Commence we now that higher state,
Now do thy will as angels do.
3 A life in heaven!-O what is this?
The sum of all that faith believed;
Fulness of joy, and depths of bliss,
Unseen, unfathom'd, unconceived.
4 While thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers, And saints made perfect, triumph thus, A goodly heritage is ours,
There is a heaven on earth for us.
5 The Church of Christ, the school of grace,
The Spirit teaching by the word;
-In those our Saviour's steps we trace,
-By this his living voice is heard.
6 Firm in his footsteps may we tread,
Learn every lesson of his love;
And be from grace to glory led,
From heaven below to heaven above.
The day after Judgment.
1 THE days and years of time are fied,
Sun, moon, and stars have shone their last,
The earth and sea gave up their dead,
Then vanish'd, at the' archangel's blast;
All secret things have been reveal'd,
Judgment is pass'd, the sentence seal'd,
And man to all eternity
What he is now henceforth must be.
2 From Adam to his youngest heir,
Not one escaped that muster-roll,
Each, as if he alone were there,
Stood up, and won or lost his soul;
These from the Judge's presence go
Down into everlasting wo;
Vengeance hath barr'd the gates of hell,
The scenes within no tongue can tell.
3 But lo! far off the righteous pass
To glory from the King's right hand;
In silence, on the sea of glass,
Heaven's numbers without number stand,
While He who bore the cross lays down
His priestly robe and victor crown;
The mediatorial reign complete,
All things are put beneath his feet.
4 Then every eye in Him shall see,
(While thrones and powers before Him fall,)
The fulness of the Deity,
Where God Himself is all in all:
O how eternity shall ring
With the first note the ransom'd sing!
While in that strain all voices blend,
Which once begun shall never end.
5 In that unutterable song,
Shall I employ immortal breath?
Or with the wicked borne along,
For ever die "the second death?"
—Jesus, my life, my light, Thou art;
Thy word is in my mouth, my heart:
Lord, I believe,-my spirit save
From sinking lower than the grave.
The glory of God in Creation.
1 THE God of nature and of grace,
In all his works appears;
His goodness through the earth we trace,
His grandeur in the spheres.
2 Behold this fair and fertile globe,
By Him in wisdom plann'd;
'Twas He who girded, like a robe,
The ocean round the land.
3 Lift to the arch of heaven your eye;
Thither his path pursue;
His glory, boundless as the sky,
O'erwhelms the wondering view.
4 How excellent, O Lord, thy name,
In all creation's lines!
Spread through eternity, thy fame
With rising lustre shines.
5 These lower works that swell thy praise,
High as man's thought can tower,
Are but a portion of thy ways,
The hiding of thy power.
6 O shouldst Thou rend aside the veil, And show thy dwelling place,
The souls which Thou hast made would fail;
'Twere death to see thy face.
7 Can none behold that face and live?
Yea, sinners may draw near:
The Lord is kind, and will forgive,
His love shall cast out fear.
8 Millions amidst his Presence stand,
Who feel, while they adore,
Fulness of joy, at his right hand,
And pleasures evermore.
The earth full of the goodness of God.
1 GOD, in the high and holy place,
Looks down upon the spheres ;
Yet in his providence and grace,
To every eye appears.
2 He bows the heavens; the mountains stan A highway for our God;
He walks amidst the desert-land;
'Tis Eden where He trod.
3 The forests in his strength rejoice;
Hark! on the evening breeze,
As once of old, the Lord God's voice
Is heard among the trees.
4 Here, on the hills, He feeds his herds,
His flocks on yonder plains;
His praise is warbled by the birds;
-O could we catch their strains!
5 Mount with the lark, and bear our song
Up to the gates of light;
Or, with the nightingale, prolong
Our numbers through the night!
6 In every stream his bounty flows,
Diffusing joy and wealth;
In every breeze his Spirit blows,
-The breath of life and health.
7 His blessings fall in plenteous showers
Upon the lap of earth,
That teems with foliage, fruits, and flowers,
And rings with infant mirth.
8 If God hath made this world so fair,
Where sin and death abound;
How beautiful, beyond compare,
Will Paradise be found!
1 WHAT secret hand, at morning-light,
By stealth, unseals mine eye,
Draws back the curtain of the night,
And opens earth and sky?
2 'Tis thine, my God-the same that kept
My resting hours from harm;
No ill came nigh me, for I slept
Beneath the' Almighty's arm.
3 'Tis thine-my daily bread that brings,
Like manna scatter'd round,
And clothes me, as the lily springs
In beauty from the ground.
4 This is the hand that shaped my frame, And gave my pulse to beat;
That bare me oft through flood and flame,
Through tempest, cold, and heat.
5 In death's dark valley though I stray, 'Twould there my steps attend, Guide with the staff my lonely way, And with the rod defend.
6 May that dear hand uphold me still,
Through life's uncertain race,
To bring me to thine holy hill,
And to thy dwelling-place.
1 FULL speed along the world's highway,
By crowds of eager travellers trod,
My soul, my soul! a moment stay,
To hold communion here with God.
2 He spake with Abraham at the oak,
He call'd Elisha from the plough,
David He from the sheep-folds took,
-Thy day, thine hour of grace, is now.
3 Earth, with thy vanities, depart!
My God, I stand alone with Thee;
Thine eye is looking on my heart;
-O what a noon is risen on me!
4 Struck to the ground, like conscious Saul,
And blinded with the sudden view,
Trembling, astonish'd, "Lord," I call,
"What wouldst Thou have thy servant do?"
5 My sins, as fresh-committed, rise;
My secret sins, by darkness seal'd,
Before my Judge's flaming eyes,
Are all in naked guilt reveal'd.
6 Lord, lay thine hand upon my head,
A touch, a word will make me whole;
Speak, with the voice that wakes the dead,
Peace, pardon, comfort to my soul.
7 Then, (though I shudder at this sight,)
Through Him who my offences bore,
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