[FOR CHRISTMAS DAY.]
8, 6. Double.
243 Good tidings of great joy.—Luke ii. 10.
HAPPY, happy Christmas, and
A merry bright new year!
How sweet the kind old greetings sound
To every heart and ear;
No matter how care-burdened, and
No matter how depressed,
A something in their welcome makes
Them dear to every breast.
2 We heard them in our childhood, when,
With spirits light and gay,
We dreamt not that life's joyfulness
Could ever pass away;
And though long years of carefulness
Have sobered many a heart,
A joy still lingers round them, which
Can never quite depart.
3 Nor ever shall, if Christian-like
We count the rolling years,
Not as removing joys from us,
But sins, and cares, and tears;
And upward, onward bearing us
To that bright land and blest,
Where the wicked cease from troubling,
And the weary are at rest.
4 No year can open gloomily
For him whose heart doth yearn
Above all hopes and cares on earth,
To see his Lord's return.
As stars their light, and mists their shade,
Lay down before the day,
So joys and griefs of earth, in heaven's
Calm sunshine, fade away.
244 The Son of God was manifested.–1 John ii. 8.
ONGS of thankfulness and praise,
Jesus, Lord, to Thee we raise,
Manifested by the star
To the sages from afar;
Branch of royal David's stem
In Thy birth at Bethlehem ;
Anthems be to Thee addressed
God in Man made manifest.
2 Manifest at Jordan's stream,
Prophet, Priest, and King supreme;
And at Cana wedding-guest
In Thy Godhead manifest;
Manifest in power divine,
Changing water into wine;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.
3 Manifest in making whole
Palsied limbs and fainting soul;
Manifest in valiant fight,
Quelling all the devil's might;
Manifest in gracious will,
Ever bringing good from ill;
Anthems be to Thee addressed,
God in Man made manifest.
4 Sun and moon shall darkened be,
Stars shall fall, the heaven shall flee;
Christ will then like lightning shine,
All will see His glorious sign;
All will then the trumpet hear,
All will see the Judge appear;
Thou by all wilt be confessed,
God in Man made manifest.
5 Grant us grace to see Thee, Lord,
Mirrored in Thy holy Word;
May we imitate Thee now,
And be pure, as pure art Thou;
That we like to Thee may be
At Thy great Epiphany;
And may praise Thee, ever blest,
God in Man made manifest. Amen.
245 The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among
I HRIST, the Father's Son eternal,
Once was born, a Son of Man ;
He, who never knew beginning,
Here on earth a life began,
Here in David's lowly city,
Tenant of the manger-bed,
Child of everlasting ages,
Mary's Infant, lays His head.
2 There He lies, in mighty weakness,
David's Lord and David's Son;
Creature and Creator meeting,
Heaven and earth conjoined in one.
Here at Nazareth He dwelleth,
'Mid the sin of sinful men ;
Sorrowful, forlorn, and hated,
And yet hating none again.
3 Here in Galilee He wanders,
Through its teeming cities moves,
Climbs its mountains, walks its waters,
Blesses, comforts, saves, and loves;
Words of truth and deeds of kindness,
Miracles of grace and might,
Scatter fragrance all around Him,
Shine with heaven's most glorious light.
4 In Gethsemane behold Him,
In the agony of prayer;
Kneeling, pleading, groaning, bleeding,
Soul and body prostrate there.
In the Roman hall behold Him
Stand at Pilate's judgment seat,
Mocked and beaten, crowned and wounded,
Jew and Gentile join in hate.
5 On to Golgotha He hastens ;
Yonder stands His cross of woe;
From His hands and feet, and forehead
See the precious lifeblood flow;
Sinless, He our sin is bearing!
All our sorrows on Him lie;
And His stripes our wounds are healing;
God for man consents to die.
6 It is finished! see His body Laid alone in Joseph's tomb; 'Tis for us He lieth yonder,
Prince of Light enwrapped in gloom. But in vain the grave has bound Him, Death has barred its gate in vain ; See, for us the Saviour rises,
See, for us He bursts the chain.
7 Bear we then, the grand old story,
True as God's alriaithful word,
Best of tidings to the guilty,
Of a dead and risen Lord.
Is eternal lie to know it.
Light and love are shining there;
While we look, and gaze, and listen,
Al is joy and peace we share.
& Hear we, then, the grand old story,
And in listening learn the love
Flowing through it to the guilty,
From our pardoning God above.
Glory be to God the Father,
Glory be to God the Son,
Glory be to God the Spirit,
Great Jehovah, Three in One.
246 The Son of Man hath not where to lay His
IRDS have their quiet nests,
Foxes their holes, and man his peaceful
bed;
All creatures have their rest,
But Jesus had not where to lay His head.
2 And yet He came to give The weary and the heavy-laden rest ; To bid the sinner live,
And soothe my griefs to slumber on His breast.
3 I, who once made Him grieve; I, who once bade His gentle spirit mourn ; Whose hand essayed to weave
For His meek brow the cruel crown of thorn!
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