There languor shall no more oppress;
The heart shall feel no more distress;
No groans shall mingle with the songs,
Which dwell upon immortal tongues.
No anxious cares shall there annoy;
No conscious guilt disturb the joy;
But every doubt and fear shall cease,
And perfect love give perfect peace.
Soon will the glorious day begin,
Which ends the reign of death and sin;
LORD! give us then those joys to know,
Which from celestial worship flow.
Approaching Death and Judgment.
THE day approaches, O my soul !
The great decisive day,
Which, from the verge of mortal life,
Shall bear thee far away.
Another day more awful dawns;
And lo! the Judge appears;
All nations stand before his bar,
With mingled hopes and fears.
Yet does one short preparing hour,
One precious hour remain;
Rouse then, my soul! with all thy power, Nor let it pass in vain.
143. L. M.
The Day of Judgment.
ARISE, my soul! extend thy wings
Beyond the verge of mortal things;
And meditate the awful day,
When this vain world shall pass away.
The wreck of nature all around,
The angels' shout, the trumpet's sound,
Loud the descending Judge proclaim,
And echo his tremendous name.
Children of Adam! all appear,
The great decisive sentence hear;
For as his lips pronounce, ye go
To realms of bliss, or realms of woe.
LORD! to my eyes this scene display,
Frequent, through each revolving day;
That, (lost in this each meaner care,)
I may to meet my Judge prepare.
144. P. M.
The Day of Judgment.
HEAR, O ye dead, awake, arise!
The sounding trumpet shakes the skies;
The awful Judge is near:
Angelic guards attend him down;
And flaming round his fiery throne
A thousand terrors glare.
Pale guilt looks upwards with amaze; She trembles while the terrors blaze,
And conscience tells her doom: Struck with unutterable dread, The sinner fain would hide his head, And shrink within the tomb.
But ye, his happy saints, rejoice;
No terrors hath the Monarch's voice,
His looks no frowns, for you:
He comes your spirits to convey
To regions of eternal day,
To joys for ever new.
'Blest of my Father! haste,' he cries; 'In shining triumph mount the skies, To nobler worlds above;
There shall ye share my blissful sight,
And taste the fulness of delight,
In my eternal love.'
HYMNS RELATING TO THE USUAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF LIFE.
Life the Day of Mercy and Hope.
LIFE is the time to serve the LORD,
The time to insure the great reward;
And, while the lamp holds out to burn,
The greatest sinner may return.
Life is the hour which God hath given,
To fit us for the joys of heaven,-
The day of grace, and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.
Then the great work we have to do,
Let us with all our might pursue;
And wisely every hour employ,
That faith and hope may turn to joy.
Time flying, and Death approaching.
THAT awful hour will soon appear,
Swift on the wings of time it flies,
When all the pains or pleasures here
Will vanish from my closing eyes.
Think, O my soul! how much depends
On the short period of to-day:
Shall time, which Heaven in mercy lends,
Be negligently thrown away?
Thy remnant minutes strive to use:
Awake! rouse every active power!
And not in dreams and trifles lose
This little, this important hour!
Lord of my life! inspire my heart
With heavenly ardour, grace divine;
Nor let thy presence e'er depart,
For strength, and life, and death are thine.
Oh teach me the celestial skill
Each awful warning to improve!
And while my days are shortening still,
Prepare me for the joys above!
God the Preserver of frail Man.
THOUGH others, confident and vain,
Nor death nor danger fear,
We would a lively sense maintain,
That death is ever near.
Just like the grass our bodies stand,
And flourish bright and gay;
A blasting wind sweeps o'er the land,
And fades the grass away.
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