530.

L. M.

DODDRID&R. To God pertain the issues of Life and Death. 1 SOVEREIGN of life ! before thine eye,

Lo! mortal men by thousands die:
One glance from thee at once brings down

The proudest brow that wears a crown. 2 Banished at once from human sight

To the dark grave's mysterious night,
Imprisoned in that dusty bed,
We hide our solitary head.
3 Yet if my Father's faithful hand

Conduct me through this gloomy land,
My soul with pleasure shall obey,

And follow where he leads the way. 4 The friendly band again shall meet,

Again exchange the welcome sweet;
The dear familiar features trace,
And still renew the fond embrace.

631.
C. M.

HEJI
Unwersal Warning of Death.
1 Beneath our feet and o'er our head

Is equal warning given :
Beneath us lie the countless dead,

Above us is the heaven!
2 Their names are graven on the stone,

Their bones are in the clay;
And ere another day is done,

Ourselves may be as they.
3 Our eyes have seen the rosy light

Of youth's soft cheek decay,
And fate descend in sudden night
On manhood's middle day.

4 Our eyes have seen the steps of age

Halt feebly towards the tomb;
And yet shall earth our hearts engage,

And dreams of days to come ?
5 Death rides on every passing breeze,

He lurks in every flower;
Each season has its own disease

Its peril every hour.

532.

L. M.

J. Taylor
The Shortness of Life.
1 Like shadows gliding o'er the plain,

Or clouds that roll successive on,
Man's busy generations pass,

And while we gaze their forms are gone. 2 “ He lived, -- he died ;” behold the sum,

The abstract of the historian's page!
Alike, in God's all-seeing eye,

The infant's day, the patriarch's age.
3 O Father! in whose mighty hand

The boundless years and ages lie;
Teach us thy boon of life to prize,

And use the moments as they fly;
4 To crowd the narrow span of life

With wise designs and virtuous deeds; And bid us wake from death's dark night,

To share the glory that succeeds.

533.

C. M.

COLLIRE
Prayer for Support in Death
1 When, bending o'er the brink of life,

My trembling soul shall stand,
And wait to pass death's awful flood,

Great God, at thy command, -

2 Thou Source of life and joy supreme

Whose arm alone can save,
Dispel the darkness that surrounds

The entrance to the grave.
3 Lay thy supporting, gentle hand

Beneath my sinking head,
And let a beam of light divine

Illume my dying bed.

834.
L. M.

WATTS
Christ's Presence makes Death easy.
1 Why should we start and fear to die!

What timorous worms we mortals are !
Death is the gate of endless joy,

And yet we dread to enter there.
2 The pains, the groans, and dying strife,

Fright our approaching souls away;
Still we shrink back again to life,

Fond of our prison and our clay.
30! if my Lord would come and meet,

My soul should stretch her wings in haste, Fly fearless through death's iron gate,

Nor feel the terrors as she past.
4 Jesus can make a dying bed

Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on his breast I lean my head,

And breathe my life out sweetly there.

535.

L. M.

ANONYχοτο
Deliverance from the Fear of Death.
1 O God of love! with cheering ray,
Gild our expiring hour of day;

Thy love, through each revolving year,
Has wiped away affliction's tea

2 Free us from death's terrific gloom,

And all the fear which shrouds the tomb,
Heighten our joys, support our head,

Before we sink among the dead.
3 May death conclude our toils and tears!
May death destroy our sins and fears!
May death, through Jesus, be our friend!

May death be life, when life shall end !
4 Crown our last moment with thy power-

The latest in our latest hour;
Till to the raptured heights we soar,
Where fears and death are known no more

536.

L. M.

R. HIJ
Prayer for the dying Christian.
1 Gently, my Father, let me down

To slumber in the arms of death :
I rest my soul on thee alone,

E’en till my last expiring breath.
2 Soon will the storms of life be o'er,

And I shall enter endless rest:
There I shall live to sin no more,

And bless thy name forever blest.
3 Bid me possess sweet peace within ;

Let childlike patience keep my heart;
Then shall I feel my heaven begin,

Before my spirit hence depart.

537,

C. M.

ANONYMOUS.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Shadon of
Death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Ps. 23.
1 Thou must go forth alone, my soul!

Thou must go forth alone,
To other scenes, to other worlds,
That mortal hath not known.

30* . . 353

Thou must go forth alone, my soul,-.

To tread the narrow vale,
But He, whose word is sure, hath said

His comforts shall not fail.
2 Thou must go forth alone, my soul,

Along the darksome way;
Where the bright sun has never shed

His warm and gladsome ray.
And yet the Sun of Righteousness

Shall rise amidst the gloom,
And scatter from thy trembling gaze

The shadows of the tomb.
3 Thou must go forth alone, my soul'

To meet thy God above :
But shrink not—He hath said, my soul,

He is a God of love.
His rod and staff shall comfort thee

Across the dreary road,
Till thou shalt join the blessed ones

In heaven's serene abode.

638.

7s. & 4s. M. MRS. GILBERT

Prayer for Support in Death.
| When the vale of death appears,

Faint and cold this mortal clay,
O, my Father, soothe my fears,
Light me through the gloomy way

Break the shadows,
Usher in eternal day; —
2 Upward from this dying state

Bid my waiting soul aspire
Open thou the crystal gate;
To thy praise attune my lyre:

Then, triumphant,
I will join th’immortal choir