UR dead may not be far away,
Though hidden from our sight;
Not farther than the opening day
Is from the closing night.
If living friends oft nearer seem,
Because their forms we see,
The friends we miss, and distant deem,
As near in truth may be.
O Father! if it be Thy will
Our sainted lost should come,
As love may prompt, to visit still
Unseen their former home;
If now, with power to search the breast,
Not less than scan the life,
They watch with heaven-born interest
Our hopes, and fears, and strife;
O grant that they may ever see
We seek, we yearn to rise,
Until, like them, we gaze on Thee,
And share with them the skies.
THE gift all other gifts above,
Shall not be lost in death;
Too strong, too great, is holy love,
To fail with failing breath.
The light divine, that seems to die,
But sets to rise at morn;
The life, all quenched to mortal eye,
Becomes but life new-born.
Our first birth wakes a note of pain,
The next a thankful song,
The last and best a rapturous strain
'Mid heaven's immortal throng.
O Fount of Life! O Quickening Breath!
Still in our souls abide :
Then love shall chase the fear of death,
And every fear beside.
Strength for the Last Hour.
N life's last hour, when sinking to the tomb, Still grant me strength to look, to cling to Thee! Light of my soul, in brightness and in gloom, Let this remain through every change I see!
Bereft of Thee, O whither could I
go ?
Dreary and dark and lone, one boundless grave,
Would be the universe, did I not know
That Thou wert nigh to succour and to save.
Then be Thou mine! be now, be ever mine!
For ever let me look and cling to Thee!
And when life fails, O let Thy love divine
Light my still soul into eternity!
Priceless treasure, thou art mine ;
Mine, to teach Jehovah's name,
Whose I am, and whence I came.
Mine, to show His gift of love,
Every other gift above,
Jesus, His beloved Son,
And what He for man hath done.
Mine, to tell of joys to come,
Warn me of the sinner's doom,
Make me meet, through trust and love,
For the eternal home above.
Mine, to comfort in distress,
Guide through all my life, and bless;
Then, when fails this mortal breath,
Mine, to yield me peace in death.
Father, let the Light from heaven,
Thy Good Spirit, too, be given;
And then, both the Book Divine
And all else I need is mine.
The Brightening Treasure.
LORD, Thy Word, our brightening treasure
In life's deepest shade,
Yieldeth still increasing pleasure,
As all else doth fade;
From the wilderness it shows
How the land of promise glows
O'er the vale of sweet repose,
Where the dead are laid.
Sweet repose, until the breaking
Of that coming day,
When the holy sleepers waking
Shall their home survey:
Then not seraph's tongue may tell
'Mid what glories they shall dwell,
With what notes of rapture swell
Heaven's eternal lay.
May the Sacred Page be clearer
To our vision still:
May the good it shows be dearer,
Hated more the ill :
Grant us, Lord, the grace we need,
Light vouchsafe us as we read,
Tend us, guard, and safely lead
To Thy holy hill.
CAN the Sacred Page devoutly:
Often shall its light sublime
Break upon thee like the morning,
In the vernal time.
So thy grateful heart shall prize it,
And to thee shall be revealed
More and more the good unmeasured,
Truth when loved can yield.
Thou the liberty and beauty,
Thou the greatness shalt perceive,
Of the life in Jesus hidden,
And to Him shalt cleave.
Ways of pleasantness shall cheer thee,
Paths of peace shall soothe,
Till thy heart be meet for heaven,
Sanctified by Truth!
WEET are waters freshly flowing
In a weary land,
When to fainting travellers showing
All they crave at hand:
Sweeter, Lord, Thy word of grace,
When the anguished heart can trace
There its comfort, and embrace
All its griefs demand.
How the barren waste is brightened,
And with fruitage teems,
When the eye by Thee enlightened
Sees the living streams!
Tranquil now the soul's repose,
High and pure the hope it knows,
Fair its visions as the rose
In the morning beams!
Fairer still shall be the heaven
Soon to be descried;
Sweeter joys shall yet be given,
Lovelier scenes espied:
Lord, till every ear have heard,
Every heart to praise be stirred,
Spread the tidings of Thy word
Wide-as ocean wide! *
For tune see end of Index.
The Lord's Day and House.
God's Presence and Grace.
GOD, vouchsafe Thy presence here;
Incline us now to seek Thy face;
And grant that all, with love and fear,
May sing Thy praise, and ask Thy grace.
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