IX. MISCELLANEOUS.
443.
C. M.
Keble.
Teaching Little Children.
1 O, say not, think not, heavenly notes
To childish ears are vain,—
That the young mind at random floats,
And cannot reach the strain.
2 Was not our Lord a little child,
Taught by degrees to pray,
By father dear and mother mild
Instructed day by day?
3 And loved he not of heaven to talk
With children in his sight,
To meet them in his daily walk,
And to his arms invite?
4 And though some tones be weak and low,
What are all prayers beneath,
But cries of babes, that cannot know
Half the deep thought they breathe?
5 In his own words we Christ adore;
But angels, as we speak,
Higher above our meaning soar
Than we o’er children weak.
6 And yet his words mean more than they,
And yet he owns their praise;
O, think not that he turns away
From infants’ simple lays!
444.
C. M.
Heber.
The Holy Child.
1 By cool Siloam’s shady rill
How sweet the lily grows!
How sweet the breath, beneath the hill,
Of Sharon’s dewy rose!
2 Lo, such the child whose early feet
The paths of peace have trod;
Whose secret heart, with influence sweet,
Is upward drawn to God!
3 O Thou who giv’st us life and breath,
We seek Thy grace alone,
In childhood, manhood, age, and death,
To keep us still Thine own!
445.
C. M.
Flint’s Coll.
Suffer Little Children to Come unto Me.
1 See Israel’s gentle Shepherd stand
With all-engaging charms!
Hark, how he calls the tender lambs,
And folds them in his arms!
2 “Suffer the little ones,” he says,
“Forbid them not to come;
Of such is heaven; and souls like these
Shall find in heaven their home.”
3 We bring them, Lord, with thankful hands,
And yield them up to Thee;
Joyful that we ourselves are Thine,
Thine let our offspring be!
446.
C. M.
Briggs’ Coll.
Remember Thy Creator in the Days of Thy Youth.
1 Ye joyous ones! upon whose brow
The light of youth is shed,
O’er whose glad path life’s early flowers
In glowing beauty spread;
Forget not Him whose love hath poured
Around that golden light,
And tinged those opening buds of hope
With hues so softly bright.
2 Thou tempted one! just entering
Upon enchanted ground,
Ten thousand snares are spread for thee,
Ten thousand foes surround:
A dark and a deceitful band,
Upon thy path they lower;
Trust not thine own unaided strength
To save thee from their power.
3 Thou whose yet bright and joyous eye
May soon be dimmed with tears,
To whom the hours of bitterness
Must come in coming years;
Teach early thy confiding eye
To pierce the cloudy screen,
To look above the storms of life,
Eternally serene.
447.
L. M.
L. E. Landon.
Feed My Lambs!
1 While yet the youthful spirit bears
The image of its God within,
And uneffaced that beauty wears,
Which may too soon be stained by sin;
2 Then is the time for faith and love
To take in charge their precious care,—
Teach the young heart to look above,
Teach the young lips to speak in prayer.
3 The world will come with care and crime,
And tempt too oft that heart astray;
Still the seed sown in early time
Shall not be wholly cast away.
4 The infant prayer, the infant hymn,
Within the darkened soul will rise,
When age’s weary eye is dim,
And the grave’s shadow round us lies.
5 The infant hymn is heard again,
The infant prayer is breathed once more;
Reclasping thus the broken chain,
We turn to all we loved before.
448.
L. M.
Anonymous.
A Child’s Prayer.
1 Great God! and wilt Thou condescend
To be my Father and my Friend?
I but a child,—and Thou so high,
The Lord of earth and air and sky!
2 Art Thou my Father?—Let me be
A meek, obedient child to Thee;
And try, in word and deed and thought,
To serve and please Thee as I ought.
3 Art Thou my Father?—I’ll depend
Upon the care of such a friend;
And only wish to do and be
Whatever seemeth good to Thee.
4 Art Thou my Father?—Then, at last,
When all my days on earth are past,
Send down, and take me, in Thy love,
To be Thy better child above.
