Till wings of faith, and strong desire,
Bear every thought above.

5 Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise and join
The chorus of the sky.

The Worship of Heaven.

1 O, FOR a sweet, inspiring ray, To animate our feeble strains,

STEELE

From the bright realms of endless day,
The blissful realms where Jesus reigns.
2 There, low before his glorious throne,
Adoring saints and angels fall;
And, with delightful worship, own

His smile their bliss, their heaven, their all.

3 Immortal glories crown his head, While tuneful hallelujahs rise,

And love, and joy, and triumph spread Through all th' assemblies of the skies. 4 He smiles, and seraphs tune their songs To boundless rapture, while they gaze; Ten thousand thousand joyful tongues Resound his everlasting praise.

5 There all the followers of the Lamb Shall join at last the heavenly choir; O, may the joy-inspiring theme

Awake our faith and warm desire.

The Issues of Life and Death.

1 O, WHERE shall rest be found,
Rest for the weary soul?

MONTGOMERY.

-

'T were vain the ocean depths to sound,
Or pierce to either pole.

2 The world can never give
The bliss for which we sigh;
'T is not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die.

3 Beyond this vale of tears,
There is a life above,
Unmeasured by the flight of years;
And all that life is love:

4 There is a death, whose pang
Outlasts the fleeting breath;
O, what appalling horrors hang
Around the "second death"!
5 Lord God of truth and grace!
Teach us that death to shun,
Lest we be banished from thy face,
And utterly undone.

6 Here would we end our quest;
Alone are found in thee

The life of perfect love, the rest
Of immortality.

597.

7s. M.

The Redeemed in Heaven.

?

1 WHO are these in bright array,
This exulting, happy throng,
Round the altar, night and day,
Hymning one triumphant song
"Worthy is the Lamb, once slain,
Blessing, honor, glory, power,
Wisdom, riches, to obtain,

New dominion every hour."
2 These through fiery trials trod;
These from great affliction came;
Now, before the throne of God,
Sealed with his almighty name,

MONTGOMERY.

Clad in raiment pure and white,
Victor-palms in every hand,

Through their great Redeemer's might,
More than conquerors they stand.

3 Hunger, thirst, disease, unknown,
On immortal fruits they feed;
Them the Lamb, amidst the throne,
Shall to living fountains lead;
Joy and gladness banish sighs;
Perfect love dispels all fears;
And for ever from their eyes
God shall wipe away their tears.

598.

L. M. 6 L.

The visible World a Shadow of the invisible.

HEBER.

1 I PRAISED the earth in beauty seen,
With garlands gay, of various green;
I praised the sea, whose ample field
Shone glorious as a silver shield;
And earth and ocean seemed to say,
"Our beauties are but for a day."
2 I praised the sun, whose chariot rolled
On wheels of amber and of gold;
I praised the moon, whose softer eye
Gleamed sweetly through the summer sky;
And moon and sun in answer said,
"Our years are told, when we must fade."

3 O God! O good beyond compare !
If thus thy meaner works are fair,
If thus thy bounties gild the span
Of sinful earth and mortal man,
How glorious must thy mansion be

Where thy redeemed shall dwell with thee!

599.

C. M.

Death and immediate Glory.

WATTS.

1 THERE is a house not made with hands,
Eternal and on high;

And here my spirit waiting stands,
Till God shall bid it fly.

2 We walk by faith of joys to come;
Faith lives upon his word;
But while the body is our home,
We 're absent from the Lord.
3 Shortly this prison of my clay
Must be dissolved and fall;
Then, O my soul, with joy obey
Thy Heavenly Father's call."

600.

C. M.

Cowper.

The Christian in the Prospect of Death.

1 O, MOST delightful hour by man
Experienced here below,

The hour that terminates his span,
His folly, and his woe.

2 Worlds should not bribe me back to tread
Again life's dreary waste,

To see again my day o'erspread
With all the gloomy past.

3 My home henceforth is in the skies;
Earth, seas, and sun, adieu!

All heaven unfolded to my eyes,
I have no sight for you.

4 So speaks the Christian, firm possessed
Of faith's supporting rod,

Then breathes his soul into its rest,
The bosom of his God.

1 BEHOLD yon bright array

Before the heavenly throne!

MONTGOMERY.

There young nor old, there rich nor poor,
There bond nor free, are known

2 At once they strike their lyres ;
At once break off,

and all,

With trembling joy and silent love,
In adoration fall.

3 Whate'er their lot below,

As fellow-heirs of bliss,

In heaven their services are one :
Let earth be heaven in this.

4 As brethren so may we

Worship with one accord;

In stillness wait, in prayer bow down,
And bless and praise the Lord.

5 As pilgrims on the way,

God's earthly courts we fill;

And travel on from strength to strength,
Abreast, to Zion's hill.

6 There may our spirits meet,

When faith is changed to sight,
Where God the Lord himself shall be
The temple, life, and light.

602.

S. M.

R. PALMER.

Heavenly Rest.

1 AND is there, Lord, a rest

For weary souls designed,

Where not a care shall stir the breast,
Or sorrow entrance find?

2 Is there a blissful home,

Where kindred minds shall meet,