4 Happy souls who fear the Lord!
Time is not too swift for you;
When your Saviour gives the word,
Glad you'll bid the world adieu:
Then he 'll wipe away your tears,
Near himself appoint your place;
Swifter fly, ye rolling years!
Lord, we long to see thy face!
III.-Uncertainty of Life.
1 SEE! another year is gone! Quickly have the seasons pass'd! This we enter now upon,
May to many prove their last:
Mercy hitherto has spar'd,
But have mercies been improv'd?
Let us ask, Am I prepar'd,
Should I be this year remov'd? 2 Some we now no longer see,
Who their mortal race have run,
Seem'd as fair for life as we,
When the former year begun :
Some, but who, God only knows
Who are here assembled now,
Ere the present year shall close,
To the stroke of death must bow.
3 Life a field of battle is,
Thousands fall within our view;
And the next death-bolt that flies
May be sent to me or you :
While we preach, and while we hear,
Help us, Lord, each one to think,
Vast eternity is near,
I am standing on the brink.
4 If from guilt and sin set free
By the knowledge of thy grace,
Welcome then the call will be,
To depart and see thy face:
To thy saints, while here below,
With new years new mercies come;
But the happiest year they know
Is their last, which leads them home.
IV.-A New-Year's Thought and Prayer.
1 TIME by moments steals away,
First the hour, and then the day;
Small the daily loss appears,
Yet it soon amounts to years:
Thus another year is flown,
Now it is no more our own,
If it brought or promis'd good,
Than the years before the flood.
2 But (may none of us forget)
It has left us much in debt;
Favours from the Lord receiv'd,
Sins that have his Spirit griev'd,
Mark'd by an unerring hand,
In his book recorded stand;
Who can tell the vast amount
Plac'd to each of our account?
9 Happy the believing soul!
Christ for you has paid the whole;
While you own the debt is large,
You may plead a full discharge:
But, poor careless sinner, say,
What can you to Justice pay?
Tremble lest, when life is past,
Into prison you be cast!
4 Will you still increase the score?
Still be careless as before?
Oh, forbid it, gracious Lord!
Touch their spirits by thy word!
Now, in mercy to them show
What a mighty debt they owe;
All their unbelief subdue,
Let them find forgiveness too.
5 Spar'd to see another year,
Let thy blessing meet us here;
Come, thy dying work revive,
Bid thy drooping garden thrive.
Sun of Righteousness, arise!
Warm our hearts, and bless our eyes;
Let our pray'r thy bowels move,
Make this year a time of love.
V.-Death and War.
1 HARK! how Time's wide-sounding bell
Strikes on each attentive ear!
Tolling loud the solemn knell
Of the late departed year:
Years like mortals wear away,
Have their birth and dying day;
Youthful spring, and wintry age,
Then to others quit the stage.
2 Sad experience may relate
What a year the last has been!
Crops of sorrow have been great,
From the fruitful seeds of sin;
Oh, what numbers gay and blithe,
Fell by death's unsparing sithe!
While they thought the world their own,
Suddenly he mow'd them down.
3 See how War, with dreadful stride,
Marches at the Lord's command,
Spreading desolation wide
Through a once much-favour'd land: War, with heart and arms of steel, Preys on thousands at a meal; Daily drinking human gore, Still he thirsts and calls for more. 4 If the God whom we provoke, Hither should his way direct; What a sin-avenging stroke May a land like this expect!
They who now securely sleep,
Quickly then would wake and weep;
And too late would learn to fear,
When they saw the danger near.
5 You are safe who know his love,
He will all his truth perform;
To your souls a refuge prove
From the rage of ev'ry storm:
But we tremble for the youth;
Teach them, Lord, thy saving truth:
Join them to thy faithful few;
Be to them a refuge too.
VI.-Earthly Prospects deceitful.
1 OFT in vain the voice of truth
Solemnly and loudly warns;
Thoughtless, inexperienc'd youth,
Though it hears, the warning scorns :
Youth in fancy's glass surveys
Life prolong'd to distant years,
While the vast imagin'd space
Fill'd with sweets and joys appears.
2 Awful disappointment soon
Overclouds the prospect gay;
Some their sun goes down at noon,
Torn by death's strong hand away;
Where are then their pleasing schemes?
Where the joys they hope to find?
Gone for ever, like their dreams,
Leaving not a trace behind.
3 Others, who are spar'd awhile,
Live to weep o'er fancy's cheat;
Find distress, and pain and toil,
Bitter things instead of sweet:
Sin has spread a curse around,
Poison'd all things here below;
On this base polluted ground
Peace and joy can never grow.
4 Grace alone can cure our ills,
Sweeten life with all its cares,
Regulate our stubborn wills,
Save us from surrounding snares:
Though you oft have heard in vain,
Former years in folly spent;
Grace invites you yet again,
Once more calls you to repent.
5 Call'd again, at length beware,
Hear the Saviour's voice, and live
e;
Lest he in his wrath should swear
He no more will warning give:
Pray that you may hear and feel,
Ere the day of grace be past:
Lest your hearts grow hard as steel,
BEFORE ANNUAL SERMONS TO YOUNG PEOPLE, ON NEW YEAR'S EVENINGS.
VII.-Prayer for a Blessing.
1 Now, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal,
And make thy glory known:
Now let us all thy presence feel,
And soften hearts of stone!
2 Help us to venture near thy throne,
And plead a Saviour's name;
For all that we can call our own
Is vanity and shame.
3 From all the guilt of former sin,
May mercy set us free;
And let the year we now begin,
Begin and end with thee.
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