Chapter XV: Introduction (15)

Christ leads me through no darker rooms
Than he went through before:
He that into God’s kingdom comes
Must enter by this door.

2 Come, Lord, when grace hath made me meet
Thy blesséd face to see;
For if thy work on earth be sweet,
What must thy glory be?

3 Then I shall end my sad complaints,
And weary, sinful days,
And join with those triumphant saints
That sing Jehovah’s praise.

1004 C. M.
When the waves arise, thou stillest them.
Psalm 89:9.

Affliction is a stormy deep,
Where wave resounds to wave;
Though o’er our heads the billows roll,
We know the Lord can save.

2 When darkness, and when sorrows rose,
And pressed on every side,
The Lord hath still sustained our steps,
And still hath been our guide.

3 Perhaps, before the morning dawn,
He will restore our peace;
For he who bade the tempest roar
Can bid the tempest cease.

4 Here will we rest, here build our hopes,
Nor murmur at his rod;
He’s more to us than all the world—
Our Health, our Life, our God.

1005 C. M.
Songs in the night.
Job. 35:10.

O thou who driest the mourner’s tear,
How dark this world would be,
If, when deceived and wounded here,
We could not fly to thee.

2 But thou wilt heal the broken heart,
Which, like the plants that throw
Their fragrance from the wounded part,
Breathes sweetness out of woe.

3 When joy no longer soothes or cheers,
And e’en the hope that threw
A moment’s sparkle o’er our tears
Is dimmed and vanished too;

4 O, who would bear life’s stormy doom,
Did not thy wing of love
Come brightly wafting through the gloom,
Our peace-branch from above?

5 Then sorrow, touched by thee, grows bright
With more than rapture’s ray;
The darkness shows us worlds of light
We never saw by day.

1006 C. M.
God is my portion for ever.
Psalm 73:26.

My times of sorrow and of joy,
Great God! are in thy hand;
My choicest comforts come from thee,
And go at thy command.

2 If thou shouldst take them all away,
Yet would I not repine;
Before they were possessed by me,
They were entirely thine.

3 Nor would I drop a murmuring word,
Though all the world were gone,
But seek enduring happiness
In thee, and thee alone.

1007 C. M. 6 lines.
God is the strength of my heart.
Psalm 73:26.

Happy are they who learn in thee,
Though patient suffering teach,
The secret of enduring strength,
And praise too deep for speech;
Peace that no pleasure from without,
Nor strife within, can reach.

2 Safe in thy sanctifying grace,
Almighty to restore,
Borne onward—sin and death behind,
And love and life before—
O let my soul abound in hope,
And praise thee evermore!

1008 C. M.
The Lord will strengthen him, etc.
Psalm 41:3.

When languor and disease invade
This trembling house of clay,
’Tis sweet to look beyond my pains,
And long to fly away:

2 Sweet to look inward, and attend
The whispers of his love;
Sweet to look upward to the place
Where Jesus pleads above:

3 Sweet to look back, and see my name
In life’s fair book set down;
Sweet to look forward, and behold
Eternal joys my own:

4 Sweet to rejoice in lively hope,
That when my change shall come,
Angels shall hover round my bed,
And waft my spirit home:

5 Sweet in his faithfulness to rest,
Whose love can never end;
Sweet on his covenant of grace
For all things to depend.

6 If such the sweetness of the streams,
What must the fountain be,
Where saints and angels draw their bliss
Immediately from thee!

7 O may the unction of these truths
For ever with me stay,
Till, from her sin-worn cage dismissed,
My spirit flies away.

1009 C. M.
The sorrows of death compassed me.
Psalm 116:3.

My God, thy service well demands
The remnant of my days:
Why was this fleeting breath renewed,
But to renew thy praise?

2 Thine arms of everlasting love
Did this weak frame sustain;
When life was hovering o’er the grave,
And nature sunk with pain.

3 Thou, when the pains of death were felt,
Didst chase the fears of hell,
And teach my pale and quivering lips
Thy matchless grace to tell.

4 Calmly I bowed my fainting head
On thy dear, faithful breast;
Pleased to obey my Father’s call
To his eternal rest.

5 Into thy hands, my Saviour God,
Did I my soul resign,
In firm dependence on that truth
Which made salvation mine.

6 Back from the borders of the grave,
At thy command I come,
Nor will I urge a speedier flight
To my celestial home.

1010 C. M.
Christ our Refuge.
Heb. 6:18.

In every trouble, sharp and strong,
My soul to Jesus flies;
My anchor-hold is firm in him,
When swelling billows rise.

2 His comforts bear my spirits up,
I trust a faithful God;
The sure foundation of my hope
Is in a Saviour’s blood.

3 Loud hallelujahs sing, my soul,
To thy Redeemer’s name;
In joy and sorrow, life and death,
His love is still the same.

1011 C. M.
Entire submission.

And can my heart aspire so high,
To say—“My Father God!”
Lord, at thy feet I long to lie,
And learn to kiss the rod.

2 I would submit to all thy will,
For thou art good and wise;
Let every anxious thought be still,
Nor one faint murmur rise.

3 Thy love can cheer the darksome gloom,
And bid me wait serene;
Till hopes and joys immortal bloom,
And brighten all the scene.

4 My Father! O permit my heart
To plead her humble claim;
And ask the bliss those words impart,
In my Redeemer’s name.

1012 C. M.
Out of the depths.
Psalm 130:1.

O thou! who, in the olive shade,
When the dark hour came on,
Didst, with a breath of heavenly aid,
Strengthen thy suffering Son;

2 O, by the anguish of that night,
Send us now blest relief;
Or to the chastened, let thy might
Hallow this whelming grief.

3 And thou, that, when the starry sky,
Saw the dread strife begun,
Didst teach adoring faith to cry,
Father! thy will be done;

4 By thy meek Spirit, thou, of all
That e’er have mourned the chief,
Blest Saviour! if the stroke must fall,
Hallow this whelming grief.

