5 Great Source of wisdom, teach our hearts
To know the worth of every hour;
That Time may bear us on to joys
Beyond its measure and its power.
1 Go, suffering habitant of earth!
Go, conscious of thy heavenly birth,
And, midst the storms that round thee rise,
Retrace thy journey to the skies.
2 What though the wild winds rage around,
Thou wilt not tremble at the sound;
What though the waters o'er thee roll,
They touch not thine immortal soul.
3 See where, arrayed on either hand,
The direful train of passions stand;
See hatred, envy, bar thy way,
And foes more dangerous still than they.
4 But robed in innocence and truth,
Thou from temptation guard thy youth;
And from thy vestment's sacred bound
Shake the dread fiends that cling around.
5 Against thee though they all conspire,
With taunt, and threat, and flood, and fire,
Thou all their empty rage disdain,
That raves, and burns, and rolls in vain.
6 Go, with pure heart and steadfast eyes,
Till on thee that bright morn shall rise
That gives thee to thy blest abode,
To rest for ever with thy God.
1 Heaven is a place of rest from sin,
But all who hope to enter there
Must here that holy course begin,
Which shall their souls for rest prepare.
2 Clean hearts, O God! in us create:
Right spirits, Lord! in us renew:
Commence we now that higher state,
Now do Thy will as angels do.
3 In Jesus' footsteps may we tread,
Learn every lesson of his love;
And be from grace to glory led,
From heaven below, to heaven above.
1 How blest the sacred tie that binds
In union sweet according minds!
How swift the heavenly course they run,
Whose hearts, whose faith, whose hopes are one!
2 To each the soul of each how dear!
What jealous love, what holy fear!
How doth the generous flame within
Refine from earth and cleanse from sin!
3 Their streaming tears together flow
For human guilt and mortal woe;
Their ardent prayers together rise,
Like mingling flames in sacrifice.
4 Together both they seek the place
Where God reveals His awful face;
How high, how strong, their raptures swell,
There's none but kindred souls can tell.
5 Nor shall the glowing flame expire
When Nature droops her sickening fire:
Then shall they meet in realms above,
A heaven of joy, because of love.
1 Lead us with Thy gentle sway,
As a willing child is led.
Speed us on our forward way,
As a pilgrim, Lord, is sped,
Who with prayers and helps divine
Seeks a consecrated shrine.
2 We are pilgrims, and our goal
Is that distant land whose bourne
Is the haven of the soul;
Where the mourners cease to mourn,
Where the Saviour's hand will dry
Every tear from every eye.
3 Lead us thither! Thou dost know All the way; but wanderers we Often miss our path below,
And stretch out our hands to Thee; save us, and prepare
Our appointed mansion there!
1 As the hart, with eager looks,
Panteth for the water-brooks,
So my soul, athirst for Thee,
Pants the living God to see:
When, O when, with filial fear,
Lord, shall I to Thee draw near?
2 Why art thou cast down, my soul?
God, thy God, shall make thee whole :
Why art thou disquieted?
God shall lift thy fallen head;
And His countenance benign
Be the saving health of thine.
1 My God! I bless Thee: may no thought
E'er deem Thy chastisements severe !
But may this heart, by sorrow taught,
Calm each wild wish, each idle fear.
2 Thy mercy bids all nature bloom;
The sun shines bright, and earth is gay;
Thine equal mercy spreads the gloom
That darkens o'er our transient day.
3 Full many a throb of grief and pain
Thy frail and erring child must know;
But not one prayer is breathed in vain,
Nor does one tear unheeded flow.
4 Thy various messengers employ:
Thy purposes of love fulfil:
And 'mid the wrecks of human joy
May kneeling faith adore Thy will!
1 O God, that madest earth and sky!
The darkness and the day!
Be near us in each trying hour,
And help us when we pray!
For wide the waves of bitterness
Around our vessel roar,
And heavy grows the pilot's heart
To view the rocky shore!
2 The cross our Master bore for us,
For Him we fain would bear,
But mortal strength to weakness turns, And courage to despair!
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