6 He called me in the time of dread,
When death was full in view,
I trembled on my feverish bed,
And rose to sin anew.

7 Yet could I hear him once again,
As I have heard of old,

Methinks he should not call in vain
His wanderer to the fold.

8 0 thou that every thought canst know,
And answer every prayer;
O give me sickness, want, or woe,
But snatch me from despair!

9 My struggling will by grace control,
Renew my broken vow!

What blessed light breaks on my soul?
O God! I hear thee now.

ASTER! it is good to be

698

High on the mountain here with thee:

Here in an ampler, purer air,

Above the stir of toil and care,

Of hearts opprest with doubt and grief,
Believing in their unbelief,

Calling thy servants all in vain.

To ease them of their bitter pain.

2 Master! it is good to be

Where rest the souls that dwell with thee;
Where stand revealed to mortai gaze

The great old saints of other days,
Who once received on Horeb's height,
The eternal laws of truth and right;
Or caught the still small whisper, higher
Than storm, than earthquake, or than fire.

3 Master, it is good to be

With thee, and with thy faithful three:
Here, where the apostle's heart of rock
Is nerved against temptation's shock;
Here, where the son of thunder learns
The thought that breathes, the word that
burns,

Here, where on eagles' wings we move
With him whose last, best word is love.

4 Master! it is good to be

Entranced, enwrapped, alone with thee,
Watching the glistening raiment glow
Whiter than Hermon's whitest snow,
The human lineaments which shine
Irradiant with a light divine,

Till we, too, change from grace to grace,
Gazing on that transfigured face.

5 Master! it is good to be

In life's worst anguish close to thee,
Within the overshadowing cloud
Which wraps us in its awful shroud;
We wist not what to think or say,
Our spirits sink in sore dismay;
They tell us of the dread "decease:"
But yet to linger here is peace.

6 Master! it is good to be

Here on the holy mount with thee,
When darkling in the depths of night,
When dazzled with excess of light,
We bow before the heavenly voice
Which bids bewildered souls rejoice:
Though love wax cold, and faith grow dim,
This is my Son : O hear ye him!

(2). ON THE SUFFERINGS AND DEATH, RESURRECTION,

AND ASCENSION OF CHRIST.

C. M.

1

LUNGED in a gulf of dark despair
We wretched sinners lay,

Without one cheerful beam of hope,
Or spark of glimmering day.

2 With pitying eyes, the Prince of peace
Beheld our helpless grief;

He saw, and-O amazing love!
He flew to our relief.

3 Down from the shining seats above
With joyful haste he sped;
Entered the grave in mortal flesh,
And dwelt among the dead.

4 O for this love let rocks and hills
Their lasting silence break,
And all harmonious human tongues
The Saviour's praises speak!

5 Angels assist our mighty joys,
Strike all your harps of gold;

But when you raise your highest notes,
His love can ne'er be told.

699

HEN I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,

And pour contempt on all my pride.

2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.

700

3 See, from his head, his hands, his feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down: Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,

Or thorns compose so rich a crown? 4 Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine,

701

1

Demands my soul, my life, my all.

OD of unexampled grace,
Redeemer of mankind,

Matter of eternal praise

7s & 6 s.

We in thy passion find:
Still our choicest strains we bring,
Still the joyful theme pursue,
Thee the friend of sinners sing,
Whose love is ever new.

2 Endless scenes of wonder rise
From that mysterious tree,
Crucified before our eyes,

Where we our Maker see:
Jesus, Lord, what hast thou done?
Publish we the death divine,
Stop, and gaze, and fall, and own
Was never love like thine!

3 Never love nor sorrow was

Like that my Saviour showed :
See him stretched on yonder cross,
And crushed beneath our load!
Now discern the Deity,

Now his heavenly birth declare!
Faith cries out, ""Tis He, 'tis He,
My God, that suffers there!"

10

702

L. M. "A shadow of good things."—Heb. x. 1.
THOU, whose offering on the tree
The legal offerings all foreshowed,
Borrowed their whole effect from thee,
And drew their virtue from thy blood:
2 The blood of goats, and bullocks slain,
Could never for one sin atone:
To purge the guilty offerer's stain,
Thine was the work, and thine alone.
3 Vain in themselves their duties were,
Their services could never please,
Till joined with thine, and made to share
The merits of thy righteousness.

4 Forward they cast a faithful look
On thy approaching sacrifice;

And thence their pleasing savour took,
And rose accepted in the skies.

5 Those feeble types, and shadows old,
Are all in thee, the Truth, fulfilled:
We in thy sacrifice behold

The substance of those rites revealed.

6 Thy meritorious sufferings past,
We see by faith to us brought back;
And on thy grand oblation cast,
Its saving benefits partake.

S. M.

“It is not possible,” &c.—Heb. x. 4.

1 NOT all the blood of beasts

On Jewish altars slain,

Could give the guilty conscience peace,
Or wash away our stain.

2 But Christ, the heavenly Lamb,
Takes all our sins away;

A sacrifice of nobler name,
And richer blood, than they.

703