4 All I meet I find assists me

In the path to heavenly joy,
Where, though trials now attend me,

Trials never more annoy;
Wearing there a weight of glory,

I the path shall ne'er forget ; But, reflect on how it led me To my blessed Saviour's feet.

129. C. M. Newton. The Prodigal Son. Luke xv. 11–24. A FELICTIONS, though they seem severe, They stopp'd the prodigal's career.

And forc'd him to repent ;
Although he no relentings felt

Till he had spent his store,
His stubborn heart began to melt

When famine pinch' him sore.
2 What have I gain'd by sin,' he said,

* But hunger, shame, and fear?
• My father's house abounds with bread,

• While I am starving here:
"I'll go and tell him all I've done,

*And fall before his face;
Unworthy to be call'd a son,

*I'll seek a servant's place.
3 His father saw him coming back,

And look'd, and ran, and smil'd;
And threw his arms around the neck

Of his rebellious child;
Father, I've sinn'd—but, О forgive'-

'Enough,' the father said,
* Rejoice, my house—my son 's alive,

For whom I mourn'd as dead! 4. Now let the fatted calf be slain,

Go spread the news around;
• My son was dead, but lives again,

Was lost, but now is found.”

6

6

Tis thus the Lord his grace reveals,

To call poor sinners home;
More than a father's love he feels,
And bids the needy come.

130. ll's. Altered.
The presence of God makes affliction light.
M

Y Jesus! I pray thee to be ever near,
O grant me thy presence, and nought shall I

fear;
Although I'm afflicted and tortur’d with pain,

This balm shall support me, I will not complain. 2 Let all thy good pleasure be done unto me,

And make me submissive, my Lord, unto thee;
And while in the furnace, if thou wilt sustain,

And draw me unto thee, I will not complain.
3 New mould my affections, and fix them above,

Attract all my actions by motives of love;
And then, should affliction convulse all my frame,

My God, I'll adore thee, and will not complain 4 The time's fast approaching, my body shall rest

Be free from affliction, and all my distress ;-
My soul, unencumber'd by this mortal frame,
Shall rise up to Jesus, no more to complain.

DEATH
131. L. M. Relief Hymns.

The Great Journey.
BEHOLD. the path that mortals

tread
Nor will the fleeting moments stay,

Nor can we measure back our way.
2 Our kindred and our friends are gone,

And soon their doom will be our own ;
Feeble as theirs our mortal frame,
The same our way--Qur house the same.

3 From vital air, from cheerful light,

To the cold grave's perpetual night,
From scenes of duty, means of grace,

Must we to God's tribunal pass! 4 Important journey! awsul view.

How great the change! the scenes how new : The gate of heaven or hell display'd

The realms of light, or gloomy sliade! 5 Awake! my soul, for death prepare,

And lose in this each mortal care ;
With steady feet that path be trod,

Which through the grave conducts to God. 6 Jesus, to thee my all I trust,

And if thou call me down to dust,
Give me to know thy voice and hand,
And die in peace at thy command.

132. 8. 6. Wesley's Coll.

The Serious Concern.
N
TO room for mirth or trifling here,

For worldly hope or worldly care,
If life is but a span;
The Judge of all ihe earth shall soon
Pronounce the everlasting doom

Of every child of man!
2 How then ought I on earth to live,
While God prolongs the kind reprieve,

And props this house of clay!
My sole concern, my single care,
To watch, and tremble, and prepare

Against that fatal day!
3 Nothing is worth a thought beneath,
But how I may escape the death

That never, never dies !
How make my own election sure,
And when I fail on earth, secure

A mansion in the skies

4 Jesus, vouchsafe a pitying ray;
Be thou my guide, be thou my way,

To glorious happiness!
O, write forgiveness on my heart,
And whensoe'er I henco depart,

Bid me depart in peace!

133. L. M. Anon. The time of my departure is at hand. 2 Tim. iv. 6.

\HE time draws nigh, I must go home,

Resign my body to the tomb;
I leave you all in Jesus' arms,

Whose bosom bears the tender lambs. 2 He saw me wandering far from God,

He call’d me oft and very loud,
Till by th' entreaties of his tongue,

He rous'd my heart and brought me home. 3 He's kept me safe these many years,

Sometimes thro' hope, sometimes thro' fears,
Sometimes my soul would mount on high,

Like warbling larks towards the sky.
4 Sometimes I'm like the lonesome dove,

Mourning, she flies through all the grove:
With notes of grief I then complain,

Till my dear Lord returns again.
5 My sun has past the meridian line,

My body's to the dust inclined,
But still my mind moves gently on,

To meet my Lord upon his throne. 6 Then fly, my sun, fast to the west,

Since I shall be with Jesus blest,
And join the song near to the throne,

Where sin and sorrow ne'er are known. 7 Farewell, my brethren, all in pain,

The Lord who hears you oft complain,
Your darkness soon will turn to day,
And chase your doubts and fears away.

T

8 Farewell, dear people, whom I love,

Prepare to meet me soon above,
Where we shall join to sing and tell,

How Jesus saved our souls from hell. 9 There we shall be with Jesus blest,

In that eternal world of rest,
On golden harps to sing and tell
Redemption thro' Emanuel.

134. Anon. The rapid flight of time, and the solemnities of eternity.

My years,

Fly rapid as the whirling spheres
Around the steady pole.
Time, like the tide, its motion keeps,
And I must launch the boundless deeps

Where endless ages roll.
2 The grave is near thie cradle seen,
How swift the moments pass between!

And whisper as they fly-
Unthinking man, remember this,-
Though fond of sublunary bliss,

That thou must gasp and die.'
3 My soul attend the solemn call,
Thine earthly tent must shortly fall,

And thou must take thy flight
Beyond the vast extensive blue,
To sing above as angels do,

Or sink in endless night.
4 Eternal bliss or endless woe,
Hangs on this inch of time below

On this precarious breath;
The God of nature only knows,
Whether another year shall close

Ere I expire in death.