6 His power increasing still shall spread, His reign no end shall know; Justice shall guard his throne above, And peace abound below.
END OF THE YEAR.
HYMN 48. C. M.
EIME hastens on; ye longing saints
Now raise your voices high;
And magnify that sovereign love
Which shows salvation nigh.
2 As time departs salvation comes;
Each moment brings it near:
Then welcome each declining day,
Welcome each closing year.
3 Not many years their course shall run, Not many mornings rise,
Ere all its glories stand reveal'd
To our transported eyes.
HYMN 49. C. M.
St. Luke xiii. 6-9.
EE, in the vineyard of the Lord,
A barren fig-tree stands;
No fruit it yields, no blossom bears,
Though planted by His hands.
2 From year to year the tree He views,
And still no fruit is found;
Then "cut it down," the Lord commands,
"Why cumbers it the ground?"
3 But lo! the gracious Saviour pleads;
"The barren fig-tree spare, Another year in mercy wait,
It yet may bloom and bear:
4" But if my culture prove in vain,
And still no fruit be found,
I plead no more; destroy the tree,
And root it from thy ground."
NEW YEAR.
HYMN 50. L. M.
HE God of life, whose constant care With blessings crowns each opening
My scanty span doth still prolong, And wakes anew mine annual song. 2 How many precious souls are fled To the vast regions of the dead, Since to this day the changing sun Through his last yearly period run! 3 We yet survive; but who can say, "Or through this year, or month, or day, I shall retain this vital breath, Thus far, at least, in league with death?" 4 That breath is thine, eternal God; 'Tis thine to fix my soul's abode;
It holds its life from thee alone, On earth, or in the world unknown. 5 To thee our spirits we resign, Make them and own them still as thine; So shall they live secure from fear, Though death should blast the rising year. 6 Thy children, panting to be gone,
May bid the tide of time roll on,
To land them on that happy shore,
Where years and death are known no more.
7 No more fatigue, no more distress,
Nor sin, nor hell, shall reach that place;
No groans, to mingle with the songs
Resounding from immortal tongues:
8 No more alarms from ghostly foes;
No cares to break the long repose;
No midnight shade, no clouded sun,
But sacred, high, eternal noon.
9 O long-expected year! begin;
Dawn on this world of woe and sin;
Fain would we leave this weary road,
To sleep in death, and rest with God.
HYMN 51. C. M.
S o'er the past my mem'ry strays,
Why heaves the secret sigh?
'Tis that I mourn departed days,
Still unprepared to die.
2 The world and worldly things belov'd,
My anxious thoughts employ'd;
And time unhallow'd, unimprov'd,
Presents a fearful void.
3 Yet, holy Father, wild despai
Chase from my lab'ring breast;
Thy grace it is which prompts the prayer,
That grace can do the rest.
4 My life's brief remnant all be thine;
And when thy sure decree
Bids me this fleeting breath resign,
O speed my soul to thee.
EPIPHANY.
HYMN 52. S. M.
Isaiah lii. 7-10.
WOW beauteous are their feet
Who stand on Sion's hill;
Who bring salvation on their tongues,
And words of peace reveal.
2 How charming is their voice: How sweet their tidings are: "Sion, behold thy Saviour-King, He reigns and triumphs here." 3 How happy are our ears
That hear this joyful sound,
Which kings and prophets waited for,
And sought, but never found.
4 How blessed are our eyes
That see this heav'nly light:
Prophets and kings desired it long,
But died without the sight.
5 The watchmen join their voice,
And tuneful notes employ;
Jerusalem breaks forth in songs,
And deserts learn the joy.
6 The Lord makes bare his arm
Through all the earth abroad:
Let every nation now behold
Their Saviour and their God.
HYMN 53. II. 5.
Isaiah 1x., &c.
ISE, crown'd with light, imperial Salem,
rise,
Exalt thy tow'ring head and lift thine
See heav'n its sparkling portals wide display,
And break upon thee in a flood of day.
2 See a long race thy spacious courts adorn,
See future sons, and daughters yet unborn,
In crowding ranks on every side arise,
Demanding life, impatient for the skies.
