3 But ere that trumpet shakes The mansions of the dead,
Hark from the gospel's gentle voice
What joyful tidings spread!
Ye sinners, seek his grace,
Whose wrath ye cannot bear;
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there.
So shall that curse remove,
By which the Saviour bled,
And the last awful day shall pour
His blessings on your head.
L.M.-Beholding Transgressors with grief. Ps. cxix. 136, 158.
1 ARISE, my tenderest thoughts arise,
To torrents melt my streaming eyes,
And thou, my heart, with anguish feel
Those evils which thou canst not heal.
2 See human nature sunk in shame;
See scandals pour'd on Jesus' name;
The Father wounded through the Son;
The world abus'd; the soul undone.
3 See the short course of vain delight
Closing in everlasting night,
In flames that no abatement know,
Though briny tears for ever flow.
4 My God, I feel the mournful scene;
My bowels yearn o'er dying men;
And fain my pity would reclaim,
And snatch the fire-brands from the flame.
5 But feeble my compassion proves,
And can but weep where most it loves;
Thy own all-saving arm employ,
And turn those drops of grief to joy.
C.M.-The Gourd of Jonah. Jonah iv. 6, 7.
1 OUR joy is a created good;
How soon it fades away!
Fades (at the morning hour bestow'd)
Before the noon of day.
2 Joy, by its violent excess,
To certain ruin tends,
And all our rapturous happiness
In hasty sorrow ends.
3 In vain doth earthly bliss afford
A momentary shade;
It rises like the prophet's gourd,
And withers o'er my head.
4 But of my Saviour's love possess'd,
No more for earth I pine;
Secure of everlasting rest
Beneath the heavenly Vine.
C.M.-Vanity of Life. Eccles i. 2.
1 THE evils that beset our path,
Who can prevent or cure?
We stand upon the brink of death
When most we seem secure.
2 If we to-day sweet peace possess,
It soon may he withdrawn;
Some change may plunge us in distress.
Before to-morrow's dawn:
3 Disease and pain invade our health,
And find an easy prey;
And oft, when least expected, wealth
Takes wings and flies away.
4 The gourds from which we look for fruit, Produce us only pain;
A worm unseen attacks the root,
And all our hopes are vain.
5 I pity those who seek no more
Than such a world can give;
Wretched they are, and blind, and poor,
And dying while they live.
6 Since sin has fill'd the earth with wo,
And creatures fade and die,
Lord, wean our hearts from things below,
And fix our hopes on high.
L.M.-The Vanity of the World.
1 GOD gives his mercies to be spent;
Your hoard will do your soul no good,
Gold is a blessing only lent,
Repaid by giving others food.
2 The world's esteem is but a bribe,
To buy their peace you sell your own,
The slave of a vain-glorious tribe,
Who hate you while they make
3 The joy that vain amusements give,
Oh! sad conclusion that it brings!
The honey of a crowded hive,
Defended by a thousand stings.
4 "Tis thus the world rewards the fools
That live upon her treacherous smiles;
She leads them blindfold by her rules,
And ruins all whom she beguiles.
5 God knows the thousands who go down,
From pleasure into endless wo;
And with a long despairing groan
Blaspheme their Maker as they go.
6 O fearful thought! be timely wise;
Delight but in a Saviour's charms,
And God shall take thee to the skies,
Embrac'd in everlasting arms.
S.M.-The Vanity of worldly schemes inferred from the uncertainty of Life. James iv. 13-16.
TO-MORROW, Lord, is thine,
Lodg'd in thy sovereign hand,
And if its sun arise and shine,
It shines by thy command.
The present moment flies,
And bears our life away;
O make thy servants truly wise,
That they may live to-day.
Since on this winged hour
Eternity is hung,
Waken by thine almighty power
The aged and the young.
One thing demands our care,
O be it still pursu'd!
Lest, slighted once, the season fair
Should never be renew'd.
To Jesus may we fly,
Swift as the morning light,
Lest life's young golden beams should die, In sudden, endless night.
P.M.-The Enchantment dissolved.
1 BLINDED in youth by Satan's arts,
The world to our unpractis'd hearts,
A flattering prospect shows;
Our fancy forms a thousand schemes
Of gay delights, and golden dreams,
And undisturb'd repose.
2 So in the desert's dreary waste,
By magic power produc'd in haste,
(As ancient fables say)
Castles, and groves, and music sweet,
The senses of the traveller meet,
And stop him in his way.
3 But while he listens with surprise,
The charm dissolves, the vision dies,
"Twas but enchanted ground;
Thus if the Lord our spirit touch,
The world, which promis'd us so much,
A wilderness is found.
4 At first we start, and feel distrest,
Convinc'd we never can have rest,
In such a wretched place;
But he whose mercy breaks the charm,
Reveals his own almighty arm,
And bids us seek his face.
5 Then we begin to live indeed,
When from our sin and bondage freed,
By this beloved friend,
We follow him from day to day,
Assur'd of grace through all the way,
And glory at the end.
S.M.-The Shining Light.
1 MY former hopes are fled, My terror now begins;
I feel, alas! that I am dead
In trespasses and sins.
Ah, whither shall I fly?
I hear the thunder roar;
The law proclaims destruction nigh,
And vengeance at the door.
When I review my ways,
I dread impending doom;
But sure a friendly whisper says,
"Flee from the wrath to come."
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