To realms of bliss and light
1 BRIGHTEST and best of the sons of the
He lifts you from the tomb: Your voices raise, Your songs unite
Dawn on our darkness, and lend us thine With sons of light; | Of endless praise.
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
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WHEN, marshaled on the nightly plain,
The glittering host bestud the sky,
One star alone, of all the train,
Can fix the sinner's wandering eye.
Hark! hark! to God the chorus breaks,
From every host, from every gem;
But one alone the Saviour speaks,-
It is the Star of Bethlehem.
Once on the raging seas I rode,
The storm was loud, the night was dark,-
The ocean yawned-and rudely blowed
The wind, that tossed my foundering bark.
Deep horror then my vitals froze,
Death-struck, I ceased the tide to stem;-
When suddenly a star arose,-
It was the Star of Bethlehem.
Guide where our infant Redeemer is laid. 5 It was my guide, my light, my all;
It bade my dark forebodings cease;
And, through the storm, and danger's
It led me to the port of peace.
6 Now safely moored-my perils o'er, I'll sing, first in night's diadem, Forever and forevermore,
The Star-the Star of Bethlehem!
3 "Peace on earth, good-will from heaven,
Reaching far as man is found;
Souls redeemed, and sins forgiven!
Loud our golden harps shall sound.
4 "Christ is born, the great Anointed;
Heaven and earth his praises sing!
Oh, receive whom God appointed,
For your Prophet, Priest, and King!
5"Haste, ye mortals, to adore him;
Learn his name, and taste his joy;
Till in heaven ye sing before him—
Glory be to God most high !'"
2 His name shall be the Prince of Peace,
Forevermore adored;
The Wonderful, the Counselor,
The great and mighty Lord!
3 His power, increasing, still shall spread;
His reign no end shall know:
Justice shall guard his throne above,
And peace abound below.
1 THE wise men to thy cradle-throne,
O infant Saviour! brought of old
The incense meet for God alone,
Sharp myrrh and shining gold.
2 Shine on us too, bright eastern star,
Thine own baptizéd Gentile band,
Till we have found our Lord from far,
An offering in our hand.
3 Till we have brought the fine gold rare
Of zeal, that giveth all for love;
Till we have prayed the glowing prayer,
Like incense borne above.
4 Till bitter tears our eyes have wet,
Because our wilful hearts would err;
Worship, and love, and sorrow, met,
Gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
5 All meet for thee, our own Adored!
Our suffering Saviour, God and King!
Accept the gold and incense, Lord,
Accept the myrrh we bring!
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1 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.
1 HARK! the herald angels sing,
Glory to the new-born King!
Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconciled."
2 Joyful, all ye nations, rise;
Join the triumphs of the skies;
With the angelic hosts proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem."
3 Mild he lays his glory by;
Born that man no more may die;
Born to raise the sons of earth;
Born to give them second birth.
4 Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail, the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
5 Let us then with angels sing,
"Glory to the new-born King!-
Peace on earth and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!"
1 BEHOLD, where, in a mortal form, Appears each grace divine!
The virtues, all in Jesus met,
With mildest radiance shine.
2 To spread the rays of heavenly light,
To give the mourner joy,
To preach glad tidings to the poor,
Was his divine employ.
3 'Mid keen reproach and cruel scorn,
He meck and patient stood;
His foes, ungrateful, sought his life,
Who labored for their good.
4 In the last hour of deep distress,
Before his Father's throne,
With soul resigned he bowed and said,-
"Thy will, not mine, be done!"
5 Be Christ our pattern, and our guide,
His image may we bear;
Oh! may we tread his holy steps,-
His joy and glory share.
1 A PILGRIM through this lonely world, The blessed Saviour passed;
A mourner all his life was he,
A dying Lamb at last.
2 That tender heart that felt for all,
For all its life-blood gave;
It found on earth no resting-place,
Save only in the grave.
