3 Shout, ye little flock and blest;
You on Jesus' throne shall rest:
There your seat is now prepared,
There your kingdom and reward.

4 Lift your eyes, ye sons of light;
Zion's city is in sight:

There our endless home shall be,
There our Lord we soon shall see.

5 Fear not, brethren; joyful stand
On the borders of your land;
Christ, the everlasting Son,
Bids you undismay'd go on.

6 Lord, obediently we go,
Gladly leaving all below:
Only thou our leader be,
And we still will follow theei.

324. "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high [C.M. calling of God.”—PHIL. iii. 14.

1 AWAKE, my soul, stretch every nerve,
And press with vigour on:
A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.

2 A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey:
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.

3 "Tis God's all-animating voice
That calls thee from on high;
"Tis his own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye.

4 Blest Saviour, introduced by thee,
Have I my race begun ;

And, crown'd with victory, at thy feet
I'll lay my honours down".

[To be sung after the benedictory prayer, "Defend, O Lord, this thy servant with thy heavenly grace, that he may continue thine for ever," &c.]

325.

"I am thine: save me.'

Ps. cxix. 94.

1 "THINE, thine for ever"-blessed bond
That knits us, Lord, to thee:

May voice, and heart, and soul respond
Amen, so let it be.

2 When this world strikes its dulcet harp,
And earth our heaven appears,

Be "Thine for ever," clear and sharp,
God's trumpet in our ears.

3 When sin in pleasure's soft disguise
Would work us deadliest harm,
May "Thine for ever" from the skies
Steal down, and break the charm.

4 When Satan flings his fiery darts
Against our weary shield,

May "Thine for ever "in our hearts
Forbid us faint or yield.

5 Thine all along the flowery spring,
Along the summer prime,
Till autumn fades in welcoming
The silver frost of time.

6 "Thine, thine for ever,"-body, soul,
Henceforth devote to thee,

While everlasting ages roll:
Amen, so let it be.

[C.M.

Matrimony.

"WHICH HOLY ESTATE CHRIST ADORNED AND BEAU

326.

TIFIED WITH HIS PRESENCE."

"God blessed them."
GEN. i. 28.

1 THE voice that breathed o'er Eden,
That earliest wedding day,
The primal marriage blessing,
It hath not pass'd away.

2 Still in the pure espousal

Of Christian man and maid,
The Holy Three are with us,
The three-fold grace is said:

3 For dower of blessed children,
For love and faith's sweet sake,
For high mysterious union

Which nought on earth may break.

4 Be present, awful Father,
To give away this bride,
As Eve thou gav'st to Adam
Out of his own pierced side.

5 Be present, gracious Saviour,
To join their loving hands,
As thou didst bind two natures
In thine eternal bands.

6 Be present, Holiest Spirit,

To bless them as they kneel;
As thou, for Christ the Bridegroom,
The heavenly spouse dost seal.

[7s. 6s.

7 O spread thy pure wing o'er them,
Let no ill power find place,
When onward to thine altar

The hallow'd path they trace,

8 To cast their crowns before thee
In perfect sacrifice,

Till to the home of gladness

With Christ's own bride they rise 3.

1 REST in the Lord-from harps above
The music seems to thrill-
Rest in his everlasting love,
Rest and be still.

2 Rest thou, who claimest for thine own
Thy chosen bride to-day,
Affianced in his faith alone
Thy bride for aye.

3 And thou, whose trustful hand is given
Avouching here thy spouse,

Rest, for a Father seals in heaven
His children's vows.

4 Rest ye, who cluster round them both
To mingle praise and prayers;
Your God affirms the plighted troth,
Your God and theirs.

5 Rest, for the Heavenly Bridegroom here
Is standing by your side,

And in this union draws more near
His mystic bride.

6 Rest in the Lord-thrice Holy Dove,
In us thy word fulfil—

Rest in his everlasting love,
Rest and be still ".

[P.M.

[To be sung after the blessing, "Almighty God, who at the beginning did create our first parents," &c.]

328.

"Being heirs together of the grace of life."
1 PET. iii. 7.

1 ERE the words of peace and love
Breathed on earth, are borne above,
While their echo, soft and clear,
Lingers on the trancèd ear,—
Catch upon your lips the strain,
Swell the notes of prayer again,
Prayer with benedictions fraught,
Passing words and passing thought:
Co-eternal Three in One,

Seal the nuptial benison.

2 Blessings from the earth beneath,
Fruits and flowers in woven wreath;
Balmy dews that heaven distils
On the everlasting hills;
Angel wings, a guard of light
O'er the peaceful home by night;
Angel steps to tend the way
Onward, heavenward, day by day :
Co-eternal Three in One,

Seal the nuptial benison.

3 Hear our prayer: this union be
Ratified, O God, by thee;

This another link entwined

Hearts and homes and heaven to bind

In that mystic chain of love,

Holding us, but held above;

Knitting all that world to this,
Eden's bloom to glory's bliss:
Co-eternal Three in One,
Seal the nuptial benison.

[TEN 78.