1013 C. M.
One thing have I desired.
Psalm 27:4.

With earnest longings of the mind,
My God, to thee I look;
So pants the hunted hart to find
And taste the cooling brook.

2 When shall I see thy courts of grace,
And meet my God again?
So long an absence from thy face,
My heart endures with pain.

3 ’Tis with a mournful pleasure now,
I think on ancient days;
Then to thy house did numbers go,
And all our work was praise.

4 But why, my soul, sunk down so far,
Beneath this heavy load?
Why do my thoughts indulge despair;
And sin against my God?

5 Hope in the Lord, whose mighty hand
Can all thy woes remove;
For I shall yet before him stand,
And sing restoring love.

1014 C. M.
Thou hast loosed my bonds.
Psalm 116:16.

Now to thy heavenly Father’s praise,
My heart, thy tribute bring;
That goodness which prolongs my days,
With grateful pleasure sing.

2 Whene’er he sends afflicting pains,
His mercy holds the rod;
His powerful word the heart sustains,
And speaks a faithful God.

3 A faithful God is ever nigh
When humble grief implores;
His ear attends each plaintive sigh,
He pities and restores.

4 Lord, I am thine, for ever thine,
Nor shall my purpose move;
Thy hand, that loosed my bonds of pain,
Has bound me with thy love.

1015 S. M.
Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth.
Heb. 12:6.

How tender is thy hand,
O thou most gracious Lord!
Afflictions come at thy command,
And leave us at thy word.

2 How gentle was the rod
That chastened us for sin!
How soon we found a smiling God,
Where deep distress had been!

3 A Father’s hand we felt,
A Father’s heart we knew;
’Mid tears of penitence we knelt,
And found his word was true.

4 Now we will bless the Lord,
And in his strength confide;
For ever be his name adored,
For there is none beside.

1016 S. M.
Lead me to the Rock, etc.
Psalm 61:2.

When overwhelmed with grief,
My heart within me dies,
Helpless, and far from all relief,
To heaven I lift mine eyes.

2 O lead me to the Rock
That’s high above my head,
And make the covert of thy wings
My shelter and my shade.

3 Within thy presence, Lord,
For ever I’ll abide;
Thou art the tower of my defense,
The refuge where I hide.

1017 S. M.
The bow in the cloud.

Out of the depths of woe,
To thee, O Lord! I cry;
Darkness surrounds thee, but I know
That thou art ever nigh.

2 Like them I watch and pray,
Who for the morning long;
Catch the first gleam of welcome day,
Then burst into a song.

3 Glory to God above!
The waters soon will cease;
For, lo! the swift returning dove
Brings home the sign of peace!

4 Though storms thy face obscure,
And dangers threaten loud,
Thy holy covenant is sure;
Thy bow is in the cloud!

1018 S. M.
God dealeth with you as with sons.
Heb. 12:7.

How gracious and how wise
Is our chastising God;
And, O! how rich the blessings are
Which blossom from his rod!

2 He lifts it up on high
With pity in his heart,
That every stroke his children feel,
May grace and peace impart.

3 Instructed thus, they bow
And own his sovereign sway;
They turn their erring footsteps back
To his forsaken way.

4 His covenant love they seek,
And seek the happy bands
That closer still engage their hearts
To honor his commands.

5 Our Father, we consent
To discipline divine;
And bless the pain that makes our souls
Still more completely thine.

6 Supported by thy love,
We tend to realms of peace,
Where every pain shall far remove,
And every frailty cease.

1019 S. M.
The inward man is renewed, etc.
2 Cor. 4:16.

We love this outward world,
Its fair sky overhead,
Its morning’s soft, gray mist unfurled,
Its sunsets rich and red.

2 But there’s a world within,
That higher glory hath;
A life the struggling soul must win—
The life of joy and faith.

3 For this the Father’s love
Doth shade the world of sense,
The bounding play of health remove,
And dim the sparkling glance;

4 That, though the earth grows dull,
And earthly pleasures few,
The spirit gain its wisdom full
To suffer and to do.

5 Holy this world within,
Unknown to sound or sight—
The world of victory over sin,
Of faith, and love, and light.

1020 S. M.
Perfect peace in Christ.
Isaiah 26:3.

Thou very present aid
In suffering and distress,
The soul which still on thee is stayed,
Is kept in perfect peace.

2 The soul, by faith reclined
On the Redeemer’s breast,
’Mid raging storms exults to find
An everlasting rest.

3 Sorrow and fear are gone
Whene’er thy face appears:
It stills the sighing orphan’s moan,
And dries the widow’s tears:

4 It hallows every cross;
It sweetly comforts me;
Makes me forget my every loss,
And find my all in thee.

5 Jesus, to whom I fly,
Doth all my wishes fill:
What though created streams are dry,
I have the fountain still.

6 Stripped of my earthly friends,
I find them all in One;
And peace and joy that never ends,
And heaven in Christ begun.

1021 7s.
One for evermore with thee.

Prince of Peace! control my will;
Bid this struggling heart be still;
Bid my fears and doubtings cease—
Hush my spirit into peace.

2 Thou hast bought me with thy blood,
Opened wide the gate to God;
Peace I ask—but peace must be,
Lord, in being one with thee.

3 May thy will, not mine, be done;
May thy will and mine be one:
Chase these doubtings from my heart;
Now thy perfect peace impart.

4 Saviour, at thy feet I fall;
Thou my Life, my God, my All,
Let thy happy servant be
One for evermore with thee.

1022 7s.
Correct me, but with judgment.
Jer. 10:24.

Gently, gently lay thy rod
On my sinful head, O God!
Stay thy wrath, in mercy stay,
Lest I sink beneath its sway.

2 Heal me, for my flesh is weak;
Heal me, for thy grace I seek;
This my only plea I make—
Heal me for thy mercy’s sake.

3 Who, within the silent grave,
Shall proclaim thy power to save?
Lord! my sinking soul reprieve;
Speak, and I shall rise and live.