449.
C. M.
Mrs. Barbauld.
The Christian Pilgrim.
1 Our country is Immanuel’s ground;
We seek that promised soil;
The songs of Zion cheer our hearts,
While strangers here we toil.
2 Oft do our eyes with joy o’erflow,
And oft are bathed in tears;
But only heaven our hopes can raise,
And sin alone, our fears.
3 We tread the path our Master trod;
We bear the cross he bore;
And every thorn that wounds our feet
His temples pierced before.
4 The flowers that spring along the road
We scarcely stoop to pluck;
We walk o’er beds of shining ore,
Nor waste one wishful look.
5 We purge our mortal dross away,
Refining as we run;
And while we die to earth and sense,
Our heaven is here begun.
450.
C. M.
Briggs’ Coll.
The Spiritual World.
1 There is a world we have not seen,
That time can ne’er destroy,
Where mortal footstep hath not been,
Nor ear hath heard its joy.
2 There is a world,—and O how blest!
Fairer than prophets told;
And never did an angel guest
One half its peace unfold.
3 And this pure world is ever bright
With radiance all its own;
The streams of uncreated light
Flow round it from the throne.
4 Look not abroad with roving mind
To seek that fair abode;
It comes, where’er the lowly find
The perfect peace of God.
451.
C. M.
Croswell.
Hymn for Christmas.
1 Now gird your patient loins again,
Your wasting torches trim!
The chief of all the sons of men,
Shall we not welcome him?
Fill all his courts with sacred songs,
And from the temple wall
Wave garlands o’er the joyful throngs
That crowd his festival!
2 And still more freshly in the mind
Store up the hopes sublime
Which then were born for all mankind,
So blessed was the time;
And, underneath these hallowed eaves,
A Saviour will be born
In every heart that him receives,
On his triumphal morn.
452.
7s. M.
Grant.
The Garden of Gethsemane.
1 Jesus, while he dwelt below,
As divine historians say,
To a place would often go,
Near to Kedron’s brook that lay:
In this place he loved to be,
And ’twas named Gethsemane.
2 ’Twas a garden, as we read,
At the foot of Olivet,
Low and proper to be made
The Redeemer’s lone retreat:
When from noise he would be free,
Then he sought Gethsemane.
3 Thither, by their Master brought,
His disciples likewise came;
There the heavenly truths he taught
Often set their hearts on flame:
Therefore they, as well as he,
Visited Gethsemane.
4 Oft conversing here they sat;
Or might join with Christ in prayer;
O, what blest devotion that,
When the Lord himself is there!
All things there did so agree
To endear Gethsemane.
5 Full of love to man’s lost race,
On the conflict much he thought;
This he knew the destined place,
And he loved the sacred spot:
Therefore Jesus chose to be
Often in Gethsemane.
453.
C. M.
C. Wesley.
The Communion of Saints.
1 The saints on earth and those above
But one communion make;
Joined to their Lord in bonds of love,
All of His grace partake.
2 One family, we dwell in Him;
One church above, beneath;
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream of death.
3 One army of the living God,
To His command we bow;
Part of the host have crossed the flood
And part are crossing now.
4 O God, be Thou our constant guide!
Then, when the word is given,
Bid Thou death’s flood its waves divide,
And land us safe in heaven.
454.
C. M.
Watts.
Law and Love.
1 Not to the terrors of the Lord,
The tempest, fire, and smoke;
Not to the thunder of that word
Which God on Sinai spoke;—
2 But we are come to Zion’s hill,
The city of our God,
Where milder words declare His will,
And spread His love abroad.
3 Behold the great, the glorious host
Of angels, clothed in light!
Behold the spirits of the just,
Whose faith is turned to sight!
4 In such society as this,
My weary soul would rest;
For he who dwells where Jesus is
Must be forever blest.
455.
P. M.
J. H. Perkins.
Prayer and Labor.
