Lord, impart thy grace and blessing,
Make our hearts and tongues agree,
With the host of heaven triumphant
Still to bless and worship thee.
FAITH, like a simple, unsuspecting child,
Serenely resting on a mother's arm;
Reposing every care upon her God,
Sleeps on his bosom, and expects no harm:
Receives with joy the promises He makes,
Nor questions of his purpose or his power;
She does not doubting ask, " Can this be so?"
The Lord has said it, and there needs no more.
However deep be the mysterious word,
However dark, she disbelieves it not;
Where reason would examine, Faith obeys,
And "It is written," answers every doubt.
As evening's pale and solitary star
But brightens while the darkness gathers round, So Faith, unmoved amidst surrounding storms, Is fairest seen in darkness most profound.
"TO-MORROW I will seek the Lord,"
The foolish heart will say;
To-morrow may not life afford-
So seek the Lord to-day.
Seek Him while yet he will be found-
Seek Him in early youth-
Seek Him in all his works around,
And in His page of truth.
Seek Him with all your heart and mindSeek Him with holy care
Seek Him in thoughts of heavenly kindSeek Him in praise and prayer.
Seek Him when your delights decay,
And when they flourish, seek;
Seek Him on every Sabbath-day,
And through the passing week.
Seek Him, and Him you soon shall find, And own how blest are they,
Who put the morrow from their mind, To seek the Lord to-day.
"Couldst not thou watch one hour ?"-Mark xiv. 37.
My weary soul with patience wait,
Be watchful in thy fallen state!
Thou hast an anxious charge to keep,
Thou shalt not rest, thou must not sleep:
Withstand awhile the tempter's power-
Canst thou not watch one little hour?
Thy lovely home lies far away,
'Midst regions of perpetual day,
And never toil, or anxious care,
Shall break Thy glorious Sabbath there;
But watching at thy post below,
No hour of respite canst thou know :
Lest some loved sin, in soft disguise,
Should cheat thy tired, and listless eyes,
And some low whisper faintly say,
Thy Lord, his coming does delay-
Oh! heed not thou the dangerous sound,
Thou'rt on the world's enchanted ground.
Fulfil thy promise, Lord, abide
Within my heart, my strength, my guide!
If Thou my wanderings wilt control,
If Thou wilt aid my languid soul,
Unwearied shall its watching be,
Till death is lost in victory.
A PRAYER TO THE REDEEMER.
PROPHET of the latter days!
Beaming with unfading rays;
Brightness of the Father's light;
Image of his love and might;
Fill my soul with purer awe
Than dark Sinai's fiery law.
Sprinkle with thy Paschal blood;
Lead me through each hostile flood;
Sweeten Marah's bitter spring;
O'er my path thy manna fling;
Let the rock give forth the wave;
Strongly succour-promptly save!
Soothe the passions of my breast;
Guide me tow'rds the promised rest;
Ever keep thy cross in sight;
Lifted o'er the shades of night,
Bid me fear and doubt no more,
Till I land on Canaan's shore.
THE Oak but little recks it
What seasons come or go,
It loves to breathe the gale of spring,
And basks in summer's glow!
But more to feel the wintry winds
Sweep by in awful mirth,
For well it knows each blast must fix
Its roots more deep in earth.
Would that to me life's changes,
Did thus with blessings come-
That mercies might like gales of spring
Cause some new grace to bloom;
And that the storm which scattereth
Each earth-born hope abroad,
Might anchor those of holier birth,
More firmly on my God.
How sweet is the song of the Lark, as she springs To welcome the morning with joy on her wings! The higher she rises, the sweeter she sings;
And she sings while we hear her no more; When storms and dark clouds veil the sun from
She has mounted above them, she sings in the light, There, far from the scenes that disturb and affright, She loves her gay music to pour.
It is thus with the Christian :-he sees from afar The day-spring appearing, the bright morning star; He quits this dark valley of sorrow and care,
For the land whence this day-spring is given; He sings in his way from this cloud-covered spot; The swifter his progress, the sweeter his note; When we hear it no longer, the song ceases not,— It blends with the chorus of heaven.
|