If some small hope appear, 5 6 They still are not content; Too oft they find their hopes deceiv'd, Then how their inmost souls are griev'd! But when their pains succeed, On what has now been sown, Thy blessing, Lord, bestow; To make it spring and grow: HYMN XXVII. We are Ambassadors for Christ. 2 Cor. v. 20. 1 THY message by the preacher seal, And let thy power be known, That every sinner here may feel The word is not his own. 2 Amongst the foremost of the throng, Who dare thee to thy face, He in rebellion stood too long, And fought against thy grace. 3 But grace prevail'd, he mercy found, And now by thee is sent, To tell his fellow-rebels round, And call them to repent. 4 In Jesus God is reconcil'd, The worst may be forgiv'n; Come and he 'll own you as a child, And make you heirs of heaven. 5 O may the word of gospel-truth Your chief desires engage! And Jesus be your guide in youth, Your joy in hoary age. 6 Perhaps the year that 's now begun May prove to some their last: The sands of life may soon be run, The day of grace be past. 7 Think, if you slight this embassy, And will not warning take, When Jesus in the clouds you see, What answer will you make? HYMN XXVIII. Paul's Farewell Charge. Acts xx. 26, 27. 1 WHEN Paul was parted from his friends, It was a weeping day, But Jesus made them all amends, And wip'd their tears away. 4 But they who heard the word in vain, 5 On your own heads your blood will fall, The preachers who have told you all, 6 Yet, Lord, to save themselves alone Oh! hear their prayer, thy message own, And save their hearers too. HYMN XXIX. How shall I put thee among the Children? Jer. iii. 19. 1 ALAS! by nature how deprav'd, Our lives to Satan how enslav'd, 2 And can such sinners be restor❜d, Can grace itself the means afford, 3 Yes, grace has found the wondrous means, Which shall effectual prove, To cleanse us from our countless sins, 4 Jesus for sinners undertakes, His blood a full atonement makes, 5 Yet one thing more must grace provide, Or we shall slight the Lord who died, 6 The Holy Spirit must reveal The Saviour's work and worth; Then the hard heart begins to feel A new and heavenly birth. 7 Thus bought with blood, and born again, HYMN XXX. Winter.* 1 SEE how rude Winter's icy hand Has strip'd the trees, and seal'd the ground! But Spring shall soon his rage withstand, And spread new beauties all around. 2 My soul a sharper winter mourns, Barren and fruitless I remain; When will the gentle spring return, And bid my graces grow again? 3 Jesus, my glorious Sun, arise! "Tis thine the frozen heart to move; Oh! hush these storms, and clear my skies, 4 Dear Lord, regard my feeble cry, HYMN XXXI. Waiting for Spring. 1 THOUGH cloudy skies and northern blasts Retard the gentle spring a while, The sun will conqueror prove at last, And nature wear a vernal smile. 2 The promise, which from age to age, I know still does and will prevail, 5 Winter and spring have each their use, The clust'ring flowers spring; The artless birds, in concert sweet, 4 But, ah! in vain I strive to join, Though all is spring without. 5 Oh! would my Saviour from on high Break through these clouds and shine' ¦ 7 To Adam, soon as he transgress'd, 8 Yet here an emblem I perceive 9 Thy word can soon my hopes revive, And make my languid graces thrive, HYMN XXXIII. ANOTHER. 1 PLEASING spring again is here! Trees and fields in bloom appear! Hark! the birds, with artless lays, Warble their Creator's praise! Where, in winter, all was snow, Now the flowers in clusters grow: And the corn in green array, Promises a harvest-day. 2 What a change has taken place! Emblem of the spring of grace; How the soul, in winter, mourns, Till the Lord, the Sun, returns; Till the Spirits gentle rain Still I could not yield thee fruit. Where these changes never come! HYMN XXXIV. Summer Storms.* 1 THOUGH the morn may be serene, *Book III. Hymn lxviii. † Book I. Hymn xliv. Oft his sky is overcast, Ere the day of life be past. 5 Tried believers too can say, In the course of one short day, Though the morning has been fair, Prov'd a golden hour of prayer, Sin and Satan, long ere night, Have their comforts put to flight: Ah! what heart-felt peace and joy Unexpected storms destroy. 6 Dearest Saviour! call us soon To thine high eternal noon; Never there shall tempest rise, To conceal thee from our eyes; Satan shall no more deceive, We no more thy Spirit grieve. But through cloudless, endless days, Sound, to golden harps, thy praise. HYMN XXXV. Hay-time. 1 THE grass and flowers which clothe the And look so green and gay, [field, Touch'd by the scythe, defenceless yield, 2 Fit emblem of our mortal state! The young, the strong, the wise, the great, 3 Ah! trust not to your fleeting breath, 4 And you, who hitherto are spar'd, 5 The grass, when dead, revives no more; You die to live again; But oh! if death should prove the door, 6 Lord, help us to obey thy call, That, from our sins set free, When, like the grass, our bodies fall, HYMN XXXVI. 1 SEE the corn again in ear! We have sinn'd, but thou art good. Isaiah xl. 7. All this plenty of the field Was produc'd from foreign seeds, For the earth itself would yield Only crops of useless weeds. 3 Though, when newly sown, it lay Hid a while beneath the ground, (Some might think it thrown away,) Yet a large increase is found: Though conceal'd, it was not lost, Though it died, it lives again; Eastern storms and nipping frosts Have oppos'd its growth in vain. 4 Let the praise be all the Lord's, As the benefit is ours: He in season still affords Kindly heat and gentle showers: By his care the produce thrives, Waving o'er the furrow'd lands, And, when harvest-time arrives, Ready for the reaper stands. 5 Thus in barren hearts he sows, Precious seeds of heavenly joy ;* Sin and hell in vain oppose, None can grace's crop destroy: Threaten'd oft, yet still it blooms, After many changes past, Death, the reaper, when he comes, Finds it fully ripe at last. Thee, Saviour, by that name I call, The great, supreme, the mighty God. 2 Without beginning or decline, Object of faith and not of sense; Eternal ages saw him shine, He shines eternal ages hence. 3 As much, when in the manger laid, Almighty ruler of the sky, As when the six days' work he made 5 A cheerful confidence I feel, HYMN XXXIX. Man honoured above Angels. 1 Now let us join with hearts and tongues, 2 They praise the Lamb who once was slain, 3 When angels by transgression fell, 4 Jesus, who pass'd the angels by,t 6 But ah! how faint our praises rise! Sure, 'tis the wonder of the skies, His Spirit we often have griev'd, And evil for good have repaid: How well it becomes us to cry, "O, who is a God like to thee Who passeth iniquities by, And plungest them deep in the sea!" 5 To Jesus, who sits on the throne, Our best hallelujahs we bring; To thee it is owing alone That we are permitted to sing: Assist us, we pray, to lament The sins of the year that is past, And grant that the next may be spent Far more to thy praise than the last. Thus may all our Sabbaths prove Till we join the church above! 3 When on the breast we hung Our help was in the Lord; 'Twas he first taught our infant tongue To form the lisping word. When in our blood we lay, He would not let us die, Because his love had fixed a day To bring salvation nigh. In childhood and in youth, His eye was on us still; Though strangers to his love and truth, And prone to cross his will. A new Ebenezer to raise: The year we have now passed through, His goodness with blessings has crown'd; 2 Encompass'd with dangers and snares, 3 His gospel, throughout the long year, 4 For so many mercies receiv'd, 1 Sam. vii. 6 And since his name we knew, How gracious has he been; What dangers has he led us through, What mercies have we seen! |