3 See barb'rous nations at thy gates attend,
Walk in thy light, and in thy temple bend:
See thy bright altars throng'd with prostrate
kings,
While every land its joyous tribute brings.
4 The seas shall waste, the skies to smoke decay,
Rocks fall to dust, and mountains melt away;
But fix'd his word, his saving power remains;
Thy realm shall last, thy own Messiah reigns.
HYMN 54. II. 6.
AIL to the Lord's Anointed,
Great David's greater Son;
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.
2 He comes with succour speedy,
To those who suffer wrong,
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,
Whose souls, condemn'd and dying,
Were precious in his sight.
3 He shall descend like showers
Upon the fruitful earth,
And love and joy, like flowers,
Spring in his path to birth:
Before him, on the mountains,
Shall peace, the herald, go;
And righteousness, in fountains,
From hill to valley flow.
4 To him shall prayer unceasing,
And daily vows ascend;
His kingdom, still increasing,
A kingdom without end:
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;
His name shall stand for ever:
That name to us is Love.
HYMN 55. C. M.
Isaiah ii. 2-5.
'ER mountain-tops the mount of God
In latter days shall rise,
Above the summits of the hills,
And draw the wond'ring eyes.
2 To this the joyful nations round,
All tribes and tongues, shall flow;
Up to the mount of God, they'll say,
And to his house we'll go.
3 The beams that shine from Sion's hill
Shall lighten every land;
The King who reigns in Salem's towers
Shall all the world command.
4 Among the nations he shall judge;
His judgements truth shall guide:
His sceptre shall protect the just,
And crush the sinner's pride.
5 For peaceful implements shall men
Exchange their swords and spears;
Nor shall they study war again
Throughout those happy years.
6 Come, O ye house of Jacob! come
To worship at his shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy graces shine.
AVIOUR, when in dust to thee
Low we bow th' adoring knee;
When, repentant, to the skies
Scarce we lift our streaming eyes;
O, by all thy pains and woe,
Suffer'd once for man below,
Bending from thy throne on high,
Hear our solemn litany.
2 By thy birth and early years,
By thy human griefs and fears,
By thy fasting and distress
In the lonely wilderness;
By thy vict'ry in the hour
Of the subtle tempter's power;
Jesus, look with pitying eye;
Hear our solemn litany.
3 By thine hour of dark despair,
By thine agony of prayer,
By the purple robe of scorn,
By thy wounds-thy crown of thorn;
By thy cross-thy pangs and cries;
By thy perfect sacrifice;
Jesus, look with pitying eye;
Hear our solemn litany.
4 By thy deep expiring groan,
By the seal'd sepulchral stone,
By thy triumph o'er the grave,
By thy power from death to save;
Mighty God, ascended Lord,
To thy throne in heaven restor❜d,
Prince and Saviour, hear our cry,
Hear our solemn litany.
Y God, permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and thee:
Amidst a thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.
2 Why should my passions mix with earth,
And thus debase my heav'nly birth?
Why should I cleave to things below,
And all my purest joys forego?
3 Call me away from flesh and sense;
Thy grace, O Lord, can draw me thence:
I would obey the voice divine,
And all inferior joys resign.
HYMN 58. C. M.
LAS, what hourly dangers rise!
What snares beset my way!
To heaven, O let me lift mine eyes,
And hourly watch and pray.
2 How oft my mournful thoughts complain,
And melt in flowing tears!
My weak resistance, ah, how vain,
How strong my foes and fears!
3 O gracious God, in whom I live,
My feeble efforts aid;
Help me to watch, and pray, and strive,
Though trembling and afraid.
4 Increase my faith, increase my hope,
When foes and fears prevail;
And bear my fainting spirit up,
Or soon my strength will fail.
5 Whene'er temptations fright my heart,
Or lure my feet aside,
My God, thy powerful aid impart,
My guardian and my guide.
60 keep me in thy heav'nly way,
And bid the tempter flee;
And let me never, never stray
From happiness and thee.
HYMN 59. C. M.
OW oft, alas! this wretched heart
Has wander'd from the Lord:
How oft my roving thoughts depart,
Forgetful of his word.