1 By earth hemmed in, by earth oppressed,
’Tis hard to labor,—hard to pray;
And of the week, for prayer and rest,
We’ve but one Sabbath day.
2 But purer spirits walk above,
Who worship alway; who are blest
With an upspringing might of love
That makes all labor, rest.
3 Father, while here, we would arise
In spirit to that realm; and there
Be every act a sacrifice,
And every thought a prayer!
456.
7 & 6s. M.
Anonymous.
Strength From Struggle.
1 Grows dark thy path before thee?
Press on! still undismayed;
Heaven shines resplendent o’er thee,
Though earth be wrapped in shade.
2 And God, thy trust, hath given,
With word from swerving free,
The angels of high heaven
A charge concerning thee.
3 Then though thy feet may falter
Even at early morn,
And from hope’s burning altar
The light may be withdrawn,—
4 Yet from thy self-prostration
Thou shalt awake in power;
From tears and lamentation,
To conquest every hour.
5 Strong in thy perfect weakness,
Thy strength shall never fail;
Mighty in holy meekness,
Thine arm shall still prevail.
457.
C. M.
German.
The Heavenly Guide.
1 When thirst for power or for gold
Hath led our souls astray;
When, blind, by blinder guides we’re told,
“Lo, here thou’lt find the way;”
2 Look down, O Father, from above;
Set us from error free;
Teach us to serve Thee here in love,
And find our home in Thee.
3 When faith Thy guidance humbly takes,
And seeks Thy will to do,
Clear light upon our pathway breaks,
The world to guide us through.
4 Thy spirit send, our souls to keep;
Thy wisdom make our own;
And though our way leads through the deep,
We wander not alone.
458.
7 & 6s. M.
Anonymous.
Light For All.
1 The light pours down from heaven,
And enters where it may;
The eyes of all earth’s children
Are cheered with one bright day.
2 So let the mind’s true sunshine
Be spread o’er earth as free,
And fill men’s waiting spirits,
As the waters fill the sea.
3 The soul can shed a glory
On every work well done;
As even things most lowly
Are radiant in the sun.
4 Then let each human spirit
Enjoy the vision bright;
The truth which comes from heaven
Shall spread like heaven’s own light;
5 Till earth becomes God’s temple;
And every human heart
Shall join in one great service,
Each happy in his part.
459.
C. M.
J. Weiss.
For a Summer Festival.
1 Beneath Thy trees to-day we met,
Amid Thy summer flowers;
And every heart is blessing yet
These happy, fleeting hours.
2 But creeping shades to vespers call,
And timely lore impart,
To make our latest shadows fall
From sunshine in the heart.
3 Yes, even so; the summer leaf,
The summer flowers, declare
Their childlike, chastening belief,
That Thou dost make them fair.
4 O, let us cherish nature’s creed,
And live and bloom to Thee;
For only childlike hearts, we read,
Can grace eternity.
460.
P. M.
Anonymous.
Morning Hymn.
1 Our Father! we thank Thee for sleep,
For quiet and peaceable rest;
We bless the kind care that doth keep
Thy children from being distressed:
O, how in their weakness shall children repay
Thy fatherly kindness, by night and by day?
2 Our voices shall utter Thy praise,
Our hearts shall o’erflow with Thy love;
O, teach us to walk in Thy ways,
And lift us earth’s trials above!
The heart’s true affection is all we can give;
In love’s pure devotion, O, help us to live!
3 So long as Thou seest it right
That here upon earth we should stay,
We pray Thee to guard us by night,
And help us to serve Thee by day;
And when all the days of this life shall be o’er,
Receive us in heaven, to serve Thee the more.
461.
L. M.
Goethe.
Even-Tide.
1 O’er silent field and lonely lawn
Her dusky mantle night hath drawn;
At twilight’s holy, heartfelt hour,
In man his better soul hath power.
2 The passions are at peace within,
And stilled each stormy thought of sin;
The yielding bosom, overawed,
Breathes love to man, and love to God.
