7 Then place them in those everlasting gardens Where angels walk and seraphs are the wardens;

Where every flower that passes death's dark portal

Bremen, 70.]

Becomes immortal.

"Come, Lord Jesus."-Rev. xxii. 20.

S.M.

HE Church has waited long

278. THE Her absent Lord to see;

2

3

And still in loneliness she waits
A friendless stranger she.
Age after age has gone,

Sun after sun has set,

[H. BONAR.

And still in weeds of widowhood,
She weeps, a mourner yet.

Saint after saint on earth

Has lived, and loved, and died;
And as they left us, one by one,

We laid them side by side.
We laid them down to sleep,
But not in hope forlorn,

We laid them but to ripen there,
Till the last glorious morn.

The whole creation groans,
And waits to hear the voice
That shall restore her comeliness,
And make her wastes rejoice.
Come, Lord, and wipe away
The curse, the sin, the stain,
And make this blighted world of ours
Thine own fair world again.

Why is His chariot so long in coming?”—Judges v. 28.

Boylston, 219.]

279

S.M.

COME, Lord, and tarry not;

[H. BONAR

Bring the long-looked-for day!
Oh! why these years of waiting here,
These ages of delay?

2 Come, for Thy saints still wait;
Daily ascends their sigh:

3

4

5

6

The Spirit and the Bride say, "Come!"
Dost Thou not hear the cry?

Come, for the corn is ripe,

Put in Thy sickle now;

Reap the great harvest of the earth,

Sower and reaper Thou!

Come in Thy glorious might,

Come with the iron rod,

Scattering Thy foes before Thy face,
Most mighty Son of God!

Come, and make all things new,
Build up this ruined earth;

Restore our faded Paradise,

Creation's second birth.

Come, and begin Thy reign

Of everlasting peace;

Come, take the kingdom to Thyself,

Great King of Righteousness

"He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him about.'

Bozrah, 395.]

Ps. xxxii. 10.

11.10.11.6.

[W. H. BURLEIGH.

280 STILL will we trust, though earth

seem dark and dreary,

And the heart faint beneath His chastening rod,

Though rough and steep our pathway, worn and weary,

Still will we trust in God.

2 Our eyes see dimly till by faith anointed, And our blind choosing brings us grief and pain:

Through Him alone who hath our way appointed,

We find our peace again. 3 Choose for us, God! nor let our weak preferring Cheat our poor souls of good Thou hast designed:

Choose for us, God! Thy wisdom is unerring, And we are fools and blind.

4 Let us press on, in patient self-denial, Accept the hardship, shrink not from the

loss;

Our portion lies beyond the hour of trial, Our crown beyond the cross.

"What hast thou that thou didst not receive?"-1 Cor. iv. 7.

Hawthornden, 426.]

S.M.

[W. WALSHAM HOW,

281 WE give Thee but Thine own,

Whate'er the gift may be:

All that we have is Thine alone,
A trust, O Lord, from Thee.

2 May we Thy bounties thus
As stewards true receive,

And gladly, as Thou blessest us,
To Thee our first-fruits give.

3 Oh! hearts are bruised and dead,
And homes are bare and cold,

4

And lambs, for whom the Shepherd bled
Are straying from the fold.

To comfort and to bless,

To tend the lone and fatherless

To find a balm for woe,

Is angels' work below.

5

The captive to release,

6

To God the lost to bring,

To teach the way of life and peace,
It is a Christ-like thing.

And we believe Thy word,

Though dim our faith may be;
Whate'er for Thine we do, O Lord,
We do it unto Thee.

Death and the Things Thereafter.

"IIis days are as a shadow that passeth away.”—Ps. cxliv. 4

Sylvester, 445.]

87.87.-88.88.

[E. CASWALL

282 DAYS and moments quickly flying, Blend the living with the dead;

Soon will you and I be lying,
Each within his narrow bed.

Y

2 Soon our souls to God who gave them,
Will have sped their rapid flight;
Able now by grace to save them,
Oh, that while we can we might!
3 Jesu, Infinite Redeemer,

Maker of this mortal frame,
Teach, O teach us to remember

What we are, and whence we came;
4 Whence we came, and whither wending;
Soon we must through darkness go,
To inherit life unending,

Or the death of shame and woe.

5 Life passeth soon; death draweth near:
Keep us, good Lord, till Thou appear:
For Thee to live, in Thee to die,
With Thee to reign through eternity.

"O Death, where is thy sting?"-1 Cor. xv. 55.

T is not death to die,

283 IT

2

Amen.

[G. W. BETHUNE.

To leave this weary road,

And, midst the brotherhood on high,
To be at home with God.

It is not death to close

The eye long dimmed by tears,

And wake in glorious repose

To spend eternal years.

3 It is not death to bear

The wrench that sets us free

From dungeon-chain, to breathe the air
Of boundless liberty.