Let cares like a wild deluge come,
And storms of sorrow fall,
May I but safely reach my home,
My God, my heaven, my all.
With Jesus there my weary soul
Shall find eternal rest,
And not a wave of trouble roll
Across my peaceful breast.
HYMN 244. c. M.
Hope of heaven by the resurrection of Christ.
BLESS'D be the everlasting God,
The Father of our Lord;
Be his abounding mercy prais'd;
His majesty ador'd.
When from the dead he rais'd his Son,
And call'd him to the sky,
He gave our souls a lively hope
That they should never die.
What though our inbred sins require
Our flesh to see the dust,
Yet as the Lord our Saviour rose,
So all his followers must.
There's an inheritance divine
Reserv'd against that day
'Tis incorrupted, undefil'd,
And fadeth not away.
Saints by the power of God are kept,
Till their salvation come;
We walk by faith as strangers here,
Till Christ shall call us home.
HYMN 245. c. M.
"We walk by faith, not by sight.' THERE is a house not made with hands, Eternal, and on high;
And here my spirit waiting stands,
Till God shall bid it fly.
Shortly this prison of my clay
Must be dissolv'd and fall;
Then, O my soul, with joy obey
Thy heavenly Father's call.
'Tis he, by his almighty grace,
That forms thee fit for heaven;
And, as an earnest of the place,
Has his own Spirit given.
We walk by faith of joys to come,
Faith rests upon his word;
But while the body is our home,
We're absent from the Lord.
'Tis pleasant to believe thy grace,
But we would rather see;
We would be absent from the flesh,
And present, Lord, with thee.
HYMN 246. c. M.
The joys of heaven unticipated.
1 COME, Lord, and warm each languid heart,
Inspire each lifeless tongue;
And let the joys of heaven impart
Their influence to our song.
2 Sorrow, and pain, and every care,
And discord there shall cease;
And perfect joy and love sincere
Adorn the realms of peace.
The soul, from sin for ever free,
Shall mourn its power no more;
But, cloth'd in spotless purity,
Redeeming love adore.
There all the followers of the Lamb
Join in immortal songs;
And endless honours to his name
Employ their tuneful tongues.
HYMN 247. C. M.
Death easy in the prospect of heaven.
THERE is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Eternal day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain.
There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers;
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
This heavenly land from ours.
Sweet fields, beyond the swelling flood,
Stand dress'd in living green;
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan roll'd between.
But timorous mortals start and shrink
To cross this narrow sea;
And linger trembling on the brink,
And fear to launch away.
O! could we make our doubts remove;
Those gloomy doubts which rise;
And see the Canaan that we love
With unbeclouded eyes:
Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o'er,
Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore
HYMN 248. c. M.
The heavenly Canaan.
FAR from these narrow scenes of night,
Unbounded glories rise;
And realms of infinite delight,
Unknown to mortal eyes.
Fair distant land! could mortal eyes
But half its joys explore,
How would our spirits long to rise,
And dwell on earth no more!
There pain and sickness never como,
And grief no more complains;
Health triumphs in immortal bloom,
And endless pleasure reigns.
No cloud those blissful regions know,
For ever bright and fair;
For sin, the source of mortal woe,
Can never enter there.
5 O may the heavenly prospect fire
Our hearts with ardent love,
Till wings of faith and strong desire
Bear every thought above.
Prepare us, Lord, by grace divine,
For thy bright courts on high;
Then bid our spirits rise and join
The chorus of the sky.
HYMN 249. c. M.
The saints in glory.
GIVE me the wings of faith to rise
Within the veil, and see
The saints above, how great their joys,
How bright their glories be.
Once they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears.
I ask them whence their victory came;
They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
Their triumph to his death.
They mark'd the footsteps that he trod,
His zeal inspir'd their breast;
And, following their incarnate God,
Possess the promis'd rest.
Our glorious Leader claims our praise,
For his own pattern given;
While the long cloud of witnesses
Show the same path to heaven.
"These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
EXALTED high at God's right hand,
Nearer the throne than angels stand,
With glory crown'd, in white array,
What are their names, and whence came they?
These are the saints belov'd of God;
Wash'd are their robes in Jesus' blood;
More spotless than the purest white,
They shine in uncreated light.
Through tribulation great they came;
They bore the cross, and scorn'd the shame;
Within the living temple blest,
In God they dwell, and on him rest.
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