For ever and for evermore,
The Star, the Star of Bethlehem!
1 JESUS, my All, to heaven is gone,
He that I placed my hopes upon;
His track I see, and I'll pursue
The narrow way till him I view.
The way the holy prophets went,
The road that leads from banishment,
The King's highway of holiness,
I'll go, for all the paths are peace.
2 This is the way I long have sought,
And mourned because I found it not;
My grief, my burden, long have been
Because I could not cease from sin.
The more I strove against its power,
I sinned and stumbled but the more;
Till late I heard my Saviour say,
"Come hither, soul, for I'm the Way!"
3 Lo! glad I come; and thou, dear Lamb
Shalt take me to thee as I am:
Nothing but sin I thee can give ;
Yet help me, and thy praise I'll live:
I'll tell to all poor sinners round
What a dear Saviour I have found;
I'll point to thy redeeming blood,
"Behold the way to God!"
1 O JESUS! King most wonderful,
Thou Conqueror renowned;
Thou sweetness most ineffable,
In whom all joys are found;
2 When once thou visitest the heart,
Then truth begins to shine,
Then earthly vanities depart,
Then kindles love divine.
3 O Jesus, Light of all below:
Thou Fount of life and fire!
Surpassing all the joys we know
All that we can desire;
4 May every heart confess thy name
And ever thee adore;
And, seeking thee, itself inflame
To seek thee more and more.
5 Thee may our tongues forever bless;
Thee may we love alone;
And ever in our life express
The image of thine own.
Bernard of Clairvaux, 1153; tr. E. Caswali .849
1 INFINITE excellence is thine,
Thou lovely Prince of grace!
Thy uncreated beauties shine
With never-fading rays.
2 Sinners, from earth's remotest end,
Come bending at thy feet;
To thee their prayers and vows asceni,
In thee their wishes meet.
3 Thy name, as precious ointment shed,
Delights the church around;
Sweetly the sacred odors spread
Through all Immanuel's ground.
4 Millions of happy spirits live
On thy exhaustless store;
From thee they all their bliss receive,
And still thou givest more.
5 Thou art their triumph and their joy; They find their all in thee;
Thy glories will their tongues employ
Through all eternity.
1 To Him that loved the souls of men,
And washed us in his blood,
To royal honors raised our head,
And made us priests to God;
2 To him let every tongue be praise,
And every heart be love,
All grateful honors paid on earth,
And nobler songs above!
3 Behold, on flying clouds he comes!
His saints shall bless the day,
While they that pierced him sadly mourn
In anguish and dismay.
4 Thou art the First, and thou the Last: Time centres all in thee,
The almighty God, who was and is,
And evermore shall be.
1 To praise our Shepherd's care,
His wisdom, love, and might,
Your loudest, loftiest songs prepare,
And bid the world unite.
2 Supremely good and great,
He tends his blood-bought fold;
He stoops, tho' throned in highest state,
The feeblest to uphold.
3 He hears their softest plaint;
He sees them when they roam;
And if his meanest lamb should faint,
His bosom bears it home.
4 Kind Shepherd of the sheep,
A weakly flock are we;
And snares and foes are nigh; but keep
The lambs who look to thee.
5 And if through death's dark vale
Our feet shall early tread,
Oh, may we reach thy fold, and hail
The love which us hath led!
William H. Havergal, 1868.
1 WHILE My Redeemer's near,
My Shepherd and my Guide,
I bid farewell to anxious fear;
My wants are all supplied.
2 To ever-fragrant meads,
Where rich abundance grows,
His gracious hand indulgent leads,
And guards my sweet repose.
3 Dear Shepherd, if I stray,
My wandering feet restore;
To thy fair pastures guide my way,
And let me rove no more.
1 I BLESS the Christ of God, I rest on love divine,
And with unfaltering lip and heart,
I call this Saviour mine.
2 His cross dispels each doubt;
I bury in his tomb
Each thought of unbelief and fear,
Each lingering shade of gloom.
3 I praise the God of peace;
I trust his truth and might; He calls me his, I call him mine, My God, my joy, my light.
4 In him is only good,
In me is only ill;
My ill but draws his goodness forth,
And me he loveth still.
5 'Tis he who saveth me,
And freely pardon gives:
I love because he loveth me;
I live because he lives.
6 My life with him is hid,
My death has passed away,
My clouds have melted into light,
My midnight into day.
1 JESUS, the Lamb of God,
Who us from hell to raise
Hast shed thy reconciling blood,
We give thee endless praise.
2 God, and yet man, thou art!
True God, true man art thou;
Of man, and of man's earth a part.
One with us thou art now.
3 Great Sacrifice for sin,
Giver of life for life,
Restorer of the peace within,
True ender of the strife;
4 To thee, the Christ of God,
Thy saints exulting sing;
The bearer of our heavy load,
Our own anointed King.
5 True lover of the lost,
From heaven thou camest down,
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