V. CHRISTIANITY AND THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
165.
C. M.
Gaskell.
The Heralds of the Cross.
1 Forth went the heralds of the cross,
No dangers made them pause;
They counted all the world but loss,
For their great Master’s cause.
2 Through looks of fire, and words of scorn,
Serene their path they trod;
And to the dreary dungeon borne,
Sang praises unto God.
3 Friends dropped the hand they clasped before,
Love changed to cruel hate;
And home to them was home no more;
Yet mourned they not their fate.
4 In all his dark and dread array,
Death rose upon their sight;
But calmly still they kept their way,
And shrank not from the fight.
5 They knew to whom their trust was given,
They could not doubt His word;
Before them beamed the light of heaven,
The presence of their Lord.
6 O, may a faith as true be ours,
And shed as pure a light
Of peace across the darkest hours,
And make the last one bright!
166.
7s. M.
*Johns.
The Preachers of the Word.
1 Thanks to God for those who came
In the Saviour’s glorious name;
Who upon the green earth trod
But to teach the truth of God.
2 For the great Apostles, first,
Who from life’s endearments burst,
Going from the Cross, and then
Leading to the Cross again:
3 For the next, who meekly poured
Willing blood to serve the Lord;
Fearless bore the racks of pain,
Felon’s death, or captive’s chain;
4 And for all, from shore to shore,
Who the blessed tidings bore;
All who wrought for liberty
When ’twas treason to be free.
5 Ye, who now, in better days,
Live to spread your Maker’s praise,
Shedding, each man’s home around,
Light that consecrates the ground;
6 Teachers of the word of light,
Go forth in your Master’s might!
Speed your embassy where’er
Life has grief, or death has fear!
167.
S. M.
Ancient Hymns.
Thanks for all Saints.
1 For all Thy saints, O God,
Who strove in Christ to live,
Who followed him, obeyed, adored,
Our grateful hymn receive.
2 For all Thy saints, O God,
Accept our thankful cry,
Who counted Christ their great reward,
And yearned for him to die.
3 They all, in life and death,
With him, their Lord, in view,
Learned from Thy holy spirit’s breath
To suffer and to do.
4 For this Thy name we bless,
And humbly pray that we
May follow them in holiness,
And live and die in Thee.
168.
S. M.
Anonymous.
The Word of God.
1 God of the prophets’ power!
God of the gospel’s sound!
Move glorious on,—send out Thy voice
To all the nations round.
2 With hearts and lips unfeigned,
We bless Thee for Thy word;
We praise Thee for the joyful news
Of our ascended Lord.
3 O, may we treasure well
The counsels that we hear,
Till righteousness and solemn joy
In all our hearts appear.
4 Water the sacred seed,
And give it large increase;
May neither fowls, nor rocks, nor thorns,
Prevent the fruits of peace.
5 And though we sow in tears,
Our souls at last shall come,
And gather in our sheaves with joy,
At heaven’s great harvest-home.
169.
H. M.
Doddridge.
The Gospel.
1 Mark the soft falling snow
And the diffusive rain!
To heaven, from whence it fell,
It turns not back again;
Till, watering earth
Through every pore,
It calls forth all
Her secret store.
2 Arrayed in beauteous green,
The hills and valleys shine,
And man and beast are fed
By providence divine:
The harvest bows
Its golden ears,
The copious seed
Of future years.
3 “So,” saith the God of grace,
“My gospel shall descend,
Almighty to effect
The purpose I intend;
Millions of souls
Shall feel its power,
And bear it down
To millions more.”
170.
S. M.
Moore.
Christianity.
1 Behold the sun, how bright
From yonder east he springs,
As if the soul of life and light
Were breathing from his wings.
2 So bright the gospel broke
Upon the souls of men;
So fresh the dreaming world awoke
In truth’s full radiance then.
3 Before yon sun arose,
Stars clustered through the sky;
But, O, how dim, how pale, were those,
To his one burning eye!
4 So truth lent many a ray,
To bless the Pagan’s night;
But, Lord, how faint, how cold, were they,
To Thy one glorious light!
171.
L. M.
Emily Taylor.
Thy Kingdom Come!
1 “Thy kingdom come!” The heathen lands,
In error sunk, Thy presence crave;
And victims bound by tyrant hands
Implore Thee, Father, come and save!
2 “Thy kingdom come!” Each troubled mind
In doubt and darkness calls for Thee;
For Thou hast eyes to give the blind,
And strength to set the captive free.
3 Thy reign of peace and love begin!
Too oft the Christian’s sacred name
Is stained by wrath and shamed by sin;
O, come, assert the gospel’s claim!
4 O, never in that righteous cause
Our hearts be slow, our voices dumb;
Upon the glorious theme we pause,
And fervent pray, “Thy kingdom come!”
172.
C. M.
Gaskell.
Thy Kingdom Come!
1 O God! the darkness roll away
Which clouds the human soul,
And let the bright, the perfect day,
Speed onward to its goal.
2 Let every hateful passion die,
Which makes of brethren foes;
And war no longer raise its cry,
To mar the world’s repose.
3 Let faith, and hope, and charity,
Go forth through all the earth;
And man, in heavenly bearing, be
True to his heavenly birth.
