The Church Psalmist

mf 4 Endless pleasure, pain excluding,

Sickness there, no more can come;
There, no fear of wo, intruding,

Sheds o'er heaven a moment's gloom.
m 5 Now, ye mourners! cease to languish,
O'er the grave of those you love;
Far removed from pain and anguish,
They are chanting hymns above.

620

m 1

HEA

HYMN 620, C. M.

Dying in the Lord.

[EAR what the voice from heaven proclaime
For all the pious dead;-

"Sweet is the savor of their names,
And soft their sleeping-bed.

Р P 2 "They die in Jesus, and are blessed,-
How kind their slumbers are!

From sufferings, and from sins, released,
And freed from every snare.

3 "Far from this world of toil and strife,
They 're present with the Lord;
The labors of their mortal life
End in a large reward.”

621.

WHY

HYMN 621, C. M.

Mourning with Hope.

THY should our tears in sorrow flow,
When God recalls his own;

And bids them leave a world of wo,
For an immortal crown?

- 2 Is not e'en death a gain to those,
Whose life to God was given?
Gladly to earth their eyes they close,
To open them in heaven.

- 3 Their toils are past-their work is done,
And they are fully blest;

They fought the fight, the vict❜ry won,
And entered into rest.

4 Then let our sorrows cease to flow,-
God has recalled his own;

But let our hearts, in every woe,
Still say,-"Thy will be done!"

622.

HYMN 622, C. M.

Prayer in View of Death.

aff 1 WHEN, bending o'er the brink of life,

My trembling soul shall stand,
Waiting to pass death's awful flood,
Great God! at thy command;-

2 When every long-loved scene of life
Stands ready to depart;

When the last sigh that shakes the frame
Shall rend this bursting heart;-

3 O thou great Source of joy supreme!
Whose arm alone can save,—

Dispel the darkness, that surrounds
The entrance to the grave.

> 4 Lay thy supporting, gentle hand
Beneath my sinking head;

And, with a ray of love divine,
Illume my dying bed.

mp 5 Leaning on thy dear faithful breast,
May I resign my breath,

And, in thy fond embraces, lose
The bitterness of death."

こ

623.

m 1

How

HYMN 623, S. M.
Reflections on past Generations.

W swift the torrent rolls,
That bears us to the sea!

The tide which hurries thoughtless souls
To vast eternity!

- 2 Our fathers!-where are they,

With all they called their own?

Their joys and griefs-and hopes and cares,
And wealth and honor-gone!

3 But joy or grief succeeds

Beyond our mortal thought,

While still the remnant of their dust

Lies in the grave forgot.

mp 4 There, where the fathers lie,

Must all the children dwell;

Nor other heritage possess,
But such a gloomy cell.

-5 God of our fathers! hear,-
Thou everlasting friend!-
While we, as on life's utmost verge,
Our souls to thee commend.

6 Of all the pious dead

May we the footsteps trace,
Till with them, in the land of light,
We dwell before thy face.

624.

m 1

mp 2

HYMN 624, L. M.

Death of the Righteous.

HOW
HOW blest the righteous when he dies,-

When sinks a weary soul to rest!
How mildly beam the closing eyes!
How gently heaves th' expiring breast!

So fades a summer-cloud away;

So sinks a gale when storms are o'er;
So gently shuts the eye of day;

So dies a wave along the shore.

mp 3 A holy quiet reigns around,

A calm which life nor death destroys,
Nothing disturbs that peace profound,
Which his unfettered soul enjoys.

4 Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears!

> 5

Where lights and shades alternate dwell:
How bright th' unchanging morn appears!
Farewell, inconstant world! farewell!
Life's duty done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies;

While heaven and earth combine to say,-
'How blest the righteous when he dies!"

625.

mf 1

HYMN 625, 8s and 7s.

The dying Saint comforted.

APPY soul! thy days are ending,--
All thy mourning days below:

Go, the angel-guards attending-
To the sight of Jesus go!
Waiting to receive thy spirit,

Lo! the Saviour stands above;
Shows the fullness of his merit-
Reaches out the crown of love.

2 For the joy he sets before thee,
Bear a momentary pain;
Die-to live a life of glory;
Suffer-with thy Lord to reign:
Struggle, through thy latest passion,
To thy dear Redeemer's breast,-
To his uttermost salvation,-

626.

To his everlasting rest.

HYMN 626, 7s and 4.
Support in Death.

aff 1 WHEN the vale of death appears,

Faint and cold this mortal clay,

Kind Forerunner! soothe my fears,
Light me through the darksome way;
Break the shadows,--

Usher in eternal day.

2 Upward from this dying state,
Bid my waiting soul aspire;
Open thou the chrystal gate;
To thy praise attune my lyre:
Then, triumphant,-

I will join th' immortal choir.

3 When the mighty trumpet, blown,
Shall the judgment-dawn proclaim,
From the central, burning throne,
Mid creation's final flame,

With the ransomed,

627.

aff 1

Thou wilt own my worthless name.

HYMN 627, C. M.

Mourning with Hope.

HAT once-loved form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;

And nature weeps, her comforts fled,

And withered all her joys.

- 2 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,

- 3

When what we now deplore

Shall rise, in full immortal prime,

And bloom to fade no more.

Then cease, fond nature! cease thy tears,
Religion points on high;

628.

There everlasting spring appears,
And joys that cannot die.

HYMN 628, L. M.

Death of an Infant.

mp 1 SO fades the lovely, blooming flower,-
Frail smiling solace of an hour!
So soon our transient comforts fly,
And pleasure only blooms to die.
aff 2 Is there no kind,—no lenient art,
To heal the anguish of the heart?
Spirit of grace! be ever nigh,

Thy comforts are not made to die. p 3 Bid gentle patience smile on pain, Till dying hope shall live again;

Hope wipes the tear from sorrow's eye,
And faith points upward to the sky.

629.

mp 1

HOW

HYMN 629, C. M.

The Grave peaceful.

OW still and peaceful is the grave,
Where,-life's vain tumults past,-
Th' appointed house, by heaven's decrec,
Receives us all at last!

- 2 The wicked there from troubling cease,
Their passions rage no more;
And there, the weary pilgrim rests
From all the toils he bore.