ASPIRATION AFTER HOLINESS.
606. "Before I was afflicted, I went astray.
1 OH how I love Thy holy word,
Thy gracious covenant, O Lord!
It guides me in the peaceful way :
I think upon it all the day.
2 What are the mines of shining wealth,
The strength of youth, the bloom of health;
What are all joys, compared with those
Thine everlasting word bestows!
3 Long unafflicted, undismayed,
In pleasure's path secure I strayed:
Thou mad'st me feel Thy chastening rod,
And straight I turned unto my God.
4 What though it pierced my fainting heart, I bless Thy hand that caused the smart : It taught my tears awhile to flow,
But saved me from eternal wo.
5 Oh, hadst Thou left me unchastised,
Thy precept I had still despised ;
And still the snare in secret laid,
Had my unwary feet betrayed.
6 I love Thee, therefore, O my God!
And breathe towards Thy dear abode;
Where, in Thy presence fully blessed,
Thy chosen saints for ever rest.
"Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." Heb. xii. 14. L. M.
1 HOLY Lord God! I love Thy truth,
Nordare Thy least commandment slight:
Yet, pierced by sin, the serpent's tooth,
I mourn the anguish of the bite.
2 But, though the poison lurks within,
Hope bids me still with patience wait,
Till death shall set me free from sin,
Free from the only thing I hate.
3 Had I a throne above the rest,
Where angels and archangels dwell,
One sin unslain within my breast,
Would make that heaven as dark as hell.
4 The prisoner sent to breathe fresh air,
And blessed with liberty again,
Would mourn, were he condemned to wear
One link of all his former chain.
5 But oh! no foe invades the bliss,
When glory crowns the Christian's head.
One view of Jesus as He is,
Will strike all sin for ever dead.
608. "Rejoice with trembling." Psalm ii. 11.
1 I WAS a grovelling creature once,
And basely cleaved to earth :
I wanted spirit to renounce
The clod that gave me birth.
2 But God has breathed upon a worm,
And sent me from above,*
Wings, such as clothe an angel's form,
The wings of joy and love.
3. With these to Pisgah's top I fly,
And there delighted stand,
To view beneath a shining sky
The spacious promised land.
4 The Lord of all the vast domain
Has promised it to me;
The length and breadth of all the plain,
As far as faith can see.
5 How glorious is my privilege!
To Thee for help I call.
I stand upon a mountain's edge:
Oh, save me, lest I fall!
6 Though much exalted in the Lord,
My strength is not my own.
Then let me tremble at His word,
And none shall cast me down.
"The sons of God." 1 John iii. 1. 8's & 6's.
LET others boast their ancient line,
In long succession great;
In the proud list let heroes shine,
And monarchs swell the state;
Descended from the King of kings,
Each saint a nobler title sings.
2 Pronounce me, gracious God! Thy son;
Own me an heir divine;
I'll pity princes on the throne,
When I can call Thee mine,
Sceptres and crowns unenvied rise,
And lose their lustre in mine eyes.
Content, obscure, I pass my days,
To fame and rank unknown;
And wait till Thou Thy child shalt raise,
And Thine adopted own.
No name, no honours here I crave,
Well pleased with those beyond the grave.
When Christ, in robes divinely bright,
Shall once again appear,
Thou, too, my soul, shalt shine in light,
And His full image bear.
Enough!-I wait the appointed day.
Blest Saviour! haste, and come away.
610. “Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." Phil. i. 23.
1 HAPPY who in Jesus live;
But happier still are they
Who to God their spirits give,
And 'scape from earth away.
Lord! Thou read'st the panting heart;
Lord! Thou hear'st the praying sigh.
Oh, 'tis better to depart;
'Tis better far to die!
2 Yet, if so Thy will ordain,
For our companions' good,
Let us in the flesh remain,
And meekly bear the load:
When we have our grief filled up,
When we all our work have done,
Late partakers of our hope,
And sharers of Thy throne.
3 To Thy wise and gracious will
We quietly submit,
Waiting for redemption still,
But waiting at Thy feet.
When Thou wilt the blessing give,
Call us up Thy face to see:
Only let Thy servants live,
And let us die, to Thee.
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