2 Yet sovereign mercy calls, "Return;"
Dear Lord, and may I come?
My vile ingratitude I mourn;
O take the wand'rer home.
3 And canst thou, wilt thou yet forgive,
And bid my crimes remove?
And shall a pardon'd rebel live
To speak thy wondrous love?
4 Almighty grace, thy healing power,
How glorious, how divine!
That can to life and bliss restore
So vile a heart as mine.
5 Thy pard'ning love, so free, so sweet,
Dear Saviour, I adore:
O keep me at thy sacred feet,
And let me rove no more.
HYMN 60. L. M.
THOU, to whose all-searching sight
The darkness shineth as the light,
Search, prove my heart; it looks to thee,
O burst its bonds, and set it free.
2 Wash out its stains, remove its dross,
Bind my affections to the cross;
Hallow each thought, let all within
Be clean, as thou, my Lord, art clean.
3 If in this darksome wild I stray,
Be thou my light, be thou my way;
No foes, no violence I fear,
No harm, while thou, my God, art near.
4 When rising floods my soul o'erflow,
When sinks my heart in waves of woe,
Jesus, thy timely aid impart,
And raise my head, and cheer my heart.
5 Saviour, where'er thy steps I see,
Dauntless, untired, I follow thee:
O let thy hand support me still,
And lead me to thy holy hill.
[See Hymns on Repentance.]
PASSION WEEK AND GOOD FRIDAY.
HYMN 61. III. 4.
WHO is this that comes from Edom,
All his raiment stained with blood, To the captive speaking freedom, Bringing and bestowing good;
Glorious in the garb he wears,
Glorious in the spoil he bears?
2 'Tis the Saviour, now victorious,
Trav❜ling onward in his might;
'Tis the Saviour, O how glorious
To his people is the sight!
Satan conquer'd, and the grave,
Jesus now is strong to save.
3 Why that blood his raiment staining? 'Tis the blood of many slain;
Of his foes there's none remaining,
None, the contest to maintain :
Fall'n they are, no more to rise;
All their glory prostrate lies.
4 Mighty Victor, reign for ever,
Wear the crown so dearly won!
Never shall thy people, never,
Cease to sing what thou hast done:
Thou hast fought thy people's foes;
Thou hast heal'd thy people's woes.
HYMN 62. L. M.
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 cross of Christ my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to thy blood.
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 a Saviour's crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a tribute far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my life, my soul, my all.
HYMN 63. C. M.
EHOLD the Saviour of mankind
Nail'd to the shameful tree;
How vast the love that him inclin'd
To bleed and die for me!
2 Hark, how he groans! while nature shakes,
And earth's strong pillars bend;
The temple's vail in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.
3 'Tis done! the precious ransom's paid; "Receive my soul!" he cries;
See where he bows his sacred head!
He bows his head and dies.
4 But soon he'll break death's envious chain,
And in full glory shine;
O Lamb of God! was ever pain,
Was ever love like thine?
Y Saviour hanging on the tree,
In agonies and blood,
Methought once turn'd his eyes
on me,
As near his cross I stood.
2 Sure, never till my latest breath
Can I forget that look;
It seem'd to charge me with his death,
Though not a word he spoke.
3 My conscience felt and own'd the guilt,
And plung'd me in despair;
I saw my sins his blood had spilt,
And help'd to nail him there.
4 Alas! I knew not what I did;
But now my tears are vain:
Where shall my trembling soul be hid?
For I the Lord have slain.
5 A second look he gave, which said,
"I freely all forgive;
This blood is for thy ransom paid,
I die that thou may'st live."
6 Thus, while his death my sin displays
In all its blackest hue-
Such is the mystery of grace-
It seals my pardon too.
HYMN 65. C. M.
ROM whence these direful omens round,
Which heaven and earth amaze?
Wherefore do earthquakes cleave the
ground?
Why hides the sun his rays?
2 Well may the earth astonish'd shake,
And nature sympathize:
The sun as darkest night be black:
Their Maker, Jesus, dies!
3 Behold, fast streaming from the tree,
His all-atoning blood!
Is this the Infinite? 'tis he,
My Saviour and my God!
