5. Brightness of the Father's glory,ad W
Shall thy praise unuttered lie?10
Fly, our tongues, such guilty silence;
Sing the Lord, who came to die.

151

INCARNATION.

H. M.

HARK! hark! the notes of joy
Roll o'er the heavenly plains,

And seraphs find employ

For their sublimest strains;

Some new delight in heaven is known; Loud sound the harps around the throne.

2 Hark! hark!-the sounds draw nigh, The joyful hosts descend; Jesus forsakes the sky,

To earth his footsteps bend;

He comes to bless our fallen race;
He comes with messages of grace.

3 Bear, bear the tidings round;
Let every mortal know
What love in God is found,
What pity he can show;

Ye winds that blow! ye waves that roll! Bear the glad news from pole to pole.

4 Strike, strike the harps again,

To great Immanuel's name;
Arise, ye sons of men!

And all his grace proclaim;

Angels and men! wake every string, 'Tis God the Saviour's praise we sing.

SONS of Adam! join to raise
Songs of gratitude and praise.
Emulate the choirs above;
Celebrate eternal love.

2 Endless ages saw the scheme;
Endless ages sang the theme:
Man, in God's own image made,
Honour, glory, on his head.

3 Raptured, all the sons of light
Hailed the moment, mercy bright,
When to Jesus, Lord from heaven,
Thus the glorious charge was given:
4 "Go, proclaim Jehovah's grace;
Fear destroy, and guilt efface;
Conquer death, unbar the grave:
Lo! thy work-the world to save."

HAIL to the Lord's Anointed,
Great David's greater Son!
Hail, in the time appointed,
His reign on earth begun!
He comes to break oppression,
To set the captive free,
To take away transgression,
And rule in equity.

2 He comes, with succour speedy,
To those who suffer wrong,
To help the poor and needy,
And bid the weak be strong;
To give them songs for sighing,
Their darkness turn to light,

Whose souls, condemned and dying,
Were precious in his sight.

3 O'er every foe victorious,

He on his throne shall rest,
From age to age more glorious,
All-blessing and all-blest:
The tide of time shall never
His covenant remove;
His name shall stand for ever;
That name to us is Love.

BRIGHT and joyful is the morn,

For to us a child is born;

From the highest realms of heaven,
Unto us a Son is given.

2 On his shoulder he shall bear
Power and majesty, and wear,
On his vesture and his thigh,
Names most awful, names most high.

3 Wonderful in counsel He,
Christ, the incarnate Deity;
Sire of ages, ne'er to cease;
King of kings, and Prince of peace.
4 Come and worship at his feet;
Yield to him the homage meet;
From the manger to the throne,
Homage due to God alone.

155

S. M.

REJOICE in Jesus' birth,
To us a Son is given;

To us a child is born on earth,

Who made both earth and heaven.

2 He reigns above the sky,
This universe sustains;

The God supreme, the Lord most high,
The king Messiah reigns.

3 The Mighty God is he,

Author of heavenly bliss; The Father of Eternity,

The glorious Prince of Peace. 4 His government shall grow,

From strength to strength proceed, His righteousness the Church o'erflow, And all the earth o'erspread.

156

8s & 7s.

CHRIST the Lord, the Lord most glori

ous,

Now is born; O shout aloud:
Man by him was made victorious:
Praise our Saviour, hail our God.

2 Praise the Lord, for on us shineth
Christ, the Sun of Righteousness;
He to us in love inclineth,

Cheers our souls with pardoning grace. 3 Praise the Lord, whose saving splendour Shines into the darkest night;

O what praises shall we render
For this never-ceasing light.

4 Praise the Lord, God our salvation,

Praise him who retrieved our loss;
Sing with awe, and love's sensation,
Hallelujah, God with us.

JOY to the world, the Lord is come!
Let earth receive her King:
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing.

2 Joy to the earth, the Saviour reigns!
Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains,

Repeat the sounding joy.

3 No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make his blessings flow,
Far as the curse is found.

4 He rules the world with truth and grace;
And makes the nations prove,
The glories of his righteousness,
And wonders of his love.

158

09

LIFE AND EXAMPLE.

C. M.

GOD of mercy, thee we praise!
Thy glory is our song,

Though sinners speak against thy grace
With a blaspheming tongue.

2 When in the form of mortal man
Thy Son on earth was found,
With cruel slanders, false and vain,
They compass'd him around.