Blest redemption, long expected!

See, his solemn pomp to share,
All his saints, by man rejected,
Rise to meet him in the air!
Hallelujah!

See the day of God appear!

Yes, Amen! let all adore thee,
High on thine eternal throne:
Saviour! take the pow'r and glory,
Claim the kingdom for thine own:
O come quickly!

Come, and make thy glories known.

85

THE END OF ALL THINGS.

"The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer."-1 PETER iv. 7.

G

REAT God! what do I see and hear!

The end of things created:

The Judge of mankind doth appear

On clouds of glory seated:

The trumpet sounds, the graves restore
The dead which they contain'd before:
Prepare, my soul to meet him!

The dead in Christ shall first arise,
At the last trumpet's sounding;

And meet their Saviour in the skies,
With joy his throne surrounding:
No gloomy fears their souls dismay,
His presence sheds eternal day

On those prepar'd to meet him.

But sinners, fill'd with guilty fears,
Behold his wrath prevailing;

For they shall rise, and find their tears
And sighs are unavailing :

The day of grace is past and gone;
Trembling they stand before the throne,
All unprepar'd to meet him.

Great God! what do I see and hear!
The end of things created:
The Judge of mankind doth appear
On clouds of glory seated:
Beneath his cross I view the day,

When heaven and earth shall pass away;
And thus prepare to meet him.

86

DYING IN THE LORD.

"I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."-REVELATION Xiv. 13.

H

ARK, a voice! It cries from heaven,
Happy in the Lord who die!

Happy they to whom 'tis given
From a world of grief to fly!
They indeed are truly blest,
From their labour then they rest.

All their griefs and conflicts over,
Lo! they dwell with Christ above!
O what glories they discover

In the Saviour whom they love!
Now they see him face to face,
Him who sav'd them by his grace.

'Tis enough, enough for ever,

'Tis his people's bright reward;
They indeed are blest who never
Shall be absent from their Lord:

O that we may die like those,
Who in Jesus then repose.

87

THE HEAVENLY COUNTRY.

"There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain."-REVELATION XXI. 4.

WE sing of the realms of the blest,

That country so bright and so fair;

And oft are its glories confess'd,
But what must it be to be there!

We speak of its freedom from sin,
From sorrow, temptation, and care,
From trials without and within ;
But what must it be to be there!

We speak of its service of love,
The robes which the glorified wear,
The church of the first-born above;
But what must it be to be there!

Do Thou, Lord, 'midst pleasure or woe,
For heaven our spirits prepare ;
That shortly we also may know

And feel what it is to be there.

88

THE RIGHTEOUS BRANCH.

"I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper."-JEREMIAH Xxiii. 5.

LL hail Thou glorious King!

AL

Hail David's ancient root!

Thou righteous Branch which thence did

spring,

To give the nations fruit.

At length let Israel rest,

Beneath thy grateful shade;
Their thirsty lips salvation taste,
Their fainting hearts be glad!

Fair Morning Star, arise,
With living glories bright;

And pour on their awak'ning eyes,
A flood of sacred light.

Let every shade subside,
Before thy pow'rful ray;

Shine, and their wand'ring footsteps guide
To everlasting day.

89

ZION'S GLORY.

"For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest."-ISAIAH lxii. 1.

FOR

Zion's sake I will not

rest,

I will not hold my peace;

Until Jerusalem be blest,
And Judah dwell at ease.

Until her righteousness return,
As day-break after night;
The lamp of her salvation burn,
With everlasting light.

The Gentiles shall her glory see,
And kings declare her fame;
Appointed unto her shall be

A new and holy name.