More welcome than the morning's face
To those who long for breaking day,
Great God! is that abundant grace
Which thy kind promises display.
Our trust is fix'd upon thy word,
Nor shall we trust thy word in vain :
Let contrite souls address the Lord,
And find relief from all their pain.
The Mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
O GOD, all-holy, and all-just!
Thy mercy we adore,
Which bids us in thy promise trust,
And go and sin no more.
When humbled, Lord, before thy face,
Or with despondence tried,
We see the tokens of thy grace
In Jesus crucified.
His word hath power to make us whole,
And life and light impart ;
To sanctify the inmost soul,
And heal the broken heart.
Our life's best praise, O God, be thine,
For this effulgent ray,
Sent from thy glorious light to shine,
And turn our gloom to day.
Christ Jesus set forth as a Mercy-seat.
Rom. iii. 25.
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BEHOLD the gospel Mercy-seat!
Let penitence in faith draw near :
Lo! truth and grace with justice meet,
The humbled contrite soul to cheer.
When it bewails the stains of sin,
And shuns the unrighteous thought or deed,
Thou givest mercy, Lord, within,
And grace to help in time of need.
No longer let the gloom and fears
Of nature's twilight sink the heart;
The Saviour's words dispel our tears,
And peace and hope and light impart.
He leads us to a Father's throne;
And the sure hope through him is given,
That, when the work of faith is done,
We have a sinless home in heaven.
'Blessed are they that mourn.'—Matt. v. 4.
COME, ye who mourn, and dry your tears,
And let your sorrows cease;
For lo! the Son of Man appears,
To calm the sufferer's anxious fears,
And soothe his soul to peace.
Come, ye who mourn a sinful choice,
Come and efface the stain :
For lo! the blest Redeemer's voice
Bids every contrite heart rejoice,
And whispers peace again.
Come, ye who mourn, with woes opprest,
And cast your cares behind :
Come lean upon your Saviour's breast,
And hush the anxious soul to rest,
And calm the troubled mind.
Come, ye who weep departed friends,
Come, all to sorrow driven :
Lo! o'er the grave hope's rainbow bends,
Whose beauty from the earth extends
And reaches up to heaven.
Life, Death, and the Resurrection.
ETERNAL God! how frail is man!
Few are his hours, and short his span,
Between the cradle and the grave:
Who can prolong his vital breath?
Who from the bold demands of death
Hath skill to fly, or power to save?
But let no murmuring heart complain,
That therefore man is made in vain,
Nor the Creator's grace distrust:
For though his servants, day by day,
Go to their graves, and turn to clay
A bright reward awaits the just.
Jesus hath made thy purpose known,
A new and better life hath shown,
And we the glorious tidings hear:
For ever blessed be the Lord,
That we can read his holy word,
And find a resurrection there.
That grace for ever, Lord, we praise,
Which to thy saints the hope displays,
Of endless life without a pain :
Let all below and all above,
Join to proclaim the wondrous love,
Which makes e'en death itself our gain !
Treasures that wax not Old.
THESE mortal joys, how soon they fade!
How swift they pass away!
The dying flower reclines its head,
The beauty of a day.
Soon are these earthly treasures lost,
We fondly call our own;
Scarce the possession can we boast,
When straight we find them gone.
But there are joys that cannot die,
With God laid up in store;
Treasures beyond the changing sky,
Brighter than golden ore.
To those the rising soul aspires,
Secure to find her rest;
And glories in such wide desires,
Of all her wish possest.
The seeds which piety and love
Have scatter'd here below,
In the fair fertile fields above,
To ample harvests grow.
The Death of Friends Improved.
MUST friends and kindred droop and die,
Must helpers be withdrawn,
While sorrow, with a weeping eye,
Counts up our comforts gone?
Be thou our comfort, mighty God!
Our helper and our friend :
Nor leave us in this dangerous road,
Till all our trials end.
Oh may our feet pursue the way
Our pious fathers led;
While love and holy zeal obey
The counsels of the dead.
All flesh is as grass-but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.'-1 Pet. i. 24, 25.
THE morning flowers display their sweets,
And gay their silken leaves unfold,
As careless of the noon-day heats,
And fearless of the evening cold.
Nipt by the wind's unkindly blast,
Parch'd by the sun's meridian ray,
The momentary glories waste,
The short-liv'd beauties die away.
So blooms the human face divine,
When youth its pride of beauty shows;
Fairer than spring the colours shine,
And sweeter than the opening rose.
But worn by slowly rolling years,
Or broke by sickness in a day,
The fading glory disappears,
The short-liv'd beauties die away.
Yet these, new-rising from the tomb,
With lustre brighter far shall shine;
Revive with ever-during bloom,
Safe from diseases and decline.
Let sickness blast, and death devour,
Since heaven will recompense our pains:
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