4 Lo! he comes—he heeds my plea!
Lo! he comes—the shadows flee;
Glory round me dawns once more!
Rise, my spirit, and adore!

1023 7s.
Affliction cometh not forth of the dust.
Job 5:6.

’Tis my happiness below,
Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour’s power to know,
Sanctifying every loss.

2 Trials must and will befall;
But with humble faith to see
Love inscribed upon them all—
This is happiness to me.

3 Did I meet no trials here,
No chastisement by the way;
Might I not, with reason, fear
I should prove a castaway?

4 Trials make the promise sweet;
Trials give new life to prayer;
Trials bring me to his feet—
Lay me low, and keep me there.

1024 8s & 7s.
All thy waves and thy billows, etc.
Psalm 42:7.

Full of trembling expectation,
Feeling much and fearing more,
Mighty God of my salvation!
I thy timely aid implore;
Suffering Son of Man, be near me,
All my sufferings to sustain;
By thy sorer griefs to cheer me,
By thy more than mortal pain.

2 Call to mind that unknown anguish,
In thy days of flesh below;
When thy troubled soul did languish
Under a whole world of woe;
When thou didst our curse inherit,
Groan beneath our guilty load,
Burdened with a wounded spirit,
Bruised by all the wrath of God.

3 By thy most severe temptation,
In that dark, Satanic hour;
By thy last, mysterious passion,
Screen me from the adverse power;
By thy fainting in the garden,
By thy bloody sweat I pray,
Write upon my heart the pardon,
Take my sins and fears away.

4 By the travail of thy spirit,
By thine outcry on the tree,
By thine agonizing merit,
In my pangs, remember me!
By thy pangs of crucifixion,
My weak, dying soul befriend;
Make me patient in affliction,
Keep me faithful to the end.

1025 8s & 7s.
Afterward.
Heb. 12:11.

Why should I, in vain repining,
Mourn the clouds that cross my way;
Since my Saviour’s presence, shining,
Turns my darkness into day?

2 Earthly honor, earthly treasure,
All the warmest passions win,
And the silken wings of pleasure
Only waft us on to sin.

3 But, within the vale of sorrow,
All with tempests overblown,
Purer light and joy we borrow
From the face of God alone.

4 Welcome, then, each darker token!
Mercy sent it from above!
So the heart, subdued, not broken,
Bends in fear, and melts with love.

1026 8s, 7s & 4s.
In the night his song shall be with me.
Psalm 42:8.

In the floods of tribulation,
While the billows o’er me roll,
Jesus whispers consolation,
And supports my sinking soul;
Sweet affliction!
Bringing Jesus to my soul.

2 In the darkest dispensations
Doth my faithful Lord appear,
With his richest consolations,
To reanimate and cheer.
Sweet affliction!
Thus to bring my Saviour near.

3 All I meet shall still befriend me
In my path to heavenly joy,
Where, though trials now attend me,
Trials never more annoy.
Sweet affliction!
Every promise gives me joy.

4 Wearing there a weight of glory,
Still the path I’ll ne’er forget;
But, exulting, cry, It led me
To my blesséd Saviour’s seat.
Sweet affliction!
Which has brought me to his feet.

1027 8s.
Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness.
Psalm 41:3.

How vast is the tribute I owe,
Of gratitude, homage and praise,
To the giver of all I possess,
The life and the length of my days!

2 When the sorrows I boded were come,
I poured out my sighs and my tears;
And to him, who alone can relieve,
My soul breathed her vows and her prayers.

3 When my heart throbbed with pain and alarm,
When paleness my cheek overspread,
When sickness pervaded my frame—
Then my soul on my Maker was stayed.

4 When death’s awful image was nigh,
And no mortal was able to save,
Thou didst brighten the valley of death,
And illumine the gloom of the grave.

5 In mercy thy presence dispels
The shades of adversity’s night,
And turns the sad scene of despair
To a morning of joy and delight.

6 Great source of my comforts restored,
Thou healer and balm of my woes!
Thou hope and desire of my soul!
On thy mercy I’ll ever repose.

7 How boundless the gratitude due
To thee, O thou God of my praise!
The fountain of all I possess,
The life and the light of my days!

1028 8s.
When he hath tried me, etc.
Job. 23:10.

O why this disconsolate frame!
Though earthly enjoyments decay,
My Jesus is ever the same—
My Sun in the gloomiest day.

2 Though molten awhile in the fire,
’Tis only the gold to refine;
And be this my simple desire,
Though suffering, not to repine.

3 O what are the pleasures to me
Which earth in its fullness can boast?
Delusive, its vanities flee—
A flash of enjoyment at most.

4 And if my Redeemer could part,
For me, with his throne in the skies,
O why is so dear to my heart
What he in his wisdom denies?

5 Then let the rude tempest assail,
Let blasts of adversity blow,
The heavens, though distant, I hail,
Beyond this rough ocean of woe.

6 When safe on that beautiful strand,
I’d smile on the billows that foam;
Kind angels to hail me to land,
And Jesus to welcome me home.

1029 7s & 6s.
I was sick, and ye visited me.
Matt. 25:36.

’Tis not a lonely night watch
Which by the couch I spend:
Jesus is close beside us,
Our Saviour and our Friend.

2 Often I strive all vainly,
To ease the aching head,
Then, silently and gently,
Himself he makes thy bed.

3 Do we not hear him saying,
“Your guilt on me was laid,”
“Ye are my blood-bought jewels;”
“Fear not, be not dismayed.”

4 “I sit beside the furnace,”
“The gold will soon be pure,”
“And blesséd are those servants
Who to the end endure.”

5 Amen! O blessed Saviour,
Dwell with us, in us, here,
And let us welcome trials,
Till we thine image bear.

1030 11s & 8s.
I sought him whom my soul loveth.
Canticles 3:1.

O thou in whose presence my soul takes delight,
On whom in affliction I call;
My comfort by day and my song in the night,
My hope, my salvation, my all!

2 Where dost thou at noontide resort with thy sheep
To feed on the pastures of love?
For why in the valley of death should I weep,
Or alone in the wilderness rove?

