Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

How little do I know of thee,
Or of the joys above!

$ 'Tis but in part I know thy will,
I bless thee for the sight;
When will thy love the rest reveal
In glory's clearer light?

6 With rapture shall I then survey
Thy providence and grace;
And spend an everlasting day
In wonder, love and praise.

XIII. L. M. NEW SELEC.
Mysteries.

LORD,

ORD, how mysterious are thy ways; How blind we are! how mean our praise! Thy steps no mortal can explore;

"Tis ours to wonder and adore!

2 Thy deep decrees, from creature sight,
Are hid in shades of awful night;
Amid the lines, with curious eye,
Not angel minds presume to pry.
3 Great God, I would not ask to see
What in futurity shall be;

If light and bliss attend my days,
Then let my future hours be praise.
4 Is darkness and distress my share,
Then let me trust thy guardian care,
Assur'd I am that love divine,

At length through every cloud shall shine. 5 Yet this my soul desires to know,

Be this my only wish below:

"That Christ is mine!"-This great request Grant, bounteous God-and I am blest!

XIV. L. M. EBEN-EZER.

The Darkness of Providence. Psalm lxxvii. 19.
1 LORD, we adore thy vast designs,
Th' obscure abyss of Providence,
Too deep to sound with mortal lines,
Too dark to view with feeble sense.
2 Through seas and storms of deep distress,
We sail by faith and not by sight;
Faith guides us in the wilderness,
Through all the briars and the night.
3 Dear Father, though thy lifted rod
In love doth scourge us here below,
Still we do lean upon our God;
Thine arm shall bear us safely through.

THE FALL OF MAN.

XV. L. M. WATTS'S LYRIC POEMS. Original Sin ; or, The first and second Adam. ADAM our father and our head,

Transgress'd, and justice doom'd us dead: The fiery law speaks all despair,

There's no reprieve nor pardon there. 2 Call a bright council in the skies; Seraphs, the mighty and the wise, Speak; are you strong to bear the load, The weighty vengence of a God? 3 In vain we ask; for all around

Stand silent through the heavenly ground; There's not a glorious mind above Has half the strength or half the love. 4 But O! unmeasurable grace!

Th' eternal Son takes Adam's place;

Down to our world the Saviour flies,
Stretches his arms and bleeds and dies?
5 Amazing work! look down, ye skies,
Wonder and gaze with all your eyes;
Ye saints below and saints above,
All bow to this mysterious love.

[blocks in formation]

The effects of the Fall lamented. Psalm cxix 136, 158.

1 ARISE my tenderest thoughts, arise;
To torrents melt my streaming eyes;
And thou, my heart, with anguish feel
Those evils which thou canst not heal.
2 See human nature sunk in shame;
See scandals pour'd on Jesus' name;
The Father wounded through the Son
The world abus'd the soul undone.
3 See the short course of vain delight
Closing in everlasting night;-
In flames that no abatement know,
Though briny tears for ever flow.
4 My God, I feel the mournful scene
My bowels yearn o'er dying men;
And fain my pity would reclaim,
And snatch the fire brands from the flame.

5 But feeble my compassion proves,
And can but weep where most it loves ↑

Thy own all-saving arm employ,
And turn these drops of grief to joy.

SCRIPTURE.

PROPERTIES.

XVII. C. M. RIPPON'S SELEC.

The inspired word a system of knowledge and joy. Psalm cxix. 105.

HOW precious is the book divine,
By inspiration giv'n!
Bright as a lamp its doctrines shine
To guide our souls to heaven.
2 It sweetly cheers our drooping hearts
In this dark vale of tears;
Life, light, and joy it still imparts,
And quells our rising fears.

3 This lamp through all the tedious night
Of life shall guide our way,

Till we behold the clearer light
Of an eternal day.

[blocks in formation]

The usefulness of the Scriptures.

1 WHEN Isr'el through the desert pass'd, A fiery pillar went before,

To guide them through the dreary waste,
And lessen the fatigues they bore.

2 Such is thy glorious word, O God,

"Tis for our light and guidance given; It sheds a lustre all abroad,

And points the path to bliss and heaven.

3 It fills the soul with sweet delight,

And quickens its inactive powers, It sets our wand'ring footsteps right, Displays thy love and kindles ours.. B

4 Its promises rejoice our hearts,
Its doctrines are divinely true;
Knowledge and pleasure it imparts,
It comforts, and instructs us too.

5 Ye favour'd lands who have this word,
Ye saints, who feel its saving power,
Unite your tongues to praise the Lord,
And his distinguished grace adore.

LE

XIX. C. M. S. STENNETT.

The riches of God's word.

ET avarice from shore to shore
'Her fav'rite god pursue;

Thy word, O Lord, we value more.
Than India or Peru.

2 Here mines of knowledge, love and joy
Are open'd to our sight:
The purest gold without alloy,
And gems divinely bright.

3 The counsels of redeeming grace
These sacred leaves unfold:

And here the Saviour's lovely face
Our raptur'd eyes behold.

4 Here light descending from above
Directs our doubtful feet :
Here promises of heavenly love
Our ardent wishes meet.

5 Our num'rous griefs are here redrest;
And all our wants supplied;
Nought we can ask to make us blest,
Is in this book denied.

6 For these inestimable gains

That so enrich the mind,

O may we search with eager pains,
Assur'd that we shall find!

« AnteriorContinuar »