The Lord's Prayer.
1 OUR heavenly Father, hear
The prayer we offer now;
Thy name be hallow'd far and near,
To Thee all nations bow;
Thy kingdom come; thy will
On earth be done in love,
As saints and seraphim fulfil
Thy perfect law above.
2 Our daily bread supply,
While by thy word we live;
The guilt of our iniquity
Forgive, as we forgive;
From dark temptation's power,
From Satan's wiles defend,
Deliver in the evil hour,
And guide us to the end.
3 Thine then for ever be
Glory and power divine;
The sceptre, throne, and majesty
Of heaven and earth are thine.
-Thus humbly taught to pray
By thy beloved Son,
Through Him, we come to Thee, and say,
All for his sake be done.
1 THE world in condemnation lay,
And Death, from Adam reigning,
O'er man maintain'd remorseless sway,
While sin, his soul enchaining,
Foredoom'd the second death to all
That shared the ruins of the fall;
But Christ's triumphant mission
Redeem'd us from perdition.
2 Then round his manger let us throng,
Attend Him in temptation,
Carry our cross with joy along
His path of tribulation;
With Him to Olivet retire,
On Calvary at his feet expire,
Then, on Mount Zion seated,
Our bliss shall be completed.
The Prince of Peace.
1 WHEN war on earth suspended
His wild career of woes,
The Prince of Peace descended,
A guiltier strife to close;
Vain battles worms were waging
With their Creator, God;
He came, and wrath assuaging,
Made peace with his own blood.
2 The storm that flamed and lower'd,
Was calm at his command;
The rod of Justice flower'd,
Like Aaron's, in his hand :
That sceptre, love-revealing,
Rebels, approach and kiss;
Its leaves are for your healing,
Its fruits-immortal bliss.
Good tidings of great joy to all people. 1 ANGELS, from the realms of glory, Wing your flight o'er all the earth, Ye who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth;
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
2 Shepherds, in the field, abiding, Watching o'er your flocks by night, God with man is now residing, Yonder shines the infant-light; Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
3 Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar ;
Seek the great Desire of nations;
Ye have seen his natal star;
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
4 Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord descending
In his temple shall appear;
Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
5 Sinners, wrung with true repentance, Doom'd for guilt to endless pains, Justice now revokes the sentence, Mercy calls you,-break your chains; Come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
A visit to Bethlehem in Spirit.
1 THE scene around me disappears,
And borne to ancient regions,
While Time recalls the flight of years,
I see angelic legions
Descending in an orb of light,
Amidst the dark and silent night;
I hear celestial voices.
2 "Tidings, glad tidings from above,
To every age and nation;
Tidings, glad tidings, God is love;
To man He sends salvation;
His Son beloved, his only Son,
The work of mercy hath begun;
Give to his name the glory.'
3 Through David's city I am led ;
Here all around are sleeping;
A light directs to yon poor shed,
There lonely watch is keeping:
I enter;-ah! what glories shine!
Is this Immanuel's earthly shrine?
Messiah's infant temple?
4 It is, it is; and I adore
This Stranger meek and lowly,
As saints and seraphs bow before
The throne of God thrice holy;
Faith through the vale of flesh can see
The face of thy Divinity,
My Lord, my God, my Saviour!
489.
The Names and Offices of Christ.
1 BRIGHT and joyful is the morn,
For to us a Child is born;
From the highest realms of heaven
Unto us a Son is given.
2 On his shoulder He shall bear
Power and majesty, and wear,
On his vesture and his thigh,
Names most awful, names most high.
3 Wonderful in counsel He,
The incarnate Deity,
Sire of ages ne'er to cease,
King of kings, and Prince of Peace.
4 Come and worship at his feet,
Yield to Christ the homage meet;
From his manger to his throne,
Homage due to God alone.
The Curse and the Blessing.
1 To Adam thus Jehovah spake;
"The ground is cursed for thy sake;
Thence eat thy bread, and there once more
Become the dust thou wert before.
2 "Serpent," again Jehovah said,
"The woman's seed shall bruise thy head,
Yet in the strife thy fury feel,
For thou shalt turn and wound his heel." 3 He comes; we hail his glorious birth, Who brings the blessing back to earth; Nor Eden only, but the Tree Of life and immortality.
Christ our example in suffering.
1 Go to dark Gethsemane,
Ye that feel the tempter's power,
Your Redeemer's conflict see,
Watch with Him one bitter hour;
Turn not from his griefs away,
Learn of Jesus Christ to pray.
2 Follow to the judgment-hall,
View the Lord of life arraign'd;
O the wormwood and the gall!
O the pangs his soul sustain'd!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss,
Learn of Him to bear the cross.
3 Calvary's mournful mountain climb;
There adoring at his feet,
Mark that miracle of Time,
-God's own sacrifice complete:
"It is finish'd;"-hear Him cry;
Learn of Jesus Christ to die.
4 Early hasten to the tomb,
Where they laid his breathless clay;
All is solitude and gloom,
-Who hath taken Him away?
Christ is risen;-He meets our eyes;
Saviour, teach us how to rise.
1 THE morning dawns upon the place Where Jesus spent the night in prayer; Through yielding glooms behold his face, Nor form nor comeliness is there.
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