431.

UPWARD AND ONWARD.

8, 7, & 48 M.

WE the weak ones, we the sinners,
Would not in our poorness stay,
We the low ones would be winners
Of what holy height we may;
Ever nearer

To Thy pure and perfect day.

Shall things withered, fashions olden, Keep us from life's flowing spring? Waits for us the promise golden, Waits each new diviner thing. Onward, onward!

Why this faithless tarrying?

By each saving word unspoken,
By Thy truth, as yet half won,
By each idol yet unbroken,

By Thy will, yet poorly done,
Hear us, hear us,

Thou Almighty, help us on!

Nearer to Thee would we venture,
Of Thy truth more largely take,
Upon life diviner enter,

Into day more glorious break.
To the ages,

Fair bequests and costly make.

298

INWARD COMMUNION.

432.

COMMUNE WITH THINE OWN HEART.'

L. M.

O THOU great God! whose piercing eye
Distinctly marks each deep recess,
In these sequestered hours draw nigh,
And with Thy presence fill the place.
Through all the mazes of my heart
My search let heavenly wisdom guide,
And still its radiant beams impart,
Till all be searched and purified.

Then with the visits of Thy love
Do Thou mine inmost spirit cheer,
Till every grace shall join to prove
That God has fixed His dwelling here.

433.

'AND BE STILL.'

C. M.

UNITE, my roving thoughts, unite
In silence soft and sweet:
And thou, my soul, sit gently down
At thy great Sovereign's feet.

The Almighty's awful voice is heard,
Yet gladly I attend;

For lo! the Everlasting God

Proclaims Himself my friend.

Harmonious accents to my soul
The sounds of peace convey;
The tempest at His word subsides,
And winds and seas obey.

By all its joys, I charge my heart
To grieve His love no more;
But, charmed by melody divine,
To give its follies o'er.

434.

RETIREMENT.

C. M.

FAR from the world, O Lord! I flee,
From strife and tumult far;
From scenes where sin is waging still
Its most successful war.

The calm retreat, the silent shade,
With prayer and praise agree;
And seem by Thy sweet bounty made,
For those who follow Thee.

There, if Thy presence cheer the soul
And grace her mean abode,

O, with what peace, and joy, and love, She communes with her God!

There, like the nightingale, she pours Her solitary lays;

Nor asks a witness of her song,

Nor thirsts for human praise.

Author and Guardian of my life,
Sweet Source of light divine,
And all harmonious names in one
My Father! Thou art mine!

435.

'AS THE RAIN.'

L. M.

As in soft silence vernal showers
Descend and cheer the fainting flowers,
So, in the secrecy of love,

Falls the sweet influence from above.

That heavenly influence let me find,
In holy silence of the mind;
While every grace revives its bloom,
Diffusing wide its sweet perfume.

436.

DEVOUT RETIREMENT AND MEDITATION.

L. M.

My God! permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and Thee;
Amidst a thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.

Why should my passions mix with earth,
And thus debase my heavenly birth?
Why should I cleave to things below,
And let my God, my Saviour, go?

Call me away

from flesh and sense;

One sovereign word can draw me thence; I would obey, Thy voice divine,

And all inferior joys resign.

Be earth, with all her strife, withdrawn ; Let noise and vanity be gone;

In secret silence of the mind,

My heaven, and there my God, I find.

437.

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION.

L. M.

FAR from my thoughts, vain world, be gone,
Leave my religious hours alone!
From flesh and sense I would be free,
And hold communion, Lord, with Thee.

My heart grows warm with holy fire,
And kindles with a pure desire,
To find Thy peace, to taste Thy love,
And feel Thy presence from above.

When I can know that God is mine,
And feel my kindred so divine,
I tread the world beneath my feet
And all that men call rich and great.

438.

'BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD.'

L. M.

HE who himself and God would know,

Into the silence let him go,

And, lifting off pall after pall,

Reach to the inmost depth of all.

Let him look forth into the night;
What solemn depths, what silent might!
Those ancient stars, how calm they roll,-
He but an atom 'mid the whole!

And, as the evening wind sweeps by,
He needs must feel His God as nigh;
Must needs that unseen Presence own,
Thus always near, too long unknown.