6 & 5s. M.
The Knell of Death.
1 THROUGH the night-air stealing,
Hark! the bell is pealing
Mournfully and slow;
Rest to the soul departed,
Peace to the broken-hearted,
In this vale of woe.
2 Say, for whom thou ringest,
Say, if to him thou bringest
Hopes beyond the tomb;
Or if the sound appalls him,
When death's summons calls him
To uncertain doom.
Prayer for Support in Death.
1 WHEN, bending o'er the brink of life,
My trembling soul shall stand,
And wait to pass death's awful flood,
Great God, at thy command,-
2 Thou Source of life and joy supreme,
Whose arm alone can save,
Dispel the darkness that surrounds
The entrance to the grave.
3 Lay thy supporting, gentle hand
Beneath my sinking head,
And let a beam of light divine
Illume my dying bed.
Prayer for the Dying Christian.
1 GENTLY, my Father, let me down,
To slumber in the arms of death :
I rest my soul on thee alone,
E'en till my last expiring breath.
2 Soon will the storms of life be o'er,
And I shall enter endless rest:
There I shall live to sin no more,
And bless thy name, for ever blest.
3 Bid me possess sweet peace within ;
Let childlike patience keep my heart;
Then shall I feel my heaven begin,
Before my spirit hence depart.
4 Hasten thy chariot, God of love!
And take me from this world of woe,
I long to reach those joys above,
And bid farewell to all below.
5 There shall my raptured spirit raise
Still louder notes than angels sing,
Extol the riches of thy grace,
My God, my Father, and my King.
Rest in Heaven from Sin and Trouble.
1 OUR sins, alas! how strong they be!
And, like a raging flood,
They break our duty, Lord, to thee,
And force us from our God.
2 The waves of trouble, how they rise!
How loud the tempests roar !
But death shall land our weary souls
Safe on the heavenly shore.
3 Fulfilling there his high commands,
Our cheerful feet shall move;
No sins shall clog our active zeal,
Or cool our burning love.
4 We there shall ever sing and tell
The wonders of his grace,
While heavenly raptures fire our hearts,
And smile in every face.
1 MY Father's house on high !
Home of my soul! how near,
At times, to faith's foreseeing eye
Thy golden gates appear!
2 I hear at morn and even,
At noon and midnight hour,
The choral harmonies of heaven
Seraphic music pour.
3 0, then my spirit faints
To reach the land I love,
The bright inheritance of saints,
My glorious home above.
1 OUR country is Immanuel's ground;
We seek that promised soil;
The songs of Zion cheer our hearts,
While strangers here we toil.
2 Oft do our eyes with joy o'erflow,
And oft are bathed in tears;
Yet naught but heaven our hopes can raise,
And naught but sin our fears.
3 We tread the path our Master trod ;
We bear the cross he bore;
And every thorn that wounds our feet,
His temples pierced before.
4 Our powers are oft dissolved away
In ecstasies of love;
And while our bodies wander here,
Our souls are fixed above.
5 We purge our mortal dross away,
Refining as we run ;
But while we die to earth and sense,
Our heaven is here begun.
L. M. 6 L. CHRISTIAN PSALMIST.
Foretaste of Heaven.
1 WHAT must it be to dwell above,
At God's right hand, where Jesus reigns,
Since the sweet earnest of his love
O'erwhelms us on these earthly plains!
No heart can think, no tongue explain,
What bliss it is with Christ to reign.
2 When sin no more obstructs our sight,
When sorrow pains our hearts no more,
How shall we view the Prince of Light
And all his works of grace explore!
What heights and depths of love divine
Will there through endless ages shine!
3 This is the heaven I long to know;
For this, with patience, I would wait,
Till, weaned from earth, and all below,
I mount to my celestial seat,
And wave my palm, and wear my crown,
And, with the elders, cast them down.
1 THE dove let loose in eastern skies,
Returning fondly home,
Ne'er stoops to earth her wing, nor flies,
Where idle warblers roam;
2 But high she shoots through air and light,
Above all low delay,
Where nothing earthly bounds her flight,
Nor shadow dims her way.
3 So grant me, Lord, from every snare
Of sinful passion free,
Aloft, through faith's serener air,
To urge my course to thee;
4 No sin to cloud, no lure to stay
My soul, as home she springs,
Thy sunshine on her joyful way,
Thy freedom on her wings.
8 & 7s. M. 6 L.
Close of the Christian Warfare.
1 WHEN we pass through yonder river,
When we reach the farther shore,
There's an end of war for ever;
We shall see our foes no more :
All our conflicts then shall cease,
Followed by eternal peace.
2 After warfare, rest is pleasant :
O, how sweet the prospect is!
Though we toil and strive at present,
Let us not repine at this :
Toil, and pain, and conflict past,
All endear repose at last.
3 When we gain the heavenly regions,
When we touch the heavenly shore,
Blessed thought! - no hostile legions
Can alarm or trouble more :
Far beyond the reach of foes,
We shall dwell in sweet repose.
4 O, that hope! how bright, how glorious!
'T is his people's blest reward;
In the Saviour's strength victorious,
They at length behold their Lord :
In his kingdom they shall rest,
In his love be fully blest.
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