103

5

The gospel trumpet hear,
The news of heavenly grace;
And, saved from earth, appear
Before your Saviour's face.
The year of Jubilee is come;
Return, ye ransomed sinners, home.

1 GRACE! 'tis a charming sound,
Harmonious to the ear!

Heaven with the echo shall resound,
And all the earth shall hear.

2 Grace first contrived the way
To save rebellious man;

And all the steps that Grace display
Which drew the wondrous plan.

3 Grace led my roving feet

To tread the heavenly road;
And new supplies each hour I meet,
While pressing on to God.

4 Grace all the work shall crown,
Through everlasting days;

It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And well deserves the praise.

104

Doddridge. 1755.

1 SALVATION, O the joyful sound!
'Tis music to our ears;
A sovereign balm for every wound,
A cordial for our fears.

2 Buried in sorrow and in sin,
At hell's dark door we lay;
But we arise by grace divine,
To see a heavenly day.

C. M.

105

3 Salvation! let the echo fly

The spacious earth around;
While all the armies of the sky
Conspire to raise the sound.

Watts. 1709. a.

1 0 THAT I had an angel's tongue,
That I might loudly sing
The wonders of redeeming Love,
To Thee, my God and King!
2 Let the redeeméd of the Lord
Their thankful voices raise:
Can we be dumb whilst angels sing
Our great Redeemer's praise?
3 0 sing aloud in boundless grace,
Which thus hath set thee free;
Extol with songs, my savéd soul,
Thy Savior's Love to thee.

4 Give endless thanks to God, and say,
What Love was this in Thee,

C. M.

That Thou hast not withheld Thy Son,
Thine only Son, from me!

5 Thy deep and glorious counsels, Lord,
With trembling I adore:

Blessed, thrice blessed be my God,

Blessed for evermore.

John Mason. 1683. a.

106

C. M. 1 WHAT are the heavens, O God of heaven? Thou art more bright, more high: What are bright stars, and brighter saints, To Thy bright majesty?

2 Thou'rt far above the songs of heaven,
Sung by the holy ones;

And dost Thou stoop and bow Thine ear
To a poor sinner's groans?

3 My precious Saviour's guiltless Blood
First washed away my sin,

And Thy Eternal Spirit was
My Advocate within.

4 It could not be that Thou should'st hear
A mortal, sinful worm;

But that my prayors presented are
In a most glorious form.

5 Thou heard'st my prayer for Jesus' sake,
Whom Thou dost hear always:

Lord, hear through that prevailing Name
My voice of joy and praise.

107

John Mason. 1683. a.

1 ALL that I was, my sin, my guilt,
My death, was all my own;
All that I am, I owe to Thee,
My gracious God, alone.

2 The evil of my former state
Was mine, and only mine;
The good in which I now rejoice
Is Thine, and only Thine.

3 The darkness of my former state,
The bondage, all was mine;

The light of life in which I walk,
The liberty, is Thine.

4 Thy grace first made me feel my sin,
And taught me to believe;

Then in believing, peace I found,
And now I live, I live.

5 All that I am, even here on earth,
All that I hope to be

When Jesus comes and glory dawns,
I owe it, Lord, to Thee.

C. M.

Horatius Bonar. 1853.

108

1 I HEARD the voice of Jesus say,
Come unto me and rest;

Lay down, thou weary one, lay down
Thy head upon my breast.

I came to Jesus as I was,
Weary, and worn, and sad;
I found in Him a resting place,
And He has made me glad.

2 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
Behold, I freely give

The living water; thirsty one,
Stoop down, and drink, and live.
I came to Jesus, and I drank

Of that life-giving stream;

C. M.

My thirst was quenched, my soul revived,
And now I live in Him.

3 I heard the voice of Jesus say,
I am this dark world's Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise,
And all thy day be bright.

I looked to Jesus, and I found
In Him my Star, my Sun;

And in that Light of life I'll walk,
Till travelling days are done.

Horatius Bonar. 1856.

109

S. M.

1

I was a wandering sheep,

I did not love the fold;

I did not love my Shepherd's voice,
I would not be controlled.

I was a wayward child,
I did not love my home;

I did not love my Father's voice,
I loved afar to roam.

110

2 The Shepherd sought His sheep,
The Father sought His child;
They followed me o'er vale and hill,
O'er deserts waste and wild;
They found me nigh to death,
Famished, and faint, and lone;

3

4

They bound me with the bands of love,
They saved the wandering one.

Jesus my Shepherd is,

"Twas He that loved my soul,

'Twas He that washed me in His Blood,

'Twas He that made me whole.

'Twas He that sought the lost, That found the wandering sheep; 'Twas He that brought me to the fold, "Tis He that still doth keep.

I was a wandering sheep,

I would not be controlled;

But now I love my Shepherd's voice,
I love, I love the fold!

I was a wayward child,
I once preferred to roam;

But now I love my Father's voice,
I love, I love His home.

Horatius Bonar. 1853.

8,7.

1 LORD, with glowing heart I'd praise Thee
For the bliss Thy Love bestows,

For the pardoning grace that saves me,
And the peace that from it flows.
Help, O God, my weak endeavor;
This dull soul to rapture raise.
Thou must light the flame, or never
Can my love be warmed to praise.