2 O, through time's swelling ocean
Be my Guide!
From tempest's wild commotion
Hide, O hide!
Life's crystal river
Storms ruffle never;
Anchor me ever
36 JOB VII. 16.—“ I would not live alway."
1 WHAT is this life? A constant scene
Of sighs and tears, of care and pain.
Moments of sin and months of woe
Here ebb and flow,
Till we are summoned hence to go.
2 And what is man? A clod of earth,
A needy mortal from his birth:
Brought nothing with him when he came,
But sin and shame,
And naked leaves this earthly frame.
3 Evil and few have been my days,
Weary and sad my pilgrim-ways.
When God shall call his servant home,
I'll seek the tomb,
In hope of endless joys to come.
4 Amen! Thou sovereign God of love
Grant us thy bliss when we remove;
That we, redeemed by thy blood,
May find in God
Our everlasting sure abode.
37 JOB XIX. 25.-"I know that my Redeemer
1 "I KNOW that my Redeemer lives,"
What comfort that sweet sentence gives.
He lives! he lives! who once was dead.
He lives, my Everlasting Head!
He lives, triumphant from the grave;
He lives, eternally to save.
2 He lives, all glorious in the sky;
He lives, exalted there on high;
He lives, to bless me with his love;
He lives, to plead my cause above;
He lives, to upbind and make me whole;
He lives, to calm my troubled soul.
3 He lives, to grant me rich supply;
He lives, to guard me with his eye;
He lives, my hungry soul to feed;
He lives, to help in time of need;
He lives, that he may in me dwell;
He lives, to crush the powers of hell.
4 He lives, to silence all my fears;
He lives, to stop and dry my tears;
He lives, my kind, wise, heav'nly friend;
He lives, and loves me to the end;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King;
He lives, and while he lives, I'll sing.
5 He lives, to grant me daily breath;
He lives, and I shall conquer death;
He lives, my mansion to prepare ;
He lives, to bring me safely there.
O, the sweet joy this sentence gives,-
"I know that my Redeemer lives!"
38 JOB XXIII. 10.-" He knoweth the way that I
1 THY ways, O Lord! with wise design,
Are framed upon thy throne above;
And every dark or bending line
Meets in the centre of thy love.
2 With feeble light, and half obscure,
Poor mortals thy arrangements view;
Not knowing that the least are sure,
The most mysterious just and true.
3 My favour'd soul shall meekly learn
To lay her reason at thy throne:
Too weak thy secrets to discern,
I'll trust thee for my guide alone.
39 JOB XXXV. 10.-Where is God, my Maker, who giveth songs in the night?"
1 SUN of my soul! Thou Saviour dear,
It is not night if Thou art near;
Oh, may no earth-born cloud arise
To hide Thee from Thy servant's eyes.
2 When the soft dews of kindly sleep,
My wearied eyelids gently steep,
Be my last thought, how sweet to rest
For ever on my Saviour's breast.
3 Abide with me from morn till eve,
For without Thee I cannot live;
Abide with me when night is nigh,
For without Thee I dare not die.
4 Come near, and bless us when we wake,
Ere through the world our way we take;
Till in the ocean of thy love,
We lose ourselves in Heaven above.
40 Ps. XIV. 7.-"O that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion."
1 IN ancient times our fathers made
Vain gods of wood and stone,
And all the earth to idols bow'd,
Save Judah's land alone:
Around that blest and happy land
The light of Heaven shone;
For there the True and Living God
Had made his statutes known.
2 And Israel's sons, a favoured race,
Were chosen by the Lord;
His own peculiar worshippers,-
The guardians of his word.
The Lord to them his prophets sent,
To them his law was given;
He would have led them as a flock,
And brought them safe to Heaven.
3 But they rebell'd, and would not fear
Their own Almighty King;
They spurn'd the blessings of his love,-
The shelter of his wing.
His word, whose deep prophetic tone
In solemn warning rose,
Proclaimed in vain the awful truth
Of Judah's coming woes.
4 And now their land is desolate-
Their cities overthrown,
And Israel's wand'ring exil'd sons
'Mong all the nations sown:
The light that led their fathers on,
Shines not around their path;
For love despis'd and mercy spurn'd,
Have kindled into wrath.
5 O Lord, incline our hearts to pray
For Israel's scatter'd race;
Remove the veil that hides from them
Their own Messiah's face;
O banish from their darken'd hearts
Their unbelief and pride;
May they behold their promised King
In Jesus crucified.
6 Thine only is the power, and thine
The grace that can renew,-
In mercy do thou look upon
The lone and outcast Jew;
Fulfil the promise of thy word,
Bring the dispers'd again,
Nor let the house of Jacob seek
Their father's God in vain.
7 Oh! when shall Judah's Christian bands To Zion's hills return,
And prayer arise like incense sweet,
And contrite spirits mourn?
Crown'd with her fairest hope, the Church
Shall glory in her Lord,
And earth her jubilee shall keep
When Israel is restor'd.
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