131

HYMN. L. M.

Divine Authority of the Bible.

1 'TWAS by an order from the Lord, The ancient prophets spoke his word; His Spirit did their tongues inspire,

And warm their hearts with heav'nly fire. 2 Great God! mine eyes with pleasure look On the dear volume of thy book;

There my Redeemer's face I see.
And read his name who died for me.
3 Let the false raptures of the mind
Be lost and vanish in the wind:
Here I can fix my hope secure;
This is thy word—and must endure.

1 HOW precious, Lord, thy sacred word!
What light and joy those leaves afford
To souls in deep distress!

Thy precepts guide our doubtful way,
Thy fear forbids our feet to stray,
Thy promise leads to rest.

2 Thy threat'nings wake our slumb❜ring eyes,
And warn us where our danger lies;
But 'tis thy gospel, Lord,

That makes the guilty conscience clean,
Converts the soul, and conquers sin,
And gives a free reward.

1 OPPRESS'D with guilt, and full of fears,

I come to thee, my Lord;

While not a ray of hope appears,
But in thy holy word.

2 The volume of my Father's grace
Does all my grief dispel;

Here I behold my Saviour's face,
And learn to do his will.

3 Here living water freely flows,
To cleanse me from my sin;

"Tis here the tree of knowledge grows,
Nor danger dwells therein.

4 O! may thy counsels, mighty God,
My roving feet command;
Nor I forsake the happy road,
That leads to thy right hand.

1 BEHOLD the morning sun
Begins his glorious way;

His beams through all the nations run,
And life and light convey.

2 But where the gospel comes,

It spreads diviner light,

It calls dead sinners from their tombs,
And gives the blind their sight.

3 How perfect is thy word!

And all thy judgments just!
Forever sure thy promise, Lord,
And we securely trust.

4 My gracious God, how plain
Are thy directions given!
O! may I never read in vain,
But find the path to heaven.

1 HOW shall the young secure their hearts,
And guard their lives from sin?
Thy word the choicest rules imparts,
To keep the conscience clean.

2 'Tis like the sun-a heavenly light,
That guides us all the day;

And, through the dangers of the night,
A lamp to lead our way.

3 Thy precepts make me truly wise;

I hate the sinner's road;

I hate my own vain thoughts that rise,
But love thy law, my God.

4 Thy word is everlasting truth,
How pure is every page!-

That holy book shall guide our youth,
And well support our age.

136

AFFLICTIONS AND DEATH.

HYMN. 8's and 7's.

Mourners comforted.

1 CEASE, ye mourners, cease to languish,
O'er the grave of those you love;
Pain, and death, and night, and anguish,
Enter not the world above.

2 While our silent steps are straying,

Lonely, through night's deep'ning shade,
Glory's brightest beams are playing
Round th' immortal spirit's head.
3 Light and peace at once deriving
From the hand of God most high,
In his glorious presence living,
They shall never-never die.
4 Endless pleasure, pain excluding,
Sickness there, no more can come;
There no fear of wo, intruding,

Sheds o'er heav'n a moment's gloom.
5 Now, ye mourners, cease to languish
O'er the grave of those you love;
Far remov'd from pain and anguish,
They are chanting hymns above.

1'HOW bless'd the righteous when he dies!
When sinks a weary soul to rest,
How mildly beam the closing eyes,
How gently heaves th' expiring breast!

2 So fades a summer cloud away,

So sinks the gale when storms are o'er,
So gently shuts the eye of day,

So dies a wave along the shore.

3 A holy quiet reigns around,

A calm which life nor death destroys;

Nothing disturbs that peace profound Which his unfetter'd soul enjoys. 4 Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, Where lights and shades alternate dwell; How bright th' unchanging morn appears, Farewell, inconstant world, farewell.

1 HEAR what the voice from heav'n proclaims, For all the pious dead;

Sweet is the savour of their names,

And soft their sleeping beds.

2 They die in Jesus, and are bless'd;
How kind their slumbers are!
From suff'rings, and from sins releas'd,
And freed from ev'ry snare.

3 Far from this world of toil and strife,
They're present with the Lord;
The labours of their mortal life
End in a large reward.

1 THAT once lov'd form now cold and dead, Each mournful thought employs;

And nature weeps, her comforts fled,
And wither'd all her joys.

2 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time;
When what we now deplore,

Shall rise in full immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.

3 Then cease, fond nature, cease thy tears,
Religion points on high;

There everlasting spring appears,
And joys that cannot die.

HYMN. C. M.

140 "The weary are at rest."

1 HOW still and peaceful is the grave,
Where, life's vain tumults past,

Th' appointed house, by heav'n's decree,
Receives us all at last.

2 The wicked there from troubling cease,
Their passions rage no more;
And there the weary pilgrim rests
From all the toils he bore.

3 All, levell'd by the hand of death,
Lie sleeping in the tomb,

Till God, in judgment, call them forth
To meet their final doom.

› THE grave is now a favour'd spot— To saints who sleep, in Jesus bless'd; For there the wicked trouble not,

And there the weary are at rest. 2 At rest in Jesus' faithful arms; At rest as in a peaceful bed: Secure from all the dreadful storms, Which round this sinful world are spread.

3 Thrice, happy souls, who're gone before
To that inheritance divine!

They labour, sorrow, sigh no more,
But bright in endless glory shine.
4 Then let our mournful tears be dry,
Or in a gentle measure flow;
We hail them happy in the sky,
And joyful wait our call to go.

1 HOW blest is our brother, bereft
Of all that could burden his mind;

How easy the soul that has left

This wearisome body behind! Of evil incapable thou,

see,

Whose relics with envy I
No longer in misery now,
No longer a sinner like me.

2 This earth is affected no more

With sickness, or shaken with pain;

The war in the members is o'er,

And never shall vex him again;