Thou didst brighten the valley of death,
And illumine the gloom of the grave.
5 In mercy thy presence dispels
The shades of calamity's night,
And turns the sad scene of despair
To a morning of joy and delight.
6 Great source of my comforts restor❜d!
Thou healer and balm of my woes!
Thou hope and desire of my soul!
On thy mercy I'll ever repose.
7 How boundless the gratitude due
To thee, O thou God of my praise!
The fountain of all I possess,
The life and the light of my days!
FIRM was my health, my day was bright,
And I presum'd 'twould ne'er be night: Fondly I said within my heart,
Pleasure and peace shall ne'er depart.
2 But I forgot thine arm was strong,
Which made my mountain stand so long;
And when thy face was turn'd aside,
My health was gone, my comforts died.
3 Hear me, O God of grace! I said,
And raise me from among the dead:
Thy word rebuk'd the pains I felt;
Thy pard'ning love remov'd my guilt.
4 I will extol thee, Lord, on high
At thy command diseases fly:
Who but a God can speak and save
From the dark borders of the grave?
Thine anger but a moment stays;
Thy love is life and length of days:
Though grief and tears the niglit employ,
The morning-star restores the joy.
680. God delivereth his saints from affliction.
LOVE the Lord; he heard my cries,
And pity'd ev'ry groan:
Long as I live, when troubles rise,
I'll hasten to his throne.
2 I love the Lord; he bow'd his ear,
And chas'd my griefs away:
O let my heart no more despair,^
While 1 have breath to pray!
3 Among the saints that fill thine house,
My off'ring shall be paid;
There shall my zeal perform the vows
My soul in anguish made.
The Lord beheld me sore distrest;
He bade my pains remove:
Return, my soul, to God, thy rest;
For thou hast known his love.
1 LIFT up your eyes, ye sons of light,
Behold the fields already white!
The glorious harvest now is come;
See ransom'd sinners flocking home.
2 Mov'd by the Spirit's softest wind,
Their hearts are all as one inclin'd;
Their former sins and follies mourn;
They bow, and to their God return.
3 Improve the harvest fleeting fast,
Ere yet the shining season past,
When all the work of life shall end,
The last the long dark night descend.
C. M.
Sickness and Recovery.
MY God, thy service well demands
The remnant of my days;
Why was this fleeting breath renew'd,
But to renew thy praise?
2 Thine arms of everlasting love
Did this weak frame sustain;
When life was hov'ring o'er the grave,
And nature sunk with pain.
3 Thou, when the pains of death were felt,
Didst chase the fears of hell;
And teach my pale and quiv'ring lips
Thy matchless grace to tell.
4 Calmly I bow'd my fainting head
On thy dear faithful breast;
Pleas'd to obey my Father's call
To his eternal rest
5 Into thy hands, my Saviour God,
Did I my soul resign.
In firm dependence on that truth,
Which made salvation mine.
6 Back from the borders of the grave,
At thy command I come:
Nor will I urge a speedier flight,
To my celestial home.
Affliction, or Meditation on God's Love.
Ps. civ. 34.
WE HEN languor and disease invade
This trembling house of clay,
'Tis sweet to look beyond my pains,
And long to fly away.
2 Sweet to look inward, and attend
The whispers of his love;
Sweet to look upward to the place
Where Jesus pleads above.
8 Sweet to look back, and see my name
In life's fair book set down;
Sweet to look forward and behold
Eternal joys my own.
4 Sweet to reflect how grace divine
My sins on Jesus laid;
Sweet to remember that his blood
My debt of suff'ring paid.
5 Sweet in his righteousness to stand,
Which saves from second death;
Sweet to experience, day by day,
His spirit's quick'ning breath.
6 If such the sweetness of the streams,
What must the fountain be,
Where saints and angels draw their bliss Immediately from thee!
684. Sweet Affliction.—A Song in a Storm. 1 IN the floods of tribulation,
While the billows o'er me roll,
Jesus whispers consolation,
And supports my fainting soul;
Hallelujah, Hallelujah,
Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.
Thus the lion yields me honey,
From the eater food is given,
Strengthen'd thus I still press forward,
Singing as I wade to heaven,-
Sweet affliction, sweet affliction,
And my sins are all forgiv'n.
8 Floods of tribulation heighten,
Billows still around me roar,
Those that know not Christ-ye frighten
But my soul defies your power:
4 In the sacred page recorded
Thus his word securely stands; 'Fear not, I'm in trouble near thee, Naught shall pluck you from my hands: Sweet affliction, sweet affliction,
Every word my love demands.
5 All I meet I find assists me
In my path to heavenly joy,
Where, though trials now attend me,
Trials never more annoy:
6 Bless'd there with a weight of glory,
Still the path I'll ne'er forget,
But, exulting, cry, it led me
To my blessed Saviour's seat-
Sweet affliction, sweet affliction,
Which has brought to Jesus' feet.
13. PUBLIC AND NATIONAL BLESSINGS AND
AFFLICTIONS.
(412.) L. M.
Thanksgiving.
1 PRAISE, happy land! Jehovah's name;
His goodness, and thy bliss proclaim:
For thee each blessing largely flows,
That freedom's lib'ral hand bestows.
2 Thy children are secure and blest;
Thy shores have peace, thy cities rest;
He feeds thy sons with finest wheat,
And adds his blessing to their meat.
3 Thy changing seasons he ordains,
Thine early and thy latter rains;
His flakes of snow like wool he sends,
And well the springing corn defends.
4 But he hath nobler works and ways,
To call his people to his praise:
To all our land his laws are shown;
His gospel's through the nation known.
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