3 O why should I wander an alien from thee,
And cry in the desert for bread?
Thy foes will rejoice when my sorrows they see,
And smile at the tears I have shed.

4 You daughters of Zion, declare have you seen
The star that on Israel shone?
Say if your tents my belovéd has been,
And where with his flock he is gone?

5 This is my belovéd; his form is divine,
His vestments shed odors around,
The locks on his head are as grapes on the vine
When autumn with plenty is crowned.

6 The roses of Sharon, the lilies that grow
In the vales, on the banks of the streams,
On his cheeks in the beauty of excellence glow,
And his eyes are as quivers of beams.

7 His voice, as the sound of the dulcimer sweet,
Is heard through the shadows of death;
The cedars of Lebanon bow at his feet,
The air is perfumed with his breath.

8 His lips as a fountain of righteousness flow
That water the garden of grace;
From which their salvation the Gentiles shall know,
And bask in the smiles of his face.

9 Love sits on his eyelids, and scatters delight
Through all the bright mansions on high;
Their faces the cherubim vail in his sight,
And tremble with fullness of joy.

10 He looks, and ten thousands of angels rejoice,
And myriads wait for his word;
He speaks, and eternity, filled with his voice,
Re-echoes the praise of her Lord.

1031 11s & 10s.
Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.
2 Cor. 6:10.

We will not weep, for God is standing by us,
And tears will blind us to the blesséd sight;
We will not doubt, if darkness still doth try us:
Our souls have promise of serenest light.

2 We will not faint, if heavy burdens bend us;
They press no harder than our souls can bear;
The thorniest way is lying still behind us;
We shall be braver for the past despair.

3 O not in doubt shall be our journey’s ending:
Sin with its fears, shall leave us at the last;
All its best hopes in glad fulfillment blending,
Life shall be with us more when death is past.

4 Help us, O Father! when the world is pressing
On our frail hearts, that faint without their Friend;
Help us, O Father! let thy constant blessing
Strengthen our weakness, till the joyful end.

1032 P. M.
All my springs are in thee.
Psalm 87:7.

As down in the sunless retreats of the ocean,
Sweet flowers are springing no mortal can see,
So deep in my heart, the still prayer of devotion
Unheard by the world, rises silent to thee—
My God! silent to thee—
Pure, warm, silent to thee.

2 As still to the star of its worship, though clouded,
The needle points faithfully o’er the dim sea,
So, dark as I roam thro’ this wintery world shrouded,
The hope of my spirit turns trembling to thee—
My God! trembling to thee—
True, fond, trembling to thee.

1033 4s & 6s, or C. M.
Canticles 4:16.

The spring-tide hour
Brings leaf and flower,
With songs of life and love;
And many a lay
Wears out the day
In many a leafy grove.
Bird, flower, and tree,
Seem to agree
Their choicest gifts to bring;
But this poor heart
Bears not its part,
In it there is no spring.

2 Dews fall apace,
The dews of grace,
Upon this soul of sin;
And love divine
Delights to shine
Upon the waste within:
Yet year by year,
Fruits, flowers, appear,
And birds their praises sing;
But this poor heart
Bears not its part,
Its winter has no spring.

3 Lord, let thy love,
Fresh from above,
Soft as the south-wind blow!
Call forth its bloom,
Wake its perfume,
And bid its spices flow!
And when thy voice
Makes earth rejoice,
And the hills laugh and sing,
Lord! make this heart
To bear its part,
And join the praise of spring!

PRESENT AND FUTURE: LIFE AND DEATH.

1034 L. M.
Soon will the storm of life be o’er.

Gently, my Saviour, let me down,
To slumber in the arms of death;
I rest my soul on thee alone,
E’en till my last, expiring breath.

2 Soon will the storm of life be o’er,
And I shall enter endless rest;
There I shall live to sin no more,
And bless thy name, for ever blest.

3 Bid me possess sweet peace within;
Let childlike patience keep my heart,
Then shall I feel my heaven begin,
Before my spirit hence depart.

4 O, speed thy chariot, God of love,
And take me from this world of woe;
I long to reach those joys above,
And bid farewell to all below.

5 There shall my raptured spirit raise
Still louder notes than angels sing,
High glories to Immanuel’s grace,
My God, my Saviour, and my King!

1035 L. M.
The glory of man is as the flower, etc.
1 Pet. 1:24.

The morning flowers display their sweets,
And gay their silken leaves unfold,
As careless of the noon-day heats
And fearless of the evening cold.

2 Nipt by the wind’s untimely blast,
Parched by the sun’s directer ray,
The momentary glories waste,
The short-lived beauties die away.

3 So blooms the human face divine,
When youth its pride and beauty shows;
Fairer than spring the colors shine,
And sweeter than the virgin rose.

4 Or worn by slowly rolling years,
Or broke by sickness in a day,
The fading glory disappears,
The short-lived beauties die away.

5 Yet these, new-rising from the tomb,
With luster brighter far shall shine;
Revive with ever-during bloom,
Safe from diseases and decline.

6 Let sickness blast, and death devour,
If heaven must recompense our pains;
Perish the grass, and fade the flower,
If firm the word of God remains.

1036 L. M.
Death of parents.

The God of mercy will indulge
The flowing tear, the heaving sigh,
When honored parents fall around,
When friends beloved and kindred die.

2 Yet not one anxious murmuring thought
Should with our mourning passion blend;
Nor should our bleeding hearts forget
Their mighty, ever-living Friend.

3 Parent, Protector, Guardian, Guide,
Thou art each tender name in one;
On thee we cast our every care,
And comfort seek from thee alone.

4 To thee, our Father, would we look,
Our Rock, our Portion, and our Friend,
And on thy covenant love and truth,
With humble, steadfast hope depend.

1037 L. M.
They are not lost, but gone before.

Dear is the spot where Christians sleep,
And sweet the strains their spirits pour;
O, why should we in anguish weep?
They are not lost, but gone before.

