Those happy days present,

When I, with crowds of pious

friends,

A boundless ocean of bright beams From Thy all-glorious Godhead streams.

4 Blest Jesus, Thou, on heaven intent,
Whole nights hast in devotion spent:
But I, frail creature, soon am tired,
And all my zeal is soon expired.

5 Shine on me, Lord, new life impart;
Fresh ardours kindle in my heart:
One ray of Thine all-quickening light
Dispels the sloth and clouds of night.
6 Lord, lest the tempter me surprise,
Watch over Thine own sacrifice:
All loose, all idle thoughts cast out,
And make my very dreams devout.
THOMAS KEN. 1697.

992

C.M.

Health, strength, and life too, fast decay,

O grant Thy presence then!

2 The voice which once in mercy said, As o'er the billowy tide

It came, ""Tis I, be not afraid,"
And fears were cast aside;-

3 That voice beside my dying bed
Must whisper still, "Tis I;"
Or filled with overwhelming dread,
I dare not, cannot die.

4 But let me those glad accents hear,
And then, though tempests roar,
And the big waves roll dark and drear,
Fearless I'll quit the shore!
THOMAS DAVIS. 1855.

993

1

2

3

AB

7.6.

Our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath
abolished death.-2 TIM. i. 10.

H! I shall soon be dying,
Time swiftly glides away;
But, on my Lord relying,
I hail the happy day :
The day when I must enter
Upon a world unknown;
My helpless soul I venture

On Jesus Christ alone.
He once a spotless victim,
Upon Mount Calvary bled;
Jehovah did afflict Him,

And bruise Him in my stead. 4 Hence all my hope arises, Unworthy as I am :

MATT. xiv. 27.

1THY presence, Lord, hath been

my stay,

In health and strength; and when

The grateful song I'll raise, And chant my blissful story In high seraphic lays.

JOHN RYLAND. 1793.

THE

Are preaching of decay;
The hollow winds are calling,
"Come, pilgrim, come away;"
The day in night declining,
Says I too must decline;
The year is life resigning-
Its lot foreshadows mine.

2 The light my path surrounding,
The love to which I cling,
The hopes within me bounding,
The joys that round me sing—
All melt like stars of even

Before the morning's ray,
Pass upward into heaven,
And chide at my delay.
3.The friends, gone there before me,
Are calling from on high;
And joyous angels o'er me

Tempt sweetly to the sky. "Why wait," they say, "and wither, Mid scenes of death and sin?

O rise to glory hither,

And find true life begin!"

4 I hear the invitation,

And fain would rise and come,

A sinner, to salvation;

An exile, to his home:

But while I here must linger,
Thus, thus let all I see
Point on with faithful finger
To heaven, O Lord, and Thee.
HENRY F. LYTE. 1833.

I triumph still if Thou abide with

7 Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes, [me to the skies; Shine through the gloom, and point Heaven's morning breaks, and earth's vain shadows flee;

In life, and death, O Lord, abide with me!

HENRY F. LYTE. 1847.

112th.

996 At evening time it shall be light.

1

ZECH. xiv. 7.

AT evening time-when day is

done,

Life's little day is near its close,
And all the glare and heat are gone,
And gentle dews foretell repose;
To crown my faith before the
night,-

At evening time let there be light.

1

GEORGE RAWSON.

L.M.

1857.

The time of my departure is at kand. 2 TIM. iv. 6.

THE

HE hour of my departure's come,
I hear the voice that calls me
home;

At last, O Lord! let trouble cease,
And let Thy servant die in peace.

2 The race appointed I have run,
The combat's o'er, the prize is won;
And now my witness is on high,
And now my record's in the sky.
3 Not in mine innocence I trust,-
I bow before Thee in the dust;
And, through my Saviour's blood
alone,

I look for mercy at Thy throne. 4 I come, I come at Thy command; I give my spirit to Thy hand; Stretch forth Thine everlasting arms, And shield me in the last alarms.

MICHAEL BRUCE. 1768.

1001

7.6.

Thou art the same, and Thy years shall have no end.-PSA. cii. 27.

1 GOD, the Rock of ages,

Who evermore hast been,
What time the tempest rages,
Our dwelling-place serene:
Before Thy first creations,

O Lord, the same as now,
To endless generations

The Everlasting Thou!

2 Our years are like the shadows
On sunny hills that lie,
Or grasses in the meadows

That blossom but to die:
A sleep, a dream, a story
By strangers quickly told,
An unremaining glory

Of things that soon are old.
3 0 Thou, who canst not slumber,
Whose light grows never pale,
Teach us aright to number
Our years before they fail.
On us Thy mercy lighten

On us Thy goodness rest,
And let Thy Spirit brighten

The hearts Thyself hast blest.

4 Lord, crown our faith's endeavour
With beauty and with grace,
Till, clothed in light for ever,
We see Thee face to face:
A joy no language measures;
A fountain brimming o'er;
An endless flow of pleasures:
An ocean without shore.

E. H. BICKERSTETH. 1870.