3 'Tis midnight-and for others' guilt
The man of sorrows weeps in blood;
Yet he that hath in anguish knelt,
Is not forsaken by his God.
4 'Tis midnight-and from ether plains,
Is borne the song that angels know:
Unheard by mortals are the strains
That sweetly sooth the Saviour's wo.
(136) L. M.
The Passion of Christ.
COME, let our mournful songs record
The dying sorrows of our Lord,
When he expir'd in shame and blood,
Like one forsaken of his God.
2 The Jews beheld him thus forlorn,
And shook their heads, and laugh'd in scorn; "He rescu❜d others from the grave;
Now let him try himself to save.
3 O harden'd people! cruel priests!
How they stood round like savage beasts!
Like lions gaping to devour,
When God had left him in their pow'r!
4 They wound his head, his hands, his feet,
Till streams of blood each other meet;
By lot his garments they divide,
And mock the pangs in which he died.
5 But, gracious God! thy pow'r and love
Have made his death a blessing prove.
Tho' once upon the cross he bled,
Immortal honours crown his head.
6 Thro' Christ the Son our guilt forgive,
And let the mourning sinner live!
The Lord will hear us in his name;
Nor shall our hope be turn'd to shame.
(147.) C. M.
The love of a dying Saviour.
BEHOLD the Saviour of mankind
Nail'd to the shameful tree,
How vast the love that him inclin'd
To bleed and die for thee!
2 Hark, how he groans! while nature shakes,
And earth's strong pillars bend!
The temple's veil in sunder breaks,
The solid marbles rend.
3 'Tis done! the precious ransom's paid;
"Receive my soul!" he cries:
See where he bows his sacred head!
He bows his head and dies!
4 But soon he'll break death's envious chain,
And in full glory shine.
O Lamb of God! was ever pain,
Was ever love like thine!
STRETCH'D on the cross, the Saviour dies,
Hark! his expiring groans arise!
See, from his hands, his feet, his side,
Runs down the sacred crimson tide!
2 But life attends the dreadful sound,
And flows from every bleeding wound;
The vital stream, how free it flows
To save and cleanse his rebel foes!
3 To suffer in the traitor's place,
To die for man, surprising grace!
Yet pass rebellious angels by-
O why for man, dear Saviour, why?
4 And didst thou bleed?-for sinners bleed?
And could the sun behold the deed?
No! he withdrew his sickening ray,
And darkness veil'd the mourning day.
5 Can I survey this scene of wo,
Where mingling grief and wonder flow;
And yet my heart unmov'd remain,
Insensible to love or pain?
6 Come, dearest Lord! thy grace impart,
To warm this cold, this stupid heart;
Till all its powers and passions move
In melting grief and ardent love.
126.“ Stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.”
1 " STRICKEN, smitten and afflicted,”
See him dying on the tree!
'Tis the Christ by man rejected;
Yes, my soul, tis he! 'tis he!
'Tis the long expected prophet,
David's son, yet David's Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it:
"Tis a true and faithful word.
2 Tell me, ye who hear him groaning,
Was there ever grief like his?
Friends through fear his cause disowning,
Foes insulting his distress:
Many hands were rais'd to wound him,
None would interpose to save;
But the awful stroke that found him,
Was the stroke that justice gave.
3 Ye who think of sin but lightly,
Nor suppose the evil great;
Here may view it's nature rightly,
Here it's guilt may estimate.
Mark the sacrifice appointed!
See who bears the awful load;
'Tis the WORD, the LORD'S ANOINTED,
Son of man, and Son of God.
4 Here we have a firm foundation;
Here's the refuge of the lost:
Christ's the rock of our salvation:
His the name of which we boast:
Lamb of God for sinners wounded!
Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded
Who on him their hope have built.
"TWAS for our sake, eternal God,
Thy Son sustain'd that heavy load
Of base reproach and sore disgrace,
And shame defil'd his sacred face.
2 The Jews, his brethren and his kin,
Abus'd him when he check'd their sin;
While he fulfill'd thy holy laws,
They hate him, but without a cause.
3 Zeal for the temple of his God
Consum'd his life, expos'd his blood;
Reproaches at thy glory thrown
He felt, and mourn'd them as his own.
His friends forsook, his followers fled,
While foes and arms surround his head.
They nail him to the shameful tree;
There hung my Lord, who died for me.
5 But God his Father heard his cry;
Rais'd from the dead, he reigns on hign;
The nations learn his righteousness,
And humble sinners taste his grace,
(115.) P. M.
WITH ecstasy of joy
Extol his glorious name,
Who rear'd the spacious earth,
And rais'd our mortal frame.
He built the church,
Who spread the sky:
Shout and exalt
His honours high.
2 See the foundation laid
By pow'r and love divine;
Jesus, his first-born Son,
How bright his glories shine!
Low he descends,
That from his tomb
A church might rise.
3 But he for ever lives,
Nor for himself alone;
Each saint new life derives
From him, the living stone.
His influence spreads
Through ev'ry soul,
And in one house
Unites the whole.
4 To him with joy we move,
In him cemented' stand;
The living temple grows,
And owns the founder's hand.
That structure, Lord,
Still higher raise,
Louder to sound
Its builder's praise.
Crucifixion to the world by the Cross of
Christ. Gal. vi. 14.
WHEN I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but lost,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
2 Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his blood.
3 See from his head, his hands, his feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet?
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
4 Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.
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