2 Secure from every mortal care,
By sin and sorrow vexed no more,
Eternal happiness they share
Who are not lost, but gone before.

3 To Zion’s peaceful courts above
In faith triumphant may we soar,
Embracing, in the arms of love,
The friends not lost, but gone before.

4 To Jordan’s bank whene’er we come,
And hear the swelling waters roar;
Jesus! convey us safely home,
To friends not lost, but gone before.

1038 L. M.
Them which sleep in Jesus.
1 Thess. 4:14.

Asleep in Jesus! Blesséd sleep
From which none ever wakes to weep;
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the last of foes.

2 Asleep in Jesus! O how sweet
To be for such a slumber meet!
With holy confidence to sing,
That death has lost its venomed sting.

3 Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest,
Whose waking is supremely blest:
No fear, no woe, shall dim the hour
That manifests the Saviour’s power.

4 Asleep in Jesus! O for me
May such a blissful refuge be:
Securely shall my ashes lie,
And wait the summons from on high.

5 Asleep in Jesus! time nor space
Affects this precious hiding-place:
On Indian plains, or Lapland snows,
Believers find the same repose.

6 Asleep in Jesus! far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be:
But thine is still a blesséd sleep,
which none ever wake to weep.

1039 L. M.
Let me die the death of the righteous.
Num. 23:10.

How blest the righteous when he dies!
When sinks a weary soul to rest!
How mildly beam the closing eyes!
How gently heaves the 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;
And nought disturbs that peace profound
Which his unfettered soul enjoys.

4 Life’s labor done, as sinks the clay,
Light from its load the spirit flies,
While heaven and earth combine to say,
“How blest the righteous when he dies!”

1040 L. M.
Death of an infant.

As the sweet flower that scents the morn,
But withers in the rising day—
Thus lovely seemed the infant’s dawn;
Thus swiftly fled his life away!

2 Ere sin could blight or sorrow fade,
Death timely came with friendly care;
The opening bud to heaven conveyed,
And bade it bloom for ever there.

3 He died to sin, and all its woes,
But for a moment felt the rod—
On love’s triumphant wing he rose,
To rest for ever with his God!

1041 L. M.
Death of an infant.

So fades the lovely, blooming flower,
Frail, smiling solace of an hour;
So soon our transient comforts fly,
And pleasure only blooms to die.

2 Is there no kind, no healing art,
To soothe the anguish of the heart?
Spirit of grace, be ever nigh;
Thy comforts are not made to die.

3 Let gentle patience smile on pain,
Till dying hope revives again;
Hope wipes the tear from sorrow’s eye,
And faith points upward to the sky.

1042 L. M.
The early dead.

How blest are they whose transient years
Pass like an evening meteor’s flight;
Not dark with guilt, nor dim with tears:
Whose course is short, unclouded, bright.

2 O, cheerless were our lengthened way:
But heaven’s own light dispels the gloom,
Streams downward from eternal day,
And casts a glory round the tomb.

3 O, stay thy tears; the blest above
Have hailed a spirit’s heavenly birth,
And sung a song of joy and love;
Then why should anguish reign on earth?

1043 L. M.
Death is the gate of endless joy.

Why should we start and fear to die?
What timorous worms we mortals are!
Death is the gate of endless joy,
And yet we dread to enter there.

2 The pains, the groans, and dying strife,
Fright our approaching souls away;
Still we shrink back again to life,
Fond of our prison and our clay.

3 O if my Lord would come and meet,
My soul would stretch her wings in haste,
Fly fearless through death’s iron gate,
Nor feel the terrors as she passed!

4 Jesus can make a dying bed
Feel soft as downy pillows are,
While on his breast I lean my head,
And breathe my life out sweetly there.

1044 L. M.
The small and great are there.
Job 3:19.

The glories of our birth and state
Are shadows, not substantial things;
There is no armor against fate;
Death lays his icy hands on kings.

2 Princes and magistrates must fall,
And in the dust be equal made;
The high and mighty with the small,
Scepter and crown with scythe and spade.

3 The laurel withers on our brow;
Then boast no more your mighty deeds;
Upon death’s purple altar now
See where the victor victim bleeds!

1045 L. M.
That I may know how frail I am.
Psalm 39:4.

Almighty Maker of my frame,
Teach me the measure of my days;
Teach me to know how frail I am,
And spend the remnant to thy praise.

2 My days are shorter than a span;
A little point my life appears;
How frail at best is dying man!
How vain are all his hopes and fears!

3 Vain his ambition, noise, and show,
Vain are the cares which rack his mind;
He heaps up treasures mixed with woe,
And dies, and leaves them all behind.

4 O be a nobler portion mine;
My God, I bow before thy throne;
Earth’s fleeting treasures I resign,
And fix my hope on thee alone.

1046 L. M.
Make me to know mine end.
Psalm 39:4.

O God, thy grace and blessing give
To us, who on thy name attend,
That we this mortal life may live
Regardful of our journey’s end.

2 Teach us to know that Jesus died,
And rose again, our souls to save;
Teach us to take him as our Guide,
Our Help from childhood to the grave.

3 Then shall not death with terror come,
But welcome as a bidden guest—
The herald of a better home,
The messenger of peace and rest.

4 And, when the awful signs appear
Of judgment, and the throne above,
Our hearts still fixed, we shall not fear,
God is our trust; and God is Love.

1047 L. M.
I will fear no evil.
Psalm 23:4.

Though I walk through the gloomy vale,
Where death and all its terrors are,
My heart and hope shall never fail,
For God my Shepherd’s with me there.

2 Amid the darkness and the deeps,
Thou art my comfort, thou my stay;
Thy staff supports my feeble steps,
Thy rod directs my doubtful way.

1048 L. M.
On the death of an infant.

O mourner! who with tender love,
Hast wept beside some infant grave,
Hast thou not sought a Friend above,
Who died thy little one to save?

2 Then lift thy weary, weeping eye
Above the waves that round thee dwell;
Is not thy darling safe on high?
Canst thou not whisper—It is well?