462.
L. M.
Edmeston.
Sabbath Evening.
1 Sweet is the light of Sabbath eve,
And soft the sunbeam lingering there;
Those sacred hours this low earth leave,
Wafted on wings of praise and prayer.
2 The time, how lovely and how still!
Peace shines and smiles on all below;
The plain, the stream, the wood, the hill,
All fair with evening’s setting glow!
3 Season of rest! the tranquil soul
Feels thy sweet calm, and melts in love;
And while these sacred moments roll,
Faith sees a smiling heaven above.
4 Thou God of mercy, swift to hear,
More swift than man to tell his need;
Be Thou to us, this evening, near,
And to Thy fount our spirits lead!
463.
S. M.
Briggs’ Coll.
Seasons for Prayer.
1 Come at the morning hour,
Come, let us kneel and pray;
Prayer is the Christian pilgrim’s staff
To walk with God all day.
2 At noon, beneath the Rock
Of Ages, rest and pray;
Sweet is that shelter from the sun
In the weary heat of day.
3 At evening, in thy home,
Around its altar, pray;
And finding there the house of God,
With heaven then close the day.
4 When midnight veils our eyes,
O, it is sweet to say,
I sleep, but my heart waketh, Lord,
With Thee to watch and pray.
464.
11s. M.
Mrs. Osgood.
Glad Worship.
1 Approach not the altar with gloom in thy soul,
Nor let thy feet falter from terror’s control;
God loves not the sadness of fear and mistrust;
O, serve Him with gladness,—the Loving and Just!
2 His bounty is tender, His being is love;
His smile fills with splendor the blue arch above;
Confiding, believing, O, enter always
His courts with thanksgiving, His portals with praise!
3 Come not to His temple with pride in thy mien
But lowly and simple, in courage serene;
Bring meekly before Him the faith of a child,
Bow down and adore Him with heart undefiled!
465.
7s. M.
Montgomery.
Praise Ye the Lord.
1 Heralds of creation! cry,—
Praise the Lord, the Lord most high!
Heaven and earth! obey the call;
Praise the Lord, the Lord of all.
2 For He spake, and forth from night
Sprang the universe to light;
He commanded,—nature heard,
And stood fast upon His word.
3 Praise Him, all ye hosts above;
Spirits perfected in love!
Sun and moon! your voices raise;
Sing, ye stars! your Maker’s praise.
4 Earth! from all thy depths below,
Ocean’s hallelujahs flow;
Lightning, vapor, wind, and storm,
Hail and snow! His will perform.
5 Birds! on wings of rapture soar,
Warble at His temple’s door;
Joyful sounds from herds and flocks,
Echo back, ye caves and rocks!
6 High above all height His throne;
Excellent His name alone;
Him let all His works confess!
Him let all His children bless!
466.
8 & 7s. M.
Anonymous.
“The Lord Is in His Holy Temple.”
1 God is in His holy temple:
Thoughts of earth, be silent now,
While with reverence we assemble,
And before His presence bow.
He is with us now and ever,
When we call upon His name,
Aiding every good endeavor,
Guiding every upward aim.
2 God is in His holy temple;—
In the pure and holy mind;
In the reverent heart and simple;
In the soul from sense refined:
Then let every low emotion
Banished far and silent be!
And our souls, in pure devotion,
Lord, be temples worthy Thee!
467.
10s. M.
Dr. Johnson.
God.
1 O Thou whose power o’er moving worlds presides,
Whose voice created, and whose wisdom guides!
On darkling man in pure effulgence shine,
And cheer the clouded mind with light divine!
2 ’Tis Thine alone to calm the pious breast
With silent confidence and holy rest;
From Thee, great God! we spring, to Thee we tend,
Path, Motive, Guide, Original, and End!
468.
7s. M.
Episcopal Coll.
Thanksgiving Hymn.
1 Praise to God, immortal praise,
For the love that crowns our days!
Bounteous Source of every joy,
Let Thy praise our tongues employ!
