2 Joy of the desolate, Light of the straying, Hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure; Here speaks the Comforter, tenderly saying, Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure. 3 Here see the Bread of Life; see waters flowing Forth from the throne of God, pure from above; Come to the feast of love, come, ever knowing Earth has no sorrow but Heaven can remove. 6s & 4s.

270

TO-DAY the Saviour calls!

Ye wanderers, come;

O ye benighted souls,
Why longer roam?

2 To-day the Saviour calls;

Oh listen now;

Within these sacred walls

To Jesus bow.

3 To-day the Saviour calls!
For refuge fly;

The storm of vengeance falls,

Ruin is nigh.

4 The Spirit calls to-day;

Yield to His power ;

Oh grieve Him not away,

'T is mercy's hour.

2 Ho! ye needy, come and welcome!
God's free bounty glorify;

3

True belief, and true repentance,
Every grace that brings us nigh,
Without money,

Come to Jesus Christ, and buy.

Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness He requireth,

Is to feel your need of Him;
This He gives you,

'Tis the Spirit's rising beam.

2 Agonizing in the garden,

Lo, your Maker prostrate lies!
On the bloody tree behold Him;
Hear Him cry before He dies,
"It is finished!"

Sinners, will not this suffice?

3 Lo, the Incarnate God ascended,
Pleads the merit of His blood!
Venture on Him, venture wholly ;
Let no other trust intrude;

None but Jesus

Can do helpless sinners good.

273

4 Saints and angels joined in concert,
Sing the praises of the Lamb;

While the blissful seats of heaven

Sweetly echo with His name:
Hallelujah!

Sinners here may sing the same.

GOD calling yet! shall I not hear?

L. M.

Earth's pleasures shall I still hold dear?

Shall life's swift passing years all fly,
And still my soul in slumbers lie?

2 God calling yet! shall I not rise?
Can I His loving voice despise,
And basely His kind care repay?
He calls me still; can I delay?

3 God calling yet! and shall He knock,
And I my heart the closer lock?
He still is waiting to receive,
And shall I dare His Spirit grieve?

4 God calling yet! and shall I give
No heed, but still in bondage live?
I wait, but He does not forsake ;
He calls me still; my heart, awake !

5 God calling yet! I cannot stay;
My heart I yield without delay:

274

Vain world, farewell! from thee I part;
The voice of God hath reached my heart.

'HY will ye waste on trifling cares

WHY

L. M.

That life which God's compassion spares?

While in the various range of thought,

The one thing needful is forgot?

275

2 Shall God invite you from above?
Shall Jesus urge His dying love?
Shall troubled conscience give you pain?
And all these pleas unite in vain ?
3 Almighty God, Thy grace impart ;
Fix deep conviction on each heart;
Nor let us waste on trifling cares
That life which Thy compassion spares.

SAY, sinner, hath a voice within

Oft whispered to thy secret soul,
Urged thee to leave the ways of sin,

And yield thy heart to God's control?
2 Hath something met thee in the path
Of worldliness and vanity,

L. M.

And pointed to the coming wrath,
And warned thee from that wrath to flee?

3 Sinner, it was a heavenly voice,

It was the Spirit's gracious call;
It bade thee make the better choice,
And haste to seek in Christ thine all.

4 Spurn not the call to life and light;

Regard in time the warning kind; .
That call thou mayest not always slight,
And yet the gate of mercy find.

5 God's Spirit will not always strive
With hardened, self-destroying man;
Ye who persist His love to grieve,
May never hear His voice again.

6 Sinner, perhaps this very day

Thy last accepted time may be;
Oh, shouldst thou grieve Him now away,
Then hope may never beam on thee.

276

7s, 6 lines.

ROM the cross uplifted high,
Where the Saviour deigns to die,
What melodious sounds we hear,
Bursting on the ravished ear!
"Love's redeeming work is done;
Come and welcome, sinner, come!"

2 "Sprinkled now with blood the throne;
Why beneath thy burdens groan?
On My piercéd body laid,

Justice owns the ransom paid;
Bow the knee, and kiss the Son :
Come and welcome, sinner, come!

3 "Spread for thee, the festal board
See with richest dainties stored;
To thy Father's bosom prest,
Yet again a child confest,
Never from His house to roam,
Come and welcome, sinner, come!

4

"Soon the days of life shall end;
Lo I come, your Saviour, Friend,
Safe your spirit to convey
To the realms of endless day :
Up to My eternal home,

Come and welcome, sinner, come !"

7s, 6 lines.

YE who in these courts are found,

Listening to the joyful sound,

Lost and helpless as ye are,
Sons of sorrow, sin and care,
Glorify the King of kings;
Take the peace the gospel brings.

277