5 Jesus, our God, yet rather come; Our eyes would dwell upon thy face: 'Tis best to see our Lord at home, And feel the presence of his grace.

329 CHIEF OBJect of a Believer'S LOVE. 88.

OW tedious and tasteless the hours

How

When Jesus no longer I see;

Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flowers,
Have lost all their sweetness with me;

The mid-summer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay,
But when I am happy in him,
December's as pleasant as May.

2 His name yields the richest perfume,
And sweeter than music his voice;
His presence disperses my gloom,
And makes all within me rejoice:
I should, were he always thus nigh,
Have nothing to wish or to fear;
No mortal so happy as I,

My summer would last all the year.

3 Content with beholding his face,
My all to his pleasure resigned,
No changes of season or place,
Would make any change in my mind.
While blessed with a sense of his love,
A palace a toy would appear;
And prisons would palaces prove,

If Jesus would dwell with me there.

4 Dear Lord, if indeed I am thine,

If thou art my sun and my song; Say, why do I languish and pine, And why are my winters so long?

O drive these dark clouds from my sky,
Thy soul-cheering presence restore;
Or take me unto thee on high,

330

Where winter and clouds are no more.

H

OW sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!

It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

2 It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
"Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.

3 Dear Name, the rock on which I build,
My shield and hiding place;
My never failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace.

4 Jesus, my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
My Prophet, Priest, and King;
My Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
Accept the praise I bring.

5 Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought;
But when I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought.

6 Till then I would thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath;
And may the music of thy name
Refresh my soul in death.

331

LOVE TO AN UNSEEN SAVIOUR.

NOT with our mortal eyes

Have we beheld the Lord;
Yet we rejoice to hear his name,
And love him in his word.

S. M.

2 On earth we want the sight
Of our Redeemer's face;

Yet, Lord, our inmost thoughts delight
To dwell upon thy grace.

3 And when we taste thy love,
Our joys divinely grow,
Unspeakable, like those above,
And heaven begins below.

332

CHRISTIAN LOVE.

C. M.

HAPPY the heart where graces reign,

Where love inspires the breast:

Love is the brightest of the train,
And strengthens all the rest.

2 Knowledge, alas! 'tis all in vain,
And all in vain our fear;

Our stubborn sins will fight and reign,
If love be absent there.

3 'Tis love that makes our cheerful feet
In swift obedience move;

The devils know and tremble too,
But devils cannot love.

4 This is the grace that lives and sings,
When faith and hope shall cease;
'Tis this shall strike our joyful strings,
In the sweet realms of bliss.

5 Before we quite forsake our clay,
Or leave this dark abode,

The wings of love bear us away,
To see our smiling God.

333

HAD

LOVE ESSENTIAL TO RELIGION.

L. M.

AD I the tongues of Greeks and Jews, And nobler speech than angels use, If love be absent, I am found

Like tinkling brass, an empty sound.

2 Were I inspired to preach and tell
All that is done in heaven and hell;
Or could my faith the world remove,
Still I am nothing without love.

3 Should I distribute all my store,
To feed the bowels of the poor,
Or give my body to the flame,
To gain a martyr's glorious name:

4 If love to God, and love to men,
Be absent, all my hopes are vain:
Nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal,
The work of love can ne'er fulfil.

334 CHRISTIANS DRAWN WITH CORDS OF LOVE. C. M.

MY God, what gentle cords are thine,

How soft, and yet how strong!

While power, and truth, and love combine,
To draw our souls along.

2 Thou saw'st us crushed beneath the yoke
Of Satan and of sin;

Thy hand the iron bondage broke,
Our worthless hearts to win.

3 The guilt of twice ten thousand sins
One offering takes away;

And grace, when first the war begins,
Secures the crowning day.

4 Comfort through all this vale of tears,
In rich profusion flows,

And glory of unnumbered years
Eternity bestows.

5 Drawn by such cords, we onward move,
Till round thy throne we meet;

And captives in the chains of love,
Embrace our Conqueror's feet.

335 CHRIST THE OBJECT OF Love.

JE

ESUS, I love thy charming name,
'Tis music to mine ear;
Fain would I sound it out so loud,

That earth and heaven should hear.
2 Yes, thou art precious to my soul,
My joy, my hope, my trust;
Jewels, to thee, are gaudy toys,
And gold is sordid dust.

3 All my capacious powers can wish,
In thee most richly meet;
Nor to mine eyes is light so dear,
Nor friendship half so sweet.

4 Thy grace still dwells upon my heart,
And sheds its fragrance there;
The noblest balm of all its wounds,
The cordial of its care.

C. M.

5 I'll speak the honours of thy name,
With my last, labouring breath;
Then speechless clasp thee in mine arms,
The antidote of death.

336

LOVE ABOUNDING.

L. M.

My faith and love in every breast;
dearest Lord, descend and dwell
By

Then shall we know, and taste and feel
The joys that cannot be expressed.

2 Come, fill our hearts with inward strength,
Make our enlarged souls possess,

And learn the height, and breadth, and length
Of thine unmeasurable grace.

3 Now to the God, whose power can do
More than our thoughts or wishes know,
Be everlasting honours done,

By all the church, through Christ his Son.