3 Yes, it is well—though never more
His infant form to earth be given;
He rests where sin and grief are o’er,
And thou shalt meet thy child in heaven.

1049 P. M.
Blossom of being; seen and gone.

No bitter tears for thee be shed,
Blossom of being! seen and gone!
With flowers alone we strew thy bed,
O blest departed one!
Whose all of life, a rosy ray,
Blushed into dawn, and passed away.

2 Yes! thou art fled, ere guilt had power
To stain thy cherub-soul and form,
Closed is the soft ephemeral flower
That never felt a storm!
The sunbeam’s smile, the zephyr’s breath,
All that it knew from birth to death.

3 Oh! hadst thou still on earth remained,
Vision of beauty! fair as brief!
How soon thy brightness had been stained
With passion or with grief!
Now, not a sullying breath can rise,
To dim thy glory in the skies.

1050 L. M.
Unvail thy bosom, faithful tomb.

Unvail thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give these sacred relics room
To slumber in the silent dust.

2 Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear,
Invade thy bounds; no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.

3 So Jesus slept; God’s dying Son
Passed through the grave, and blessed the bed:
Rest here, blest saint, till from his throne
The morning break, and pierce the shade.

4 Break from his throne, illustrious morn;
Attend, O earth, his sovereign word;
Restore thy trust; a glorious form
Shall then arise to meet the Lord.

1051 L. M.
I am now ready to be offered.
2 Tim. 4:6.

The hour of my departure’s come;
I hear the voice that calls me home;
At last, O Lord! let troubles cease,
And let thy servant die in peace.

2 The race appointed I have run,
The combat’s o’er, the prize is won;
And now my witness is on high,
And now my record’s in the sky.

3 Not in mine innocence I trust;
I bow before thee in the dust;
And through my Saviour’s blood alone
I look for mercy at thy throne.

4 I come, I come at thy command;
I give my spirit to thy hand;
Stretch forth thine everlasting arms,
And shield me in the last alarms.

1052 C. M.
As a tale that is told.
Psalm 90:9.

How short and hasty is our life:
How vast our soul’s affairs!
Yet foolish mortals vainly strive
To lavish out their years.

2 Our days run thoughtlessly along,
Without a moment’s stay;
We, like a story, or a song,
Do pass our lives away.

3 God from on high invites us home;
But we march heedless on,
And, ever hastening to the tomb,
Stoop downward as we run.

4 Draw us, O God, with thy rich grace,
And lift our thoughts on high,
That we may end this mortal race,
And see salvation nigh.

1053 C. M.
A desire to depart.
Phil. 1:23.

Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell,
With all your feeble light:
Farewell, thou ever-changing moon,
Pale empress of the night.

2 And thou, refulgent orb of day,
In brighter flames arrayed;
My soul, that springs beyond thy sphere,
No more demands thine aid.

3 Ye stars are but the shining dust
Of my divine abode,
The pavement of those heavenly courts
Where I shall reign with God.

4 The Father of eternal light
Shall there his beams display,
Nor shall one moment’s darkness mix
With that unvaried day.

5 No more the drops of piercing grief
Shall swell into mine eyes;
Nor the meridian sun decline
Amid those brighter skies.

6 There all the millions of his saints
Shall in one song unite,
And each the bliss of all shall view
With infinite delight.

1054 C. M.
And Moses went up to the top of Pisgah.
Deut. 34:1.

Death can not make our souls afraid,
If God be with us there;
We may walk through its darkest shade,
And never yield to fear.

2 I could renounce my all below,
If my Redeemer bid;
And run, if I were called to go,
And die as Moses did.

3 Might I but climb to Pisgah’s top,
And view the promised land,
My flesh itself would long to drop,
And welcome the command.

4 Clasped in my heavenly Father’s arms,
I would forget my breath,
And lose my life among the charms
Of so divine a death.

1055 C. M.
What is your life?

Life is a span—a fleeting hour;
How soon the vapor flies!
Man is a tender, transient flower,
That, even in blooming, dies.

2 The once-loved form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;
And nature weeps her comforts fled,
And withered all her joys.

3 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,
When what we now deplore
Shall rise in full, immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.

4 Cease then, fond nature, cease thy tears,
Religion points on high;
There everlasting spring appears,
And joys that can not die.

1056 C. M.
Weep not.

Dear as thou wast, and justly dear
We would not weep for thee:
One thought shall check the starting tear,
It is that thou art free.

2 And thus shall faith’s consoling power
The tears of love restrain;
O, who that saw thy parting hour,
Could wish thee here again!

3 Gently the passing spirit fled,
Sustained by grace divine;
O, may such grace on us be shed,
And make our end like thine!

1057 C. M.
Why do we mourn departing friends.

Why do we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death’s alarms?
’Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to his arms.

2 Are we not tending upward, too,
As fast as time can move?
Nor would we wish the time more slow
To keep us from our Love.

3 Why should we tremble to convey
Their bodies to the tomb?
’Twas there the flesh of Jesus lay,
Amid its silent gloom.

4 The graves of all the saints he blest,
And softened every bed;
Where should the dying members rest,
But with their dying Head?

5 Thence he arose, ascending high,
And showed our feet the way;
Up to the Lord our souls shall fly,
At the great rising day.

6 Then let the last loud trumpet sound,
And bid our kindred rise:
Awake, ye nations under ground;
Ye saints, ascend the skies.

1058 C. M.
I will cause the sun to go down at noon.
Amos 8:9.

When blooming youth is snatched away
By death’s resistless hand,
Our hearts the mournful tribute pay,
Which pity must demand.

2 While pity prompts the rising sigh,
O may this truth, impressed
With awful power, “I too must die,”
Sink deep in every breast.

3 Let this vain world engage no more;
Behold the opening tomb:
It bids us seize the present hour:
To-morrow death may come.

4 O let us fly—to Jesus fly,
Whose powerful arm can save;
Then shall our hopes ascend on high,
And triumph o’er the grave.