3 Such was our Lord; and shall we fear The cross, with all its scorn?
Or love a faithless evil world,
That wreathed his brow with thorn?
4 No! facing all its frowns or smiles, Like him, obedient still,
We homeward press thro' storm or calm, To Zion's blessed hill.
1 WHAT grace, O Lord, and beauty shone
Around thy steps below;
What patient love was seen in all
Thy life and death of woe.
2 For, ever on thy burdened heart
A weight of sorrow hung;
Yet no ungentle, murmuring word
Escaped thy silent tongue.
3 Thy foes might hate, despise, revile,
Thy friends unfaithful prove;
Unwearied in forgiveness still,
Thy heart could only love.
4 Oh, give us hearts to love like thee!
Like thee, O Lord, to grieve
Far more for others' sins than all
The wrongs that we receive.
5 One with thyself, may every eye,
In us, thy brethren, see
The gentleness and grace that spring
From union, Lord! with thee.
1. Je sus thy love shall we forget, And never bring to
The grace that paid our hopeless debt, And bade us
1 JESUS! thy love shall we forget,
And never bring to mind
The grace that paid our hopeless debt,
And bade us pardon find?
2 Shall we thy life of grief forget,
Thy fasting and thy prayer;
Thy locks with mountain vapors wet,
To save us from despair?
3 Gethsemane can we forget-
Thy struggling agony;
When night lay dark on Olivet,
And none to watch with thee?
4 Our sorrows and our sins were laid
On thee, alone on thee:
Thy precious blood our ransom paid—
Thine all the glory be!
5 Life's brightest joys we may forget-
Our kindred cease to love;
But he who paid our hopeless debt,
Our constancy shall prove.
1 LORD, as to thy dear cross we flee,
And pray to be forgiven,
So let thy life our pattern be,
And form our souls for heaven.
2 Help us, through good report and ill, Our daily cross to bear;
Like thee, to do our Father's will,
Our brother's griefs to share.
1 THOU art the Way: to thee alone
From sin and death we flec;
And he who would the Father seek,
Must seek him, Lord, by thee.
2 Thou art the Truth: thy word alone
True wisdom can impart;
Thou only canst instruct the mind,
And purify the heart.
3 Thou art the Life: the rending tomb
Proclaims thy conquering arm;
And those who put their trust in thee
Nor death nor hell shall harm.
4 Thou art the Way, the Truth, the Life:
Grant us to know that Way;
That Truth to keep, that Life to win,
Which leads to endless day.
1. My dear Redeem - er, and my Lord, I read my du ty
1 My dear Redeemer, and my Lord,
I read my duty in thy word;
But in thy life the law appears,
Drawn out in living characters.
2 Such was thy truth, and such thy zeal,
Such deference to thy Father's will,
Such love, and meekness so divine,
I would transcribe and make them mine.
3 Cold mountains and the midnight air
Witnessed the fervor of thy prayer;
The desert thy temptations knew,
Thy conflict and thy victory too.
4 Be thou my pattern; make me bear
More of thy gracious image here;
Then God, the Judge, shall own my name
Among the followers of the Lamb.
1 MAKE us, by thy transforming grace,
Dear Saviour, daily more like thee!
Thy fair example may we trace,
To teach us what we ought to be!
2 To do thy heavenly Father's will
Was thy employment and delight;
Humility and holy zeal
Shone through thy life divinely bright.
3 But ah! how blind! how weak we are!
How frail! how apt to turn aside!
Lord, we depend upon thy care,
And ask thy Spirit for our guide.
1 Nor to condemn the sons of men, Did Christ, the Son of God, appear; No weapons in his hands are seen, No flaming sword, nor thunder there. 2 Such was the pity of our God, He loved the race of man so well, He sent his Son to bear our load Of sins, and save our souls from hell. 3 Sinners, believe the Saviour's word; Trust in his mighty name, and live: A thousand joys his lips afford, His hands a thousand blessings give. 302.
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