4 Yea, let Thy glorious kingdom come
Of holiness and love,
And make this world a portal meet
For Thy bright courts above.
173.
S. M.
*H. Martineau.
The Coming of Christ in Power.
1 Lord Jesus, come! for here
Our path through wilds is laid;
We watch, as for the dayspring near,
Amid the breaking shade.
2 Lord Jesus, come! for hosts
Meet on the battle-plain;
Our holiest hopes seem vainest boasts,
And tears are shed like rain.
3 Lord Jesus, come! the slave
Still bears his heavy chains;
Their daily bread the hungry crave,
While teem the fruitful plains.
4 Hark! herald voices near
Lead on thy happier day;
Come, Lord, and our hosannas hear!
We wait to strew thy way.
5 Come, as in days of old,
With words of grace and power;
Gather us all within thy fold,
And let us stray no more!
174.
6 & 4s. M.
Marriott.
Let There Be Light.
1 Thou, whose almighty word
Chaos and darkness heard,
And took their flight!
Hear us, we humbly pray,
And where the gospel day
Sheds not its glorious ray,
Let there be light!
2 Thou, who didst come to bring,
On Thy redeeming wing,
Healing and sight!
Health to the sick in mind,
Light to the inly blind,
O, now to all mankind
Let there be light!
3 Descend Thou from above,
Spirit of truth and love,
Speed on Thy flight!
Move o’er the waters’ face,
Spirit of hope and grace,
And in earth’s darkest place
Let there be light!
4 Blessed and glorious three,
Thrice holy trinity,
Wisdom, love, might!
Boundless as ocean’s tide,
Rolling in fullest pride,
Through the world, far and wide,
Let there be light!
175.
C. M.
*Moore.
The Latter Day.
1 Who shall behold the glorious day,
When, throned on Zion’s brow,
The Lord shall rend the veil away
Which hides the nations now!
When earth no more beneath the fear
Of His rebuke shall lie;
When pain shall cease, and every tear
Be wiped from every eye.
2 Then shall the world no longer mourn
Beneath oppression’s chain;
The days of splendor shall return,
And all be new again.
The fount of life shall then be quaffed
In peace by all who come,
And every wind that blows shall waft
Some long-lost exile home.
176.
L. M.
Watts.
Christ’s Kingdom.
1 Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
Does his successive journeys run;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more.
2 For him shall endless prayer be made,
And praises throng to crown his head;
His name, like sweet perfume, shall rise
With every morning sacrifice.
3 People, and realms, of every tongue,
Dwell on his love with sweetest song;
And infant voices shall proclaim
Their early blessings on his name.
4 Blessings abound where’er he reigns;
The prisoner leaps to loose his chains;
The weary find eternal rest,
And all the sons of want are blest.
5 Let every creature rise and bring
Peculiar honors to our King;
Angels descend with songs again,
And earth repeat the loud amen!
177.
10s. M.
Ashworth.
Triumph of the Gospel.
1 Pour, blessed gospel, glorious news for man!
Thy stream of life o’er springless deserts roll:
Thy bond of peace the mighty earth can span,
And make one brotherhood from pole to pole.
2 On, piercing gospel, on! of every heart,
In every latitude, thou own’st the key:
From their dull slumbers savage souls shall start,
With all their treasures first unlocked by thee!
3 Tread, kingly gospel, through the nations tread!
With all the noblest virtues in thy train:
Be all to thy blest freedom captive led;
And Christ, the true emancipator, reign!
4 Spread, giant gospel, spread thy growing wings!
Gather thy scattered ones from every land:
Call home the wanderers to the King of kings:
Proclaim them all thine own;—’tis His
command!
178.
L. M.
Anonymous.
Hymn of the Church Triumphant.
1 Triumphant Zion! lift thy head
From dust, and darkness, and the dead;
Though humbled long, awake at length
And gird thee with thy Saviour’s strength!
2 Put all thy beauteous garments on,
And let thine excellence be known;
Decked in the robes of righteousness,
Thy glories shall the world confess.
3 No more shall foes unclean invade,
And fill thy hallowed walls with dread;
No more shall sin’s insulting host
Their victory and thy sorrows boast.
4 Thy God on high has heard thy prayer,
His hand thy ruin shall repair;
Nor will thy watchful Monarch cease
To guard thee in eternal peace.
179.
C. M.
Montgomery.
Daughter of Zion.
1 Daughter of Zion! from the dust
Exalt thy fallen head;
Again in thy Redeemer trust,
He calls thee from the dead.
2 Awake, awake! put on thy strength,
Thy beautiful array;
The day of freedom dawns at length,
The Lord’s appointed day.
3 Rebuild thy walls, thy bounds enlarge,
And send thy heralds forth;
Say to the south, “Give up thy charge,
And keep not back, O north!”
4 They come, they come;—thine exiled bands,
Where’er they rest or roam,
Have heard thy voice in distant lands,
And hasten to their home.
180.
8 & 7s. M.
Newton.
The Church Everlasting.
1 Glorious things of thee are spoken,
Zion, city of our God!
He whose word cannot be broken
Formed thee for His own abode.
2 On the Rock of Ages founded,
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation’s walls surrounded,
Thou may’st smile at