, temptations, and woes,
Which sadden this valley of tears,
Intrude on my blissful repose.
Or, be they remembered above, Remembrance no sadness shall raise; They'll be but new signs of Thy love, New themes for my wonder and praise.
Then the stroke that from sin and from pain
Shall set me eternally free,
Will but strengthen and rivet the chain
That binds me, my Saviour to Thee.
WALK in the light! so shalt thou know
That fellowship of love
His spirit only can bestow,
Who reigns in light above.
Walk in the light!--and sin, abhorred,
Shall ne'er defile again;
The blood of Jesus Christ the Lord
Shall cleanse from every stain.
Walk in the light!-and thou shalt find
Thy heart made truly His,
Who dwells in cloudless light enshrined,
In whom no darkness is.
Walk in the light !-and thou shalt own
Thy darkness passed away,
Because that light hath on thee shone
In which is perfect day.
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 thou shalt see
A path, though thorny, bright;
For God, by grace, shall dwell in thee,
And God himself is light!
"WORTHY IS THE LAMB."
REV. vii. 13-17.
What are these in bright array,
This innumerable throng,
Round the altar, night and day,
Hymning one triumphant song?
"Worthy is the Lamb, once slain,
Blessing, honour, glory, power,
Wisdom, riches, to obtain,
New dominion every hour."
These through fiery trials trod;
These from great affliction came;
Now, before the Throne of God,
Sealed with His Almighty Name,
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