Page images
PDF
EPUB

28

88

THE BIBLE HYMN-BOOK.

29 1 SAM. XX. 42.-" And Jonathan said to

David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have
sworn both of us in the name of the Lord,
saying, the Lord be between me and thee.”

1 WHEN friend from friend is parting,
And in each speaking eye
The silent tear is starting,
To tell what words deny,-
How could we bear the heavy load
Of such heart-agony,

Could we not cast it all, our God,
Our gracious God, on thee;

And feel that thou kind watch wilt keep
When we are far away,-

That thou wilt soothe us when we weep,
And hear us when we pray.

2 Yet oft these hearts will whisper-
That better 'twould betide,

If we were near the friends we love,
And watching by their side.

But sure thou'lt love them dearer, Lord,
For trusting thee alone,

And sure thou wilt draw nearer, Lord,
The farther we are gone:

Then why be sad, since thou wilt keep
Watch o'er them night and day?

Since thou wilt soothe them when they weep,
And hear us when we pray.

3 O for that bright and happy land,
Where, far amid the blest,

The wicked cease from troubling, and
The weary are at rest!

Where friends are never parted,

Once met around thy throne:
And none are broken-hearted,

Since all with thee are one!

Yet, Oh, till then, watch o'er us keep,
While far from thee away,

And soothe us, Lord, oft as we weep,
And hear us when we pray.

30 2 SAM. XVI. 17.—“ Is this thy kindness to thy friend?"

1 POOR, weak, and worthless, though I am,
I have a rich Almighty friend;
Jesus, the Saviour, is his name,

He freely loves, and without end.

2 He ransom'd me from hell with blood,
And by his power, my foes controll❜d;
He found me wand'ring far from God,
And brought me to his chosen fold.

3 He cheers my heart, my want supplies,
And says that I shall shortly be
Enthron'd with him above the skies:
Oh! what a friend is Christ to me:

4 But ah! my inmost spirit mourns,
And well my eyes with tears may swim,
To think of my perverse returns;

I've been a faithless friend to him.

5 Before the world that hates his cause,
My treach'rous heart has throbb'd with
shame ;

Loath to forego the world's applause,
I hardly dare avow his name.

6 Sure, were not 1 most vile and base,
I could not thus my friend requite!
And were not he the God of grace,
He'd frown and spurn me from his sight.

31 2 SAM. XXIII. 4.-" He shall be as light of the morning when the sun riseth."

1 LIGHT for the dreary vales

Of ice-bound Labrador!

Where the frost-king breathes on the slippery sails,

And the mariner wakes no more; Lift high the lamp that never fails, To that dark and sterile shore.

2 Light for the forest child! An outcast though he be

From the haunts where the sun of his childhood smil'd,

And the country of the free:

Pour the hope of Heaven o'er his desert wild,
For what home on earth has he?

3 Light for the hills of Greece!

Light for that trampled clime,

Where the rage of the spoiler refused to ceasc
Ere it wrecked the boast of time;
If the Moslem hath dealt the gift of
Can ye grudge your boon sublime?

4 Light on the Hindoo shed!

5

On the maddening idol train;

peace,

The flame of the suttee is dire and red,
And the fakir faints with pain;

And the dying moan on their cheerless bed,

By the Ganges laved in vain.

Light for the ancient race

Exil'd from Zion's rest!

Homeless they roam from place to place,

Benighted and oppress'd;

They shudder at Sinai's fearful base,--
Guide them to Calvary's breast.

32

2 KINGS IV. 26.-" It is well."

1 BELOVED, "it is well!"

God's ways are always right;
And love is o'er them all,
Tho' far above our sight.

2 Beloved, "it is well!"

Tho' deep and sore the smart,
He wounds, who knows to bind
And heal the broken heart.

3 Beloved, "it is well!"

Tho' sorrow clouds our way, "Twill make the joy more dear That ushers in the day.

4 Beloved," it is well!"

The path that Jesus trod,

Tho' rough and dark it be,

Leads home to Heaven and God.

33 1 CHRON. XXVIII. 9.--" And thou Solomon, my son, know thou the God of thy father."

1 My son, know thou the Lord,
Thy Father's God obey;
Seek his protecting care by night,
His guiding hand by day.

2 Call while he may be found,

And seek him while he's near;
Serve him with all thy heart and mind,
And worship him in fear.

3 If thou wilt seek his face,

His ear will hear thy cry;

Then shalt thou find his mercy sure,
His grace for ever nigh.

34 2 CHRON. XXXIV. 3.-"While he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father."

1 LORD, look upon a little child,
By nature sinful, rude, and wild;
Oh! put thy gracious hands on me,
And make me all I ought to be.

2 Make me thy child-a child of God,
Wash'd in my Saviour's precious blood;
And my whole soul, from sin set free,
A little vessel full of thee.

3 A star of early dawn, and bright,
Shining within thy sacred light;
A beam of grace to all around,
A little spot of hallow'd ground.

4 Oh! Jesus, take me to thy breast,
And bless me, that I may be blest;
Both when I wake, and when I sleep,
Thy little lamb in safety keep.

35 JOB III. 17.-" There the weary be at rest."

1 My Saviour, be thou near me

Through life's night;

I cry, and thou wilt hear me,--
Be my light!

My dim sight aching,
Gently thou'rt making

Meet for awaking

Where all is bright!

« PreviousContinue »