5 Great God thy sovereign grace impart,
With cleansing, healing power;
This only can prepare the heart
For death’s approaching hour.

1059 C. M.
Sorrow not.
1 Thess. 4:13.

Not for the pious dead we weep;
Their sorrows now are o’er;
The sea is calm, the tempest past,
On that eternal shore.

2 Their peace is sealed, their rest is sure,
Within that better home:
Awhile we weep and linger here,
Then follow to the tomb.

1060 C. M.
John 14.

Let not your hearts with anxious thoughts
Be troubled or dismayed:
But trust in God your Father’s care,
And trust my gracious aid.

2 I to my Father’s house return;
There numerous mansions stand,
And glory manifold abounds
Through all the happy land.

3 I go your entrance to secure,
And your abode prepare;
Regions unknown are safe to you,
When I, your Friend, am there.

4 Thence shall I come when ages close,
To take you home with me;
There shall we meet to part no more,
Where sorrows ne’er shall be.

5 I am the Way, the Truth, the Life;
No son of human race,
But such as I conduct and guide,
Shall see my Father’s face.

1061 C. P. M.
They desire a better country.
Heb. 11:16.

How happy is the pilgrim’s lot!
How free from every anxious thought,
From worldly hope and fear!
Confined to neither court nor cell,
His soul disdains on earth to dwell—
He only sojourns here.

2 This happiness in part is mine,
Already saved from low design,
From every creature-love;
Blest with the scorn of finite good,
My soul is lightened of its load,
And seeks the things above.

3 There is my house and portion fair;
My treasure and my heart are there,
And my abiding home;
For me my elder brethren stay,
And angels beckon me away,
And Jesus bids me come.

4 I come, thy servant, Lord, replies;
I come to meet thee in the skies,
And claim my heavenly rest!
Soon will the pilgrim’s journey end;
Then, O my Saviour, Brother, Friend,
Receive me to thy breast!

1062 C. M.
Death of a child.

She was the music of our home,
A day that knew no night,
The fragrance of our garden bower,
A thing all smiles and light.

2 Above the couch we bent and prayed
In the half-lighted room,
As the bright hues of infant life
Sank slowly into gloom.

3 The form remained; but there was now
No soul our love to share;
Farewell, with weeping hearts, we said,
Child of our love and care.

4 But years are moving quickly past,
And time will soon be o’er;
Death shall be swallowed up of life
On the immortal shore.

1063 C. M.
Victory over death.
1 Cor. 15:55.

O for an overcoming faith
To cheer my dying hours,
To triumph o’er the monster death,
And all his frightful powers.

2 Joyful, with all the strength I have,
My quivering lips shall sing,
Where is thy boasted victory, grave?
And where the monster’s sting?

3 If sin be pardoned, I’m secure—
Death has no sting beside;
The law gives sin its damning power,
But Christ my ransom died.

4 Now to the God of victory
Immortal thanks be paid,
Who makes us conquerors while we die,
Through Christ our living Head.

1064 C. M.
Remember them, etc.
Heb. 13:7.

What though the arm of conquering death
Does God’s own house invade;
What though our teacher and our friend
Is numbered with the dead;—

2 Though earthly shepherds dwell in dust,
The agéd and the young;
The watchful eye in darkness closed,
And dumb the instructive tongue?

3 The eternal Shepherd still survives,
His teachings to impart:
Lord, be our Leader and our Guide,
And rule and keep our heart.

4 Yes, while the dear Redeemer lives,
We have a boundless store,
And shall be fed with what he gives,
Who lives for evermore.

1065 S. M.
Sighing for rest.

O where shall rest be found—
Rest for the weary soul?
’Twere vain the ocean-depths to sound,
Or pierce to either pole.

2 The world can never give
The bliss for which we sigh:
’Tis not the whole of life to live,
Nor all of death to die.

3 Beyond this vale of tears
There is a life above,
Unmeasured by the flight of years;
And all that life is love.

4 There is a death whose pang
Outlasts the fleeting breath:
O what eternal horrors hang
Around the second death!

5 Lord God of truth and grace,
Teach us that death to shun,
Lest we be banished from thy face,
And evermore undone.

1066 S. M.
Whoso believeth in me shall never die.
John 11:26.

It is not death to die—
To leave this weary road,
And, ’mid the brotherhood on high,
To be at home with God.

2 It is not death to close
The eye long dimmed by tears,
And wake, in glorious repose,
To spend eternal years.

3 It is not death to bear
The wrench that sets us free
From dungeon chain—to breathe the air
Of boundless liberty.

4 It is not death to fling
Aside this sinful dust,
And rise, on strong, exulting wing,
To live among the just.

5 Jesus, thou Prince of life!
Thy chosen can not die;
Like thee, they conquer in the strife,
To reign with thee on high.

1067 S. M.
Your fathers, where are they?
Zech. 1:5.

Our fathers! where are they,
With all they called their own?
Their joys and griefs, their hopes and cares,
Their wealth and honor, gone!

2 But joy or grief succeeds,
Beyond our mortal thought,
While still the remnant of their dust
Lies in the grave forgot.

3 God of our fathers, hear,
Thou everlasting Friend,
While we, as on life’s utmost verge,
Our souls to thee commend.

1068 S. M.
Far from my heavenly home.

Far from my heavenly home,
Far from my Father’s breast,
Fainting, I cry, Blest Saviour! come,
And speed me to my rest.

2 My spirit homeward turns,
And fain would thither flee;
My heart, O Zion! droops and yearns,
When I remember thee.

3 To thee, to thee, I press,
A dark and toilsome road;
When shall I pass the wilderness
And reach the saints’ abode.

4 God of my life! be near;
On thee my hopes I cast;
O guide me through the desert here,
And bring me home at last!

1069 S. M.
Go to thy rest, fair child.

Go to thy rest, fair child!
Go to thy dreamless bed,
While yet so gentle, undefiled,
With blessings on thy head.

