2 When he first the work begun, Small and feeble was his day: Now the word doth swiftly run,
Now it wins its winding way; More and more it spreads and grows, Ever mighty to prevail;
Sin's strongholds it now o'erthrows, Shakes the trembling gates of hell.
3 Saw ye not the cloud arise, Little as a human hand? Now it spreads along the skies, Hangs o'er all the thirsty land: Lo! the promise of a shower, Drops already from above; But the Lord will shortly pour, All the spirit of his love!
HYMN 586. L. M. [254]
"TIS now the time of strife and war, The contest sounds on every side: Nations are bound to Satan's car,
And who shall meet him in his pride? 2 Is there no arm his power to break? Are there no hearts that deeply feel? Sons of the kingdom! rise, awake! Obey at length your Saviour's will. 3 Go, bear the Gospel banner forth, Its glittering web of light unroll, To gleam sublime from south to north, And scatter light from pole to pole. 4 Hark! tis the trumpet's warning cry! Lo, o'er the earth the banners wave; The Lord of glory comes from high, To rule, to conquer and to save.
HYMN 587. 78. & 6s. [254]
FROM Greenland's icy mountains, From India's coral strand; Where Afric's sunny fountains Roll down their golden sand; From many an ancient river, From many a palmy plain, They call us to deliver
Their land from error's chain.
2 What though the spicy breezes Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle- Though every prospect pleases, And only man is vile- In vain, with lavish kindness, The gifts of God are strown; The heathen in his blindness, Bows down to wood and stone.
3 Shall we, whose souls are lighted By wisdom from on high,-- Shall we to men benighted The lamp of life deny?— Salvation, oh, salvation!
The joyful sound proclaim, Till earth's remotest nation, Has learned Messiah's name.
4 Waft, waft, ye winds, his story, And you, ye waters, roll, Till, like a sea of glory,
It spreads from pole to pole; Till o'er our ransomed nature, The Lamb for sinners slain, Redeemer, King, Creator,- Returns in bliss to reign.
HYMN 588. 7. & 6s.
FROM o'er the Rocky Mountains, Where prairies wide are spread,
Where streams from forest fountains Flow west to ocean's bed,- See savage men descending
To Mississippi's vale, Their eager eyes still bending An eastern light to hail. 2 For they have heard a story Of God's most holy Book, All full of light and glory, On which their eyes may look; And they, like eastern sages, Who journeyed from afar, Have travelled weary stages,
To find the Saviour's star.
3 "Have you that Book from heaven?" These western wise men say;
"To us shall it be given,
To guide us on our way? We're wanderers, all our nation, Deep lost in gloomy night: O, let us know salvation!
O, give us heaven-born light!"
HYMN 589. 7s & 6s. [256]
THE morning light is breaking, The darkness disappears, The sons of earth are waking To penitential tears.
Each breeze that sweeps the ocean, Brings tidings from afar;
The nations are in motion,
To find Messiah's star.
2 Rich dews of grace come o'er us, In many a gentle shower, And brighter scenes before us Are opening every hour; Each cry, to heaven going,
Abundant answers brings, And heavenly gales are blowing, With peace upon their wings. 3 See heathen nations bending Before the God of love, And thousand hearts ascending In gratitude above; While sinners now confessing The Gospel call obey,
And seek the Saviour's blessing, A nation in a day.
BEHOLD, the mountain of the Lord, In latter days, shall rise Above the mountains and the hills, And draw the wondering eyes. 2 To this the joyful nations round, All tribes and tongues shall flow; Up to the hill of God," they say, "And to his courts, we'll go."
3 The beams that shine on Zion's hill Shall lighten every land;
The King who reigns in Zion's towers Shall all the world command.
4 No strife shall vex Messiah's reign, Or mar the peaceful years;
To plough-shares men shall beat their swords, To pruning-hooks their spears.
5 Come, then, O, come from every land, To worship at his shrine;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauty shine.
HYMN 591. L. M. [258]
ARM of the Lord, awake, awake; Put on thy strength, the nations shake;
Now let the world, adoring, see Triumphs of mercy wrought by thee. 2 Say to the heathen, from thy throne, “I am Jehovah, God alone:"
Thy voice their idols shall confound, And cast their altars to the ground.
3 Let Zion's time of favor come; O, bring the tribes of Israel home: Soon may our wondering eyes behold Gentiles and Jews in Jesus' fold.
4 Almighty God, thy grace proclaim Through every clime of every name; Let adverse powers before thee fall, And crown the Saviour Lord of all.
HYMN 592. L. M. [258]
ARISE, arise, with joy survey The glory of the latter day; Already is the dawn begun Which marks at hand a rising sun. 2 “Behold the way," ye heralds, cry; Spare not, but lift your voices high; Convey the sound from pole to pole, "Glad tidings" to the captive soul. 3 "Behold the way to Zion's hill, Where Israel's God delights to dwell: He fixes there his lofty throne, And calls the sacred place his own."
4 The north gives up; the south no more Keeps back her consecrated store; From east to west the message runs,
And either India yields her sons.
HYMN 593. C. M. [250]
DAUGHTER of Zion, from the dust Exalt thy fallen head ;
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