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!

Or, if on joyful wing,
Cleaving the sky,

Sun, moon, and stars forgot,

Upwards I fly ;

Still all my song shall be,

Nearer, my God, to thee,

Nearer to thee !

SARAH F. ADAMS. 1848.

67.

O

I GIVE MYSELF TO THEE.

LOVE, who formedst me to wear

The image of thy Godhead here;
Who soughtest me with tender care
Through all my wanderings wild and drear,
O Love, I give myself to thee,
Thine ever, only thine to be.

O Love, who soon shalt bid me rise
From out this dying life of ours;
O Love, who soon o'er yonder skies
Shalt set me in the fadeless bowers, —
O Love, I give myself to thee,

Thine ever, only thine to be.

8.

JOHANN SCHEFFLER (ANGELUS SILESIUS). 1657.

68. THE HOLY SPIRIT THE COMFORTER. 8. 6. 4.

OUR blest Redeemer, ere he breathed

Ο

His tender, last farewell,

A Guide, a Comforter, bequeathed,

With us to dwell.

He came in tongues of living flame,
To teach, convince, subdue ;
All powerful as the wind he came,
As viewless, too.

He came, sweet influence to impart,
A gracious, willing guest,

While he can find one humble heart
Wherein to rest.

And his that gentle voice we hear,
Soft as the breeze of even,

That checks each fault, that calms each fear,
And speaks of heaven.

And every virtue we possess,

And every victory won,
And every thought of holiness,
Are his alone.

Spirit of purity and grace,

Our weakness, pitying, see;

Oh, make our hearts thy dwelling-place,

And worthier thee.

HARRIET AUBER.

69. ETERNAL SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. C. M.

TERNAL Sun of righteousness,

ET

Display thy beams divine,

And cause the glories of thy face
Upon my heart to shine.

Light in thy light, oh, may I see,
Thy grace and mercy prove;
Revived and cheered and blest by thee,
The God of pardoning love.

Lift up thy countenance serene,
And let thy happy child
Behold, without a cloud between,
The Godhead reconciled.

That all-comprising peace bestow
On me, through grace forgiven;
The joys of holiness below,
And then the joys of heaven.

CHARLES WESLEY.