That looks to thee when sin is near,
And sees the tempter fly;
A spirit still prepared,
And arm'd with jealous care,
For ever standing on its guard,
And watching unto prayer.
I rest upon thy word,
The promise is for me;
My succour and salvation, Lord,
Shall surely come from thee.
But let me still abide,
Nor from my hope remove,
Till thou my patient spirit guide
Into thy perfect love.
311 What things were gain to me, those I counted [D. 8s. 7s. loss for Christ.—Phil. iii. 7.
1 JESUS, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow thee
Destitute, despised, forsaken,
Thou from hence my all shalt be:
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought, or hoped, or known;
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.
2 Man may trouble and distress me,
"Twill but drive me to thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me,
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
O'tis not in grief to harm me,
While thy love is left to me;
O'twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmix'd with thee.
3 Take, my soul, thy full salvation;
Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station
Something still to do or bear:
Think what Spirit dwells within thee;
What a Father's smile is thine;
What a Saviour died to win thee;
Child of heaven, shouldst thou repine?
4 Haste then on from grace to glory,
Arm'd by faith, and wing'd by prayer;
Heaven's eternal day's before thee,
God's own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Swift shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope soon change to glad fruition,
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise."
A people near unto him.-Ps. cxlviii. 14.
1 NEARER, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee;
Even though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.
2 Though like the wanderer,
The sun gone down,
Darkness be over me,
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.
3 There let the way appear
Steps unto heaven;
All that thou sendest me
In mercy given ;
Angels to beckon me
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.
4 Then with my waking thoughts,
Bright with thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs
Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.
5 And when on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot,
Upward I fly;
Still all my song shall be,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee.
The things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Cor. iv. 18.
1 THE roseate hues of early dawn,
The brightness of the day,
The crimson of the sunset sky,
How fast they fade away :
O for the pearly gates of heaven;
O for the golden floor;
O for the Sun of Righteousness,
That setteth never more!
2 The highest hopes we cherish here,
How fast they tire and faint;
How many a spot defiles the robe
That wraps an earthly saint:
O for a heart that never sins ;
O for a soul wash'd white;
O for a voice to praise our King,
Nor weary day or night!
3 Here faith is ours, and heavenly hope,
And grace to lead us higher;
But there are perfectness and peace
Beyond our best desire.
O by thy love and anguish, Lord,
O by thy life laid down,
O that we fall not from thy grace,
Nor cast away our crown!
Whom have I in heaven but thee?
Ps. lxxiii. 25.
1 THOU hidden love of God, whose height,
Whose depth unfathom'd no man knows :
I see from far thy beauteous light,
Inly I sigh for thy repose:
My heart is pain'd, nor can it be
At rest till it find rest in thee.
2 Is there a thing beneath the sun'
That strives with thee my heart to share?
Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there.
Then shall my heart from earth be free,
When it hath found repose in thee.
3 O hide this self from me, that I
No more, but Christ in me, may live;
My vile affections crucify,
Nor let one darling lust survive;
In all things nothing may I see,
Nothing desire, or seek, but thee.
4 Each moment draw from earth away
My heart, that lowly waits thy call;
Speak to my inmost soul, and say,
I am thy love, thy God, thy all:
To feel thy power, to hear thy voice,
To taste thy love, be all my choice.h
Go work to-day in my vineyard.-
Matt. xxi. 28.
Who dares stand idle on the harvest plain,
While all around him waves the golden grain?
And to each servant does the Master say,
'Go work to-day."
Claim the high calling angels cannot shareTo young and old the Gospel-gladness bear: Redeem the time; its hours too swiftly fly. The night draws nigh.
The labourers are few, the field is wide,
New stations must be fill'd and blanks supplied
From voices distant far, or near at home,
The call is, "Come."
Away with gloomy doubts and faithless fear!
No arm so weak but may do service here :
By feeblest agents can our God fulfil
His righteous will.
Come, labour on.
No time for rest, till glows the western sky, While the long shadows o'er our pathway lie, And a glad sound comes with the setting sunServants, well done.”
The toil is pleasant, the reward is sure,
Blessed are those who to the end endure;
How full their joy, how deep their rest shall be,
O Lord, with thee!
316 My he pers in Christ Jesus.-Rom. xvi. 3.
1 LORD, speak to me, that I may speak
In living echoes of thy tone;
As thou hast sought, so let me seek
Thy erring children lost and lone.
2 O lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet;
O feed me, Lord, that I may feed
Thy hungering ones with manna sweet.
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