3 Should I distribute all my store, To feed the bowels of the poor; Or give my body to the flame, To gain a martyr's glorious name ;— 4 If love to God, and love to men, Be absent, all my hopes are vain : Nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal, The works of love can e'er fulfil.
1 ALL nature feels attractive power, A strong, embracing force; The drops that sparkle in the flower, The planets in their course.
2 Thus, in the universe of mind, Is felt the law of love
The charity, both strong and kind, For all that live and move.
3 In this fine sympathetic chain All creatures bear a part; Their every pleasure, every pain, Linked to the feeling heart.
4 More perfect bond, the Christian plan Attaches soul to soul;
Our neighbour is the suffering man, Though at the farthest pole.
5 To earth below, from heaven above, The faith in Christ professed,
More clearly shows that God is love, And whom he loves is blessed.
HYMN 355. C. M. [#]
Christ's Love to Enemies our Example. 1 God of our mercy and our praise, Thy glory is our song;
We'll speak the honours of thy grace With a rejoicing tongue.
2 When Christ, among the sons of men, In humble form was found, With cruel slanders, false and vain, They compassed him around.
3 Their miseries his compassion moved, Their peace he still pursued: They rendered hatred for his love, And evil for his good.
4 Their malice raged without a cause ; Yet, with his dying breath, He prayed for murderers on his cross And blessed his foes in death.
5 O may his conduct, all divine, To us a model prove :
Like his, O God, our hearts incline, Our enemies to love.
1 RELIGION is the chief concern Of mortals here below;
May I its great importance learn, Its sovereign virtue know.
2 More needful this than glittering wealth, Or aught the world bestows; Nor reputation, food, or health, Can give such sweet repose.
3 Religion should our thoughts engage, Amidst our youthful bloom; "Twill fit us for declining age, "Twill fit us for the tomb.
4 O may my heart, by grace renewed, Be my Redeemer's throne; And be my stubborn will subdued, His government to own.
5 Let lively hope my soul inspire; Let warm affections rise;
And may I wait with strong desire To mount above the skies.
HYMN 357. C. M. [#]
Inconstancy in Religion.
1 IMMORTAL Source of light and grace, We hail thy sacred name: Through every year's revolving round, Thy goodness is the same.
2 On us, all worthless as we are, It wondrous mercy pours;
Sure as the world's established course, Abundant as the showers.
3 In flowing tears our guilt we mourn, And loud implore thy grace To bear our feeble footsteps on In all thy righteous ways.
4 Armed with this energy divine, Our steadfast souls shall move; And with increasing transports press, To reach thy courts above.
HYMN 358. C. M. [# or b] Experimental Religion.
1 O FOR a closer walk with God, A calm and heavenly frame, And light to shine upon the road, That leads me to the Lamb !
2 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed! How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void, The world can never fill.
3 Return, O holy Dove, return, Sweet messenger of rest;
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from
4 The dearest idol I have known, Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne, And worship only thee.
5 So shall my walk be close with God, Calm and serene my frame; And purer light shall mark the road, That leads me to the Lamb.
HYMN 359. S. M. [#] Joys of Religion.
1 How blest is man, O God, When first, with single eye, He views the glory of thy grace, The day-spring from on high.
2 Through storms which cloud the skies, And brood o'er earthly things, The Sun of righteousness breaks forth, With healing in his wings.
3 Struck by that light, his heart, A barren soil no more, Sends shoots of righteousness abroad, Where follies sprung before.
4 The soul, so dreary once,
Once misery's dark domain, Feels happiness unknown before, And owns a heavenly reign.
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