All to Thee, our God, we owe,
Source whence all our blessings flow!
2 All the blessings of the fields,
All the stores the garden yields,
Flocks that whiten all the plain,
Yellow sheaves of ripened grain;—
Lord, for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise!
3 All that spring with bounteous hand
Scatters o’er the smiling land,
All the plenty summer pours,
Autumn’s rich, o’erflowing stores;—
Lord, for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise!
4 Peace, prosperity, and health,
Private bliss and public wealth,
Knowledge, with its gladdening streams,
Pure religion’s holier beams;—
Lord, for these our souls shall raise
Grateful vows and solemn praise!
469.
7s. M.
Merrick.
The Heavenly Shepherd.
1 Lo, my Shepherd’s hand divine!
Want shall never more be mine.
In a pasture fair and large
He shall feed His happy charge,
And my couch with tenderest care
’Midst the springing grass prepare
2 When I faint with summer’s heat,
He shall lead my weary feet
To the streams that, still and slow,
Through the verdant meadow flow:
When through devious paths I stray,
He shall teach the better way
3 Though the dreary vale I tread,
By the shades of death o’erspread,
I shall walk from terror free,
While each needed strength I see
By Thy rod and staff supplied;
This my guard, and that my guide.
4 Thou my plenteous board hast spread;
Thou with oil refreshed my head;
Filled by Thee, my cup o’erflows;
For Thy love no limit knows;
And unto my latest end
Thou my footsteps shalt attend.
470.
C. M.
Episcopal Coll.
Calm Trust.
1 Father, whate’er of earthly bliss
Thy sovereign will denies,
Accepted at Thy throne, let this,
My humble prayer, arise:—
2 Give me a calm and thankful heart,
From every murmur free;
The blessings of Thy grace impart,
And make me live to Thee;—
3 Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine
My life and death attend,
Thy presence through my journey shine,
And bless my journey’s end.
471.
L. M.
*Browne.
The One God.
1 Eternal God! Almighty Cause
Of earth, and seas, and worlds unknown!
All things are subject to Thy laws;
All things depend on Thee alone.
2 Thy glorious being singly stands,
Of all within itself possessed;
By none controlled in Thy commands,
And in Thyself completely blessed.
3 Worship to Thee alone belongs,
Worship to Thee alone we give;
Thine be our hearts, and Thine our songs,
And to Thy glory may we live.
4 O, spread Thy truth through every land,
In every heart Thy love be known;
Subdue the world to Thy command,
And, as Thou art, reign God alone.
472.
C. M.
Sternhold
“He Bowed the Heavens and Came Down.”
1 The Lord descended from above,
And bowed the heavens most high,
And underneath His feet He cast
The darkness of the sky.
2 On cherubim and seraphim
Full royally He rode,
And on the wings of mighty winds
Came flying all abroad.
3 He sat serene upon the floods,
Their fury to restrain;
And He as sovereign Lord and King
For evermore shall reign.
473.
L. M.
J. Richardson.
One in Christ.
1 From Zion’s holy hill there rose
A fount divine, that ever flows;
Heaven’s smile is on its waters shed,
By heaven’s own dews the fount is fed.
2 That stream of Truth—a silver thread,
Scarce known, save by its fountain-head—
Now onward pours, a mighty flood,
And fills the new-formed world with good.
3 Where’er that living fountain flows,
New life its healing wave bestows,
And man, from sin’s corruptions free,
Inspires with its own purity.
4 A spirit, breathed from Zion’s hill,
In holy hearts is living still,—
That Comforter from heaven above,
The presence of celestial love.
5 O, may this spirit ever be
Our bond of peace and unity!
Thus shall we teach, as Christ began,
Through love, the brotherhood of man.
474.
C. M.
*Pierpont.
The Hymn of the Last Supper.
1 The winds are hushed; the peaceful moon
Looks down on Zion’s hill;
The city sleeps; ’tis night’s calm moon,
And all the streets are still.
