HYMN CV.!
The Christian race.
1 AWAKE, my soul stretch ev'ry nerve,
And press with vigour on
An heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.
2 A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.
3 'Tis God's all-animating voice
Which calls thee from on high;
'Tis his own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye.
My soul with sacred ardour fir'd,
The glorious prize pursue;
And meet with joy the high command
To bid this earth adieu.
Holiness essential to a Christian character.
1 SO let our lips and lives express
The holy gospel we profess;
So let our works and virtues shine,
To prove the doctrine all divine.
2 Then shall we best proclaim abroad
The honours of our Saviour God,
When the salvation reigns within,
And grace subdues the power of sin.
3 Our flesh and sense must be deny'd,
Passion and envy, lust and pride;
While justice, temperance, truth and love,
Our inward piety approve.
4 Religion bears our spirits up,
While we expect that blessed hope,
The bright appearance of our LORD,
And faith stands leaning on his word.
Holiness a necessary qualification for heaven.
1 NOR eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard,
Nor sense, nor reason known,
What joys the Father hath prepar'd
For those who love the Son.
2 But the good Spirit of the Lord
Reveals a heav'n to come;
The beams of glory, in the word,
Allure and guide us home.
3 Pure are the joys above the sky,
And all the region peace:
No wanton tongue, nor envious eye
Can see or taste the bliss.
HYMN CVIII.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
1 YE humble souls, complain no more,
Let faith survey your future store,
How happy, how divinely blest,
The sacred words of truth attest.
2 When conscious grief laments sincere
And pours the penitential tears;
Hope points to your dejected eyes
A bright reversion in the skies:
3 A kingdom of immense delight,
Where health, and peace, and joy unite,
Where undeclining pleasures rise,
And every wish hath full supplies :
4 A kingdom which can ne'er decay,
Though time sweeps earthly thrones away;
The state, which power and truth sustain,
Unmov'd forever must remain.
5 Great God, to thee we breathe our prayer;
If thou confirm our interest there,
Enroll'd among thy happy poor,
Our largest wishes ask no more.
The happiness of a real Christian.
1 HOW happy is the Christian's mind!
His sins are all forgiven,
A cheering ray confirms the hope,
And lifts his soul to heaven.
2 Though in a rugged path of life
He heaves the pensive sigh,
Yet, trusting in his God, he finds
Delivering grace is nigh.
3 If to prevent his wandering steps
He feels the chastening rod,
The gentle stroke shall bring him back
To his forgiving God.
HYMN CX.
The life of a Christian.
1 O HAPPY Souls, who live on high!
While men lie groveling here,
Their hopes are fix'd above the sky,
And faith forbids their fear.
2 Their conscience knows no secret strings, While grace and joy combine
To form a life whose holy springs
Are hidden and divine.
3 Their pleasures rise from things unseen, Beyond this world and time,
Where neither eyes nor ears have been,
Nor thoughts of mortals climb.
They want no pomp nor royal throne
To raise their honours here;
Content and pleas'd to live unknown
Till Christ their life appear:
HYMN CXI.
The Christian's prospect.
1 HAPPY the soul, whose wishes climb
To mansions in the skies!
He looks on all the joys of time
With undesiring eyes.
2 In vain soft pleasure spreads her charms,
And throws her silken chain;
And wealth and fame invite his arms,
And tempt his ear, in vain.
3 He knows that all these glittering things
Must yield to sure decay;
And sees, on Time's extended wings,
How swift they flee away.
4 To things, unseen by mortal eyes,
A beam of sacred light
Directs his views; his prospects rise
All permanent and bright.
5 His hopes, still fix'd on joys to come,
Those blissful scenes on high,
Shall flourish in immortal bloom,
When time and nature die.
HYMN CXII.
The acceptable sacrifice.
1 WHEREWITH shall I approach the Lord,
And bow before his throne?
Or how procure his kind regard,
And for my guilt atone?
2 Shall altars flame, and victims bleed,
And spicy fumes ascend?
Will these my earnest wish succeed,
And make my God my friend?
3 Oh! no my scul, 'twere fruitless all,
Such off'rings are in vain ;
No fatlings, from the field or stall,
His favour can obtain.
4 To men their rights I must allow,
And proofs of kindness give;
To God with humble rev'rence bow,
And to his glory live.
5 Hands that are clean, and hearts sincere,
He never will despise ;
And cheerful duty he'll prefer
To costly sacrifice.
HYMN CXIII.
The citizen of Sion.
1 WHO shall to thy chosen seat
Turn in glad approach his feet?
Who, great God, a welcome guest
On thy hallow'd mountain rest?
2 He whose heart thy love has warm'd ; He whose will, to thine conform❜d, Bids his life unsullied run;
He whose word and thought are one:
3 He who ne'er, with cruel aim,
Seeks to wound an honest fame;
Nor to slander's tongue severe
Lends with easy faith his ear:
Who, from servile terror free,
Turns from those who turn from thee;
And to each, who thee obeys,
Love and honour ever pays;
5 What he swears, with stedfast will
Ever ready to fulfil;
Nor can bribes his sentence guide
'Gainst the guiltless to decide;
6 He who thus, with heart unstain'd,
Treads the path by thee ordain'd,
He, great God, shall own thy care,
And thy constant blessing share.
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