Much without me tempts astray;
Much within-yea, all is frail:
Save as Thou dost grace display,
Every power I own must fail.
Take then, Lord, Thy rightful place
More, yet more within my heart;
And, through all this earthly race,
Guide, sustain me, ne'er depart.
Ne'er depart, for Jesu's sake,
Till this fleeting life be o'er:
Then, amidst Thy jewels make
Me Thine own for evermore.
Many of the following hymns on the Passion are suitable for this Season.
EAVY and dark the clouds o'erhung
Thy languid, agonizèd gaze,
Whom circling seraphs oft had strung
Their harps to praise !
Around Thee were the impious jest,
And laugh, and taunt, and look of scorn; Above, a God whose smile had blest,
And didst Thou meekly yield Thy breath
In such dread loneliness for me?
Die, that I might not taste of death,
But live with Thee?
Didst Thou endure that God should hide
His face from Thee in wrath awhile,
That I might evermore abide
Beneath His smile?
O Saviour! one more boon alone
Vouchsafe now Thou art gone above;
This heart make utterly Thine own,
WEAK, to suffer; strong, to save!
Lo, on the amazing Cross
Jesus triumphs o'er the grave,
And retrieves each human loss!
Pardon there is won for crime,
Peace for bosoms torn with strife,
For the mourner joys sublime,
For the dying blissful life!
Life, eternal as the Throne
Of the everlasting God,
Now is each believer's own,
Through the atoning precious blood.
O how strong is Love Divine!
Human praise how poor and weak!
Lord, our hearts, our souls are Thine:
Let adoring silence speak!
ROCK of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee:
Let the water and the blood,
From Thy wounded side which flowed,
Be of sin the double cure;
Save from wrath and make me pure.
Should my tears for ever flow,
Should my zeal no languor know,
This for sin could not atone;
Thou must save, and Thou alone:
In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy Cross I cling.
While I draw this fleeting breath,
When mine eyelids close in death,
When I soar to worlds unknown,
See Thee on Thy judgment-throne,
Rock of Ages! cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
SAVIOUR, lend us wings of love.
And faith this day to soar above,
And there enthroned behold
Thee, Lord of all in earth and skies,
With sweet and rapturous melodies
By seraph hosts extolled.
Then, let our ravished souls descend
Swift from the glorious scene, and wend
To one we less can scan;
To Calvary's sacred hill, and there,
While loud revilings rend the air,
Behold a dying Man!
Dying upon a Cross of shame
For sins of every hue and name,
That call for Heaven's dread curse!
Dying for creatures of His hands,
Who trampled on His own commands,
And stained His universe!
Dying, that men, deserving woe
None but the lost for ever know,
May freely be forgiven;
And in that deeply pierced side
May all their sins and sorrows hide;
Then swell the songs of heaven!
Incarnate God! before Thy Cross,
And, counting all beside as loss,
We pray with strong desire,
That Thou, in Thine unmeasured grace,
Wouldst make these souls Thy dwelling-place,
And love profound inspire!
The loneliness of Jesus.
EAR is the eye of earthly love,
And soothing oft her whispered breath,
When o'er us roll the clouds above
The vale of death.
But Heaven's bright smile, and words of grace,
Such solace to the breast convey,
They seem to gild the clouds, or chase
Them quite away.
Incarnate Lord! no cheering smile
From earth or heaven, nor soothing tone, Thy dreary anguish might beguile :
When on my aching burdened heart
My sins lie heavily,
Thy pardon grant, Thy peace impart ;
Good Lord, remember me.
If trials sore beset my way,
And ills I cannot flee,
Then let my strength be as my day;
Good Lord, remember me.
If worn with pain, disease, and grief,
This feeble frame should be,
Grant patience, rest, and kind relief;
Good Lord, remember me.
And O! when in the hour of death
I bow to Thy decree,
Jesus, receive my parting breath:
Good Lord, remember me.
OES one small voice within thy soul
Bid thee to God return?
O bow to Mercy's soft controul,
And all that hinders spurn!
If God had yet forsaken thee,
That voice had ceased to speak;
He would not call to waken thee,
Did He no longer seek.
Then know Him gracious as He is ;
Cast doubt and fear away;
He would be thine; O be thou His,
While yet 'tis called to-day!
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