748

C. M.

The only solace in sorrow.

THOU who driest the mourner's tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could not fly to thee.

2 The friends who in our sunshine live,
When winter comes, are flown;
And he who has but tears to give,
Must weep those tears alone.

3 But Christ can heal that broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of wo.

4 0 who could bear life's stormy doom,
Did not His wing of love

Come brightly wafting through the gloom,
Our peace-branch from above.

5 Then sorrow, touch'd by Him, grows bright, With more than rapture's ray;

As darkness shows us worlds of light,
We never saw by day.

749

Crosses are blessings.

C. M.

INCE all the varying scenes of time
God's watchful eye surveys,

O, who so wise to choose our lot,
Or to appoint our ways?

2 Good, when he gives-supremely good,
Nor less when he denies;

E'en crosses, from his sov'reign hand,
Are blessings in disguise.

3 Why should we doubt a Father's love,
So constant and so kind?

To his unerring, gracious will
Be every wish resign'd.

750

Radiant hope.

C. M.

WHO, in such a world as this,
Could bear his lot of pain,

Did not one radiant hope of bliss
Unclouded yet remain ?

That hope the sov'reign Lord has given,
Who reigns above the skies;
Hope that unites the soul to heaven
By faith's endearing ties.

2 Each care, each ill of mortal birth,
Is sent in pitying love,

To lift the ling'ring heart from earth,
And speed its flight above.

And every pang that wrings the breast,
And every joy that dies,

Tell us to seek a purer rest,

And trust to holier ties.

751

W

L. M.

God's presence with his people.
HEN Israel, of the Lord beloved,
Out from the land of bondage came,
Her father's God before her moved,
An awful guide, in smoke and flame.
2 By day, along the' astonish'd lands
The cloudy pillar glided slow;
By night, Arabia's crimson'd sands
Return'd the fiery column's glow.

3 Thus present still, though now unseen,
When brightly shines the prosp'rous day,
Be thoughts of thee a cloudy screen,
To temper the deceitful ray.

4 And O, when gathers on our path,
In shade and storm, the frequent night,
Be thou, long-suff'ring, slow to wrath,
A burning and a shining light.

752

Remember me!

C. M.

0

THOU from whom all goodness flows,
I lift my soul to thee;

In all my sorrows, conflicts, woes,

O Lord, remember me.

2 If, for thy sake, upon my name
Reproach and shame shall be,

I'll hail reproach, and welcome shame;
O Lord, remember me.

3 When worn with pain, disease, and grief, This feeble body see;

Grant patience, rest, and kind relief;
O Lord, remember me.

4 When, in the solemn hour of death,
I wait thy just decree,

Be this the prayer of my last breath,-
O Lord, remember me.

5 And when before thy throne I stand,
And lift my soul to thee,

Then, with the saints at thy right hand,
O Lord, remember me.

753

M

Remember Calvary!

L. M.

Y suff'rings all to thee are known,
Tempted in every point like me;
Regard my grief, regard thine own:
Jesus, remember Calvary!

2 For whom didst thou the cross endure?
Who nail'd thy body to the tree?
Did not thy death my life procure?
O let thy mercy answer me.

3 Art thou not touch'd with human wo?
Hath pity left the Son of man?
Dost thou not all my sorrows know,
And claim a share in all my pain?

4 Thou wilt not break a bruiséd reed,
Or quench the smallest spark of grace,
Till through the soul thy power is spread,
Thy all-victorious righteousness.

5 The day of small and feeble things,
I know thou never wilt despise ;
I know, with healing in his wings,
The Sun of righteousness shall rise.

754

FATHER

In fear and trembling.

MATHER of lights, thy needful aid
To us that ask, impart;

Mistrustful of ourselves, afraid

Of our own treach'rous heart.

C. M.

2 O'erwhelm'd with justest fear, again
To thee for help we call:
Where many mightier have been slain,
By thee unsaved, we fall.

3 Ah! what avails superior light,
Without superior love;

We see the truth, we judge aright,
And wisdom's ways approve.

4 In spite of our resolves, we fear
Our own infirmity;
And tremble at the trial near,
And cry, O God, to thee!

5 Our only help in danger's hour,
Our only strength thou art;
Above the world and Satan's power,
And greater than our heart.

6 Us from ourselves thou canst secure,
In nature's slipp'ry ways;

And make our feeble footsteps sure,
By thy sufficient grace.

755

Jesus, the friend of the friendless.
OD of my life, to thee I call;

GOD

Afflicted, at thy feet I fall;

When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to fail.

L. M.

2 Friend of the friendless, and the faint,
Where should I lodge my deep complaint?
Where-but with thee, whose open door
Invites the helpless and the poor?

3 Did ever mourner plead with thee,
And thou refuse that mourner's plea ?
Does not the promise still remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain?
4 Poor I may be-despised, forgot,
Yet God, my God, forgets me not;
And he is safe, and must succeed,
For whom the Saviour deigns to plead.

756

Meekness and patience.

L. M..

ПHOU Lamb of God, thou Prince of peace, For thee my thirsty soul doth pine; My longing heart implores thy grace; O make me in thy likeness shine. 2 With fraudless, even, humble mind, Thy will in all things may I see; In love be every wish resign'd,

And hallow'd my whole heart to thee. 3 When pain o'er my weak flesh prevails, With lamb-like patience arm my breast; When grief my wounded soul assails, In lowly meekness may I rest. 4 Close by thy side still may I keep, Howe'er life's various current flow; With steadfast eye mark every step, And follow where my Lord doth go.