Sunday after Christmas: Close of the Dear.

"THE LIVING, THE LIVING, HE SHALL PRAISE THEE, AS I DO THIS DAY."

64.

"A little while."

JOHN xvi. 16.

1 A FEW more years shall roll,
A few more seasons come,

2

3

4

And we shall be with those that rest,
Asleep within the tomb.

A few more suns shall set

O'er these dark hills of time;

And we shall be where suns are not,

A far serener clime.

A few more storms shall beat

On this wild rocky shore;

And we shall be where tempests cease,

And surges swell no more.

A few more struggles here,

A few more partings o'er,

A few more toils, a few more tears,

Shall cheer us on our way;

And we shall reach the endless rest,

The eternal Sabbath day.

6 'Tis but a little while,

And he shall come again,

Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with him may reign.

[S.M.

65.

7 Then, O my Lord, prepare
My soul for that glad day;
O wash me in thy precious blood,
And take my sins away e.

"Thou art the same, and thy years shall have
no end."-Ps. cii. 27.

1 O GOD, the Rock of Ages,
Who evermore hast been,
What time the tempest rages,
Our dwelling-place serene:
Before thy first creations,
O Lord, the same as now,
To endless generations
The everlasting thou!

2 Our years are like the shadows
On sunny hills that lie,
Or grasses in the meadows
That blossom but to die:
A sleep, a dream, a story
By strangers quickly told,
An unremaining glory

Of things that soon are old.

3 O thou, who canst not slumber,
Whose light grows never pale,
Teach us aright to number
Our years before they fail.
On us thy mercy lighten,
On us thy goodness rest,
And let thy Spirit brighten

The hearts thyself hast bless'd.

4 Lord, crown our faith's endeavour
With beauty and with grace,

Till, clothed in light for ever,
We see thee face to face :

[7s. 6s.

A joy no language measures;
A fountain brimming o'er;
An endless flow of pleasures;
An ocean without shore.

66.

"Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."

1 SAM. vii. 12.

1 FOR thy mercy and thy grace,
Faithful through another year,
Hear our song of thankfulness,
Father and Redeemer, hear.

2 In our weakness and distress,

Rock of strength, be thou our stay:
In the pathless wilderness

Be our true and living way.

3 Who of us death's awful road

In the coming year shall tread;
With thy rod and staff, O God,
Comfort thou his dying head.

4 Keep us faithful, keep us pure,
Keep us evermore thine own;
Help, O help us to endure;

Fit us for the promised crown.

5 So within thy palace gate

We shall praise, on golden strings,
Thee, the only Potentate,

Lord of lords, and King of kings'.

[7s.

The Circumcision of Christ: New Year.

"BY THY HOLY NATIVITY AND CIRCUMCISION,

GOOD LORD, DELIVER US."

4

Pour'd on a victim's head,

Are those few precious drops of thine,
Now first to offering led.

O are we born to tears,
Cradled in care and woe;

And seems it hard our vernal
Few vernal joys can show?

years

5

Look here and hold thy peace:
The Giver of all good

Even from the womb takes no release

From suffering, tears, and blood.

6

If thou wouldst reap in love,

First sow in holy fear:

So life a winter's morn may prove
To a bright endless year.

[S.M.

"My times are in thy hand."
Ps. xxxi. 15.

My times are in thy hand,
My God, I wish them there;

My life, my friends, my soul I leave
Entirely to thy care.

My times are in thy hand,

Whatever they may be,

Pleasing or painful, dark or bright,
As best may seem to thee.

My times are in thy hand,
Why should I doubt or fear?

A Father's hand will never cause
His child a needless tear.

My times are in thy hand,
Jesus the crucified;

The hand my cruel sins had pierced

Is now my guard and guide.

5

My times are in thy hand;

I'll always trust in thee,

And after death at thy right hand
I shall for ever be e.

"Then shall the Lord be my God."
GEN. xxviii. 21.

1 O GOD of Bethel, by whose hand
Thy people still are fed;

Who through this weary pilgrimage
Hast all our fathers led:

2 Our vows, our prayers, we now present
Before thy throne of grace:

God of our fathers, be the God
Of their succeeding race.

[S.M.

[C.M.