4 For me these pangs his soul assail,
For me this death is borne;
My sins gave sharpness to the nail,
And pointed every thorn.
5 Let sin no more my soul enslave,
Break, Lord, its tyrant chain;
O save me, whom thou cam❜st to save,
Nor bleed, nor die in vain.
HYMN 66. L. M.
St. John xix. 30.
IS finish'd; so the Saviour cried,
And meekly bow'd his head and died:
'Tis finish'd yes, the work is done,
The battle fought, the vict'ry won.
2 'Tis finish'd: all that heav'n decreed,
And all the ancient prophets said,
Is now fulfill'd, as long design'd,
In me, the Saviour of mankind.
3 'Tis finish'd: Aaron now no more
Must stain his robes with purple gore:
The sacred vail is rent in twain,
And Jewish rites no more remain.
4 'Tis finish'd: this my dying groan,
Shall sins of every kind atone:
Millions shall be redeem'd from death,
By this, my last expiring breath.
5 Tis finish'd: heaven is reconcil'd,
And all the powers of darkness spoil'd:
Peace, love, and happiness, again
Return and dwell with sinful men.
6 'Tis finish'd let the joyful sound
Be heard through all the nations round: 'Tis finish'd let the echo fly
Through heaven and hell, through earth and sky.
HYMN 67. L. M.
For the Jews.
IGH on the bending willows hung,
Israel, still sleeps the tuneful string?
Still mute remains the sullen tongue,
And Sion's song denies to sing?
2 Awake! thy loudest raptures raise,
Let harp and voice unite their strains;
Thy promised King his sceptre sways ;
Behold, thy own Messiah reigns.
3 By foreign streams no longer roam,
And, weeping, think on Jordan's flood;
In every clime behold a home;
In every temple see thy God.
4 No taunting foes the song require;
No strangers mock thy captive chain;
Thy friends provoke the silent lyre,
And brethren ask the holy strain.
5 Then why on bending willows hung,
Israel, still sleeps the tuneful string?
Why mute remains the sullen tongue,
And Sion's song delays to sing?
HYMN 68. C. M.
1 Cor. v. 8.-Rom. vi. 9, 10, 11.
INCE Christ our Passover is slain,
A sacrifice for all,
Let all, with thankful hearts, agree
To keep the festival:
2 Not with the leaven, as of old,
Of sin and malice fed;
But with unfeign'd sincerity,
And truth's unleaven'd bread.
3 Christ being rais'd by power divine,
And rescued from the grave,
Shall die no more; death shall on him
No more dominion have.
4 For that he died, 'twas for our sins
He once vouchsaf'd to die;
But that he lives, he lives to God
For all eternity.
So count yourselves as dead to sin,
But graciously restor❜d,
And made, henceforth, alive to God
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
HYMN 69. III. 1.
HRIST the Lord is risen to-day,
Sons of men and angels say:
Raise your joys and triumphs high,
Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply.
2 Love's redeeming work is done,
Fought the fight, the vict'ry won:
Jesus' agony is o'er,
Darkness veils the earth no more.
3 Vain the stone, the watch, the seal,
Christ has burst the gates of hell;
Death in vain forbids him rise,
Christ hath open'd paradise.
4 Soar we now where Christ hath led,
Following our exalted Head;
Made like him, like him we rise;
Ours the cross, the grave, the skies.
HYMN 70. L. M.
Col. iii. 1, 2,
E faithful souls who Jesus know,
If risen indeed with him ye are,
Superior to the joys below,
His resurrection's power declare:
2 Your faith by holy tempers prove,
By actions show your sins forgiven,
And seek the glorious things above,
And follow Christ, your head, to heaven.
3 There your exalted Saviour see,
Seated at God's right hand again,
In all his Father's majesty,
In everlasting power to reign.
4 To him continually aspire,
Contending for your destined place,
And emulate the angel choir,
And only live to love and praise.
HYMN 71. C. M.
1 Cor. xv. 20, 21, 22.-Col. iii. 1.
HRIST from the dead is raised, and made
The First Fruits of the tomb;
For, as by man came death, by man
Did resurrection come.
2 For, as in Adam all mankind
Did guilt and death derive;
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