2 Fresh roses in thy hand,
Buds on thy pillow laid,
Haste from this dark and fearful land,
Where flowers so quickly fade.

3 Before thy heart had learned
In waywardness to stray;
Before thy feet had ever turned
The dark and downward way;

4 Ere sin had seared the breast,
Or sorrow woke the tear;
Rise to thy throne of changeless rest,
In yon celestial sphere!

5 Because thy smile was fair,
Thy lip and eye so bright,
Because thy loving cradle care
Was such a dear delight;

6 Shall love, with weak embrace,
Thy upward wing detain?
No! gentle angel, seek thy place
Amid the cherub train.

1070 S. M.
At midnight there was a cry made.
Matt. 25:6.

Servant of God, well done!
Rest from thy loved employ;
The battle fought, the victory won,
Enter thy Master’s joy.

2 The voice at midnight came;
He started up to hear;
A mortal arrow pierced his frame,
He fell, but felt no fear.

3 Tranquil amid alarms,
It found him on the field,
A veteran slumbering on his arms,
Beneath his red-cross shield.

4 At midnight came the cry,
“To meet thy God, prepare!”
He woke—and caught his Captain’s eye;
Then, strong in faith and prayer,

5 His spirit, with a bound,
Left its encumbering clay;
His tent, at sunrise, on the ground,
A darkened ruin lay.

6 The pains of death are past,
Labor and sorrow cease;
And life’s long warfare, closed at last,
His soul is found in peace.

1071 7s, double.
The valley of the shadow of death.
Psalm 23:4.

Though I walk the downward shade,
Deepening through the vail of death,
Yet I will not be afraid,
But, with my departing breath,
I will glory in my God,
In my Saviour I will trust,
Strengthened by his staff and rod,
While this body falls to dust.

2 Soon on wings, on wings of love,
My transported soul shall rise,
Like the home-returning dove,
Vanishing through boundless skies:
Then, where death shall be no more,
Sin nor suffering e’er molest,
All my days of mourning o’er,
In his presence I shall rest.

1072 7s, double.
The spirit shall return to, etc.
Eccl. 12:7.

Deathless spirit, now arise!
Soar, thou native of the skies!
Pearl of price, by Jesus bought,
To his glorious likeness wrought,
Go, to shine before his throne,
Deck his mediatorial crown;
Go, his triumph to adorn;
Made for God, to God return.

2 Lo! he beckons from on high!
Fearless to his presence fly;
Thine the merit of his blood,
Thine the righteousness of God!
Angels, joyful to attend,
Hovering round thy pillow bend,
Wait, to catch the signal given,
And escort thee quick to heaven.

3 Is thy earthly house distressed,
Willing to retain its guest?
’Tis not thou, but it, must die—
Fly, celestial tenant, fly!
Burst thy shackles, drop thy clay,
Sweetly breathe thyself away,
Singing, to thy crown remove,
Swift of wing, and fired with love.

1073 C. M. D.
A soldier of renown.

Fallen—on Zion’s battle-field,
A soldier of renown,
Armed in the panoply of God,
In conflict cloven down!
His helmet on his armor bright,
His cheek unblanched with fear—
While round his head there gleamed a light,
His dying hour to cheer.

2 Fallen—while cheering with his voice
The sacramental host,
With banners floating on the air—
Death found him at his post;
In life’s high prime the warfare closed,
But not ingloriously;
He fell beyond the outer wall,
And shouted, victory!

[3 Fallen—a holy man of God,
An Israelite indeed,
A standard bearer of the cross,
Mighty in word and deed—
A master spirit of the age,
A bright and burning light,
Whose beams across the firmament
Scattered the clouds of night.]

4 Fallen—as sets the sun at eve,
To rise in splendor where
His kindred luminaries shine,
Their heaven of bliss to share;
Beyond the stormy battle-field
He reigns in triumph now,
Sweeping a harp of wondrous song,
With glory on his brow!

1074 8s & 7s.
Suffer little children to come unto me.
Matt. 19:14.

They are going—only going—
Jesus called them long ago;
All the wintery time they’re passing,
Softly as the falling snow.
When the violets in the spring-time
Catch the azure of the sky,
They are carried out to slumber
Sweetly where the violets lie.

2 They are going—only going—
When with summer earth is dressed,
In their cold hands holding roses
Folded to each silent breast;
When the autumn hangs red banners
Out above the harvest sheaves,
They are going—ever going—
Thick and fast, like falling leaves.

3 All along the mighty ages,
All adown the solemn time,
They have taken up their homeward
March to that serener clime,
Where the watching, waiting angels
Lead them from the shadow dim,
To the brightness of his presence
Who has called them unto him.

4 They are going—only going—
Out of pain and into bliss—
Out of sad and sinful weakness
Into perfect holiness.
Snowy brows—no care shall shade them;
Bright eyes—tears shall never dim;
Rosy lips—no time shall fade them:
Jesus called them unto him.

5 Little hearts for ever stainless—
Little hands as pure as they—
Little feet by angels guided,
Never a forbidden way!
They are going—ever going—
Leaving many a lonely spot;
But ’tis Jesus who has called them—
Suffer and forbid them not.

1075 8s & 7s.
Homeward.

Dropping down the troubled river
To the tranquil, tranquil shore,
Where the sweet light shineth ever,
And the sun goes down no more.

2 Dropping down the winding river
To the wide and welcome sea,
Where no tempest wrecketh ever,
Where the sky is fair and free.

3 Dropping down the rapid river,
To the dear and deathless land,
Where the living live for ever
At the Father’s own right hand.

1076 8s & 7s.
Sister, thou wast mild and lovely.

Sister, thou wast mild and lovely,
Gentle as the summer breeze,
Pleasant as the air of evening,
When it floats among the trees.

2 Peaceful be thy silent slumber—
Peaceful in the grave so low:
Thou no more wilt join our number;
Thou no more our songs shalt know.

3 Dearest sister, thou hast left us;
Here thy loss we deeply feel;
But ’tis God that hath bereft us:
He can all our sorrows heal.