JESUS CHRIST, HIS CHARACTER AND

217.

OFFICES.

8 & 7s. M.

Song of the Angels of Bethlehem.

1 HARK! what mean those holy voices,
Sweetly sounding through the skies?
Lo! th' angelic host rejoices;

Heavenly hallelujahs rise.

2 Listen to the wondrous story,

Which they chant in hymns of joy : "Glory in the highest, glory!

Glory be to God most high!

CAWOOD.

3 "Peace on earth, good-will from heaven,
Reaching far as man is found:
Souls redeemed and sins forgiven :-
Loud our golden harps shall sound..
4 "Christ is born, the great Anointed;
Heaven and earth his praises sing!
O, receive whom God appointed,
For your Prophet, Priest, and King."
5 Let us learn the wondrous story
Of our great Redeemer's birth;
Spread the brightness of his glory,
Till it cover all the earth.

218.

C. M.

Nativity of Christ.

PATRICK.

1 WHILE shepherds watched their flocks by night,

All seated on the ground,

The angel of the Lord came down,

And glory shone around.

2 "Fear not," said he, for mighty dread

Had seized their troubled mind;

"Glad tidings of great joy I bring
To you and all mankind.

3 "To you, in David's town, this day
Is born, of David's line,

The Saviour, who is Christ the Lord;
And this shall be the sign :-

4 "The heavenly babe you there shall find
To human view displayed,

All meanly wrapped in swathing bands,
And in a manger laid."

5 Thus spake the seraph, and forthwith
Appeared a shining throng
Of angels praising God, and thus
Addressed their joyful song:-
6 "All glory be to God on high,
And to the earth be peace!

Good-will henceforth, from heaven to men,
Begin and never cease."

1 CALM on the listening ear of night

Come heaven's melodious strains,

Where wild Judea stretches far
Her silver-mantled plains!

2 Celestial choirs, from courts above,
Shed sacred glories there;

E. H. SEARS.

And angels, with their sparkling lyres,
Make music on the air.

3 The answering hills of Palestine -
Send back the glad reply;
And greet, from all their holy heights,
The dayspring from on high.

4 O'er the blue depths of Galilee

There comes a holier calm,

And Sharon waves, in solemn praise,
Her silent groves of palm.

5 "Glory to God!" the sounding skies.
Loud with their anthems ring;

"Peace to the earth, — good-will to men,
From heaven's Eternal King!"

6 Light on thy hills, Jerusalem !
The Saviour now is born!

And bright on Bethlehem's joyous plains
Breaks the first Christmas morn.

220.

7s. M.

Report of the Watchman.

BOWRING.

1 WATCHMAN! tell us of the night,
What its signs of promise are.
Traveller! o'er yon mountain's height
See that glory-beaming star.

2 Watchman! does its beauteous ray
Aught of hope or joy foretell?
Traveller yes; it brings the day,
Promised day of Israel.

3 Watchman! tell us of the night;
Higher yet that star ascends.
Traveller blessedness and light,
Peace and truth, its course portends.
4 Watchman! will its beams alone
Gild the spot that gave them birth?
Traveller! ages are its own;

See, it bursts o'er all the earth.
5 Watchman! tell us of the night,
For the morning seems to dawn.
Traveller darkness takes its flight;
Doubt and terror are withdrawn.

6 Watchman! let thy wanderings cease;
Hie thee to thy quiet home.

Traveller! lo! the Prince of Peace,
Lo! the Son of God, is come.

221.

C. M.

The guiding Star.

SPIRIT OF THE PSALMS.

1 BRIGHT was the guiding star, that led,

With mild, benignant ray,
The Gentiles to the lowly bed
Where our Redeemer lay.

2 But, lo! a brighter, clearer light
Now points to his abode;

It shines through sin and sorrow's night,
To guide us to our Lord.

3 O, haste to follow where it leads ;
The gracious call obey,

Be rugged wilds, or flowery meads,
The Christian's destined way.

4 O, gladly tread the narrow path,
While light and grace are given ;
Who meekly follow Christ on earth
Shall reign with him in heaven.

222.

7s. M.

Birth of Christ.

SPIRIT OF THE PSALM

1 HAIL, all hail the joyful morn!
Tell it forth from earth to heaven,
That to us a child is born,

That to us a son is given.

2 Angels, bending from the sky,
Chanted at the wondrous birth;
"Glory be to God on high,

Peace, good-will to man on earth."

3 Join we then our feeble lays
To the chorus of the sky;
And, in songs of grateful praise,
Glory give to God on high.

223.

C. M.

S. W. LIVERMORE

The Coming of Christ.

1 GLORY to God, and peace on earth,
Was once by angels sung;
Glad tidings of a Saviour's birth

Through plains of Bethlehem rung.
2 He came to make the feeble strong,
To heal the deaf and blind,

To give the dumb the voice of song,
And free the captive mind.

3 He came the light of life to show,
The true and living way;

Where streams of joy unceasing flow,
And lead to endless day.

4 Glory to God! the gospel's sound
Our churches echo still ;

Spread it, O Lord, the world around,
And with its spirit fill.

5 Glory to God! our hearts acclaim;
O, haste the happy time,

When songs shall sound the Saviour's name
O'er every distant clime.

1 WHEN in silence, o'er the deep,
Darkness kept its deathlike sleep;
Soon as God his mandate spoke,
Light in wondrous beauty broke.
2 But a beam of holier light.
Gilded Bethlehem's lonely night,
When the glory of the Lord,
Mercy's sunlight, shone abroad.

M. W. HALE.

3 "Peace on earth, good-will to men,"
Burst the glorious anthem then ;