' Affliction cometh not forth of the Dust.' Job v. 6.
1 AFFLICTION'S faded form draws nigh,
With wrinkled brow and downcast eye;
With sackcloth on her bosom spread,
And ashes scattered o'er her head.
2 But deem her not a child of earth;
From heaven she draws her sacred birth:
Beside the throne of God she stands
To execute his dread commands.
3 Oft as in pleasure's paths we stray,
Perplexed in sin's deceitful way,
With storms she thunders o'er our heads,
And sudden ruin round us spreads.
4 The messenger of grace, she flies
To train us for our sphere, the skies ;
And onward as we move, the way
Becomes more smooth, more bright the day.
5 Her weeds to robes of glory turn,
Her looks with kindling radiance burn;
And from her lips these accents steal,
'God smites to bless, he wounds to heal!'
+ Drummond, alt'd.
The Light and Glory of God's Word.
1 A GLORY gilds the sacred page,
Majestic as the sun;
It gives a light to every age;
It gives, but borrows none.
2 The hand that gave it, still supplies
The gracious light and heat;
Its truths upon the nations rise,
They rise, but never set.
3 Let endless thanks, O God! be thine, For such a bright display,
As makes a world of darkness shine
With beams of heavenly day.
4 With steadfast zeal may we pursue
The paths of truth and love;
Till glory break upon our view
In brighter worlds above.
124. L. M.
Holy Resolution.
1 AH! wretched souls, who still remain Slaves to the world, and slaves to sin! A nobler toil may I sustain,
A nobler satisfaction win.
2 I would resolve with all my heart,
With all my powers to serve the Lord;
Nor from his precepts e'er depart,
Whose service is a rich reward.
3 O be his service all my joy!
Around let my example shine,
Till others love the blessed employ,
And join in labours so divine.
4 Be this the purpose of my soul,
My solemn, my determined choice,
To yield to his supreme control,
And in his kind commands rejoice.
50 may I never faint nor tire,
Nor wander from thy sacred ways;
Great God, accept my soul's desire,
And give me strength to live thy praise!
The vegetable Creation, an Emblem of the Resurrection of Man.
1 ALL nature dies, and lives again:
The flowers that paint the field,
The trees that crown the mountain's brow,
And boughs and blossoms yield;
2 Resign the honours of their form
At winter's stormy blast;
And leave the naked leafless plain
A desolated waste.
3 Yet soon reviving plants and flowers
Anew shall deck the plain;
The woods shall hear the voice of spring,
And flourish green again.
4 So, to the dreary grave consigned,
Man sleeps in death's dark gloom,
Until the eternal morning wake
The slumbers of the tomb.
5 O may the grave become to me
The bed of peaceful rest,
Whence I shall gladly rise at length,
And mingle with the blessed!
6 Cheered by this hope, with patient mind
I'll wait heaven's high decree,
Till the appointed period come
When death shall set me free.
126. c. M.
The Law of Love.
1 ALL nature feels attractive power,
A strong embracing force;
The drops that sparkle in the shower,
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 More perfect bond, the christian plan Attaches soul to soul;
Our neighbour is the suffering man,
Though at the farthest pole.
4 To earth below, from heaven above,
The faith in Christ professed
More clear reveals that God is love,
And whom he loves is blessed.
1 ALL-POWERFUL, self-existent God,
Who all creation dost sustain !
Thou wast, and art, and art to come,
And everlasting is thy reign.
2 Fixed and eternal as thy days,
Each glorious attribute divine,
Through ages infinite, shall still
With undiminished lustre shine.
3 Fountain of being! Source of good!
Immutable thou dost remain;
Nor can the shadow of a change
Obscure the glories of thy reign.
4 Nature her order shall reverse,
Revolving seasons cease their round;
Nor spring appear with blooming pride,
Nor autumn be with plenty crowned;
5 Yon shining orbs forget their course,
The sun his destined path forsake,
And burning desolation mark
Amid the worlds his devious track:
6 Earth may with all her powers dissolve,
If such the great Creator's will;
But thou for ever art the same,
I AM is thy memorial still.
1 ALL-SEEING God! 'tis thine to know
The springs whence wrong opinions flow;
To judge, from principles within,
When frailty errs, and when we sin.
2 Who among men, great Lord of all!
Thy servant to his bar shall call ;
Judge him, for modes of faith, thy foe,
And doom him to the realms of wo?
3 Who with another's eye can read,
Or worship by another's creed?
Trusting thy grace, we form our own,
And bow to thy commands alone.
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