2 How soft, how holy, is the light!
And hark! a sweet, low song,
As gently as these dews of night,
Floats on the air along.
3 Affection’s wish, devotion’s prayer,
Are in that holy strain;
And hope and love and trust are there,
And triumph, won through pain.
4 ’Tis Jesus and his faithful few
That soul-deep hymn who pour;—
O Christ! may we the song renew,
And learn to love thee more.
475.
C. M.
Moore.
Consolation.
1 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.
476.
C. M.
Keble.
The Elder Scripture.
1 There is a book, who runs may read,
Which heavenly truth imparts;
And all the lore its scholars need,
Pure eyes and loving hearts.
2 The works of God, above, below,
Within us, and around,
Are pages in that book, to show
How God himself is found.
3 The glorious sky, embracing all,
Is like the Father’s love;
Wherewith encompassed, great and small
In peace and order move.
4 The dew of heaven is like His grace;
It steals in silence down;
But where it lights, the favored place
By richest fruits is known.
5 Two worlds are ours; ’tis only sin
Forbids us to descry
The mystic heaven and earth within,
Plain as the earth and sky.
6 Thou, who hast given me eyes to see
And love this sight so fair,
Give me a heart to find out Thee,
And read Thee everywhere!
477.
10s. M.
Sterling.
Rest.
1 O Thou, the primal fount of life and peace,
Who shedd’st Thy breathing quiet all around,
In me command that pain and conflict cease,
And tune to music every jarring sound.
2 Make Thou in me, O God, through shame and pain,
A heart attuned to Thy celestial calm;
Let not the spirit’s pangs be roused in vain,
But heal the wounded breast with soothing balm!
3 So, firm in steadfast hope, in thought secure,
In full accord with all Thy works of joy,
May I be nerved to labors high and pure,
And Thou Thy child to do Thy work employ.
4 In One who walked on earth, a man of woe,
Was holier peace than even this hour inspires;
From him to me let inward quiet flow,
And give the might my failing will requires.
5 So this great universe,—so he, and Thou,
The central source and wondrous bound of things,
May fill my heart with rest as deep as now
To land and sea and air Thy presence brings.
478.
P. M.
Mrs. Hemans.
The Pilgrim Fathers.
1 The breaking waves dashed high
On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods against a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed,
And the heavy night hung dark,
The hills and waters o’er,
When a band of exiles moored their bark
On the wild New England shore.
2 Not as the conqueror comes,
They, the true-hearted, came;
Not with the roll of the stirring drums,
And the trumpet that sings of fame.
Not as the flying come,
In silence and in fear;
They shook the depths of the desert’s gloom
With their hymns of lofty cheer.
3 Amidst the storm they sang;
And the stars heard, and the sea!
And the sounding aisles of the dim woods rang
To the anthem of the free.
The ocean eagle soared
From his nest by the white wave’s foam,
And the rocking pines of the forest roared,—
This was their welcome home!
4 What sought they thus afar?
Bright jewels of the mine?
The wealth of seas, the spoils of war?
They sought a faith’s pure shrine!
Ay, call it holy ground,
The soil where first they trod!
They have left unstained, what there they found:
Freedom to worship God.
479.
L. P. M.
E. B. Barrett.
He Giveth His Beloved Sleep.
Psalm cxxvii. 2.
1 Of all the thoughts of God, that are
Borne in upon our souls afar
Along the Psalmist’s music deep,
O, tell me if there any is,
For gift or grace, surpassing this,—
“He giveth His beloved sleep.”
2 O earth, so full of dreary noises!
O men, with wailing in your voices!
O delved gold, the wailers’ heap!
O strife, O curse, that o’er it fall!
God makes a silence through you all,—
He giveth His beloved sleep.
3 His dews drop mutely on the hill,
His cloud above it saileth still,
Though on its slope men toil and reap;
More softly than the dew is shed,
Or cloud is floated overhead,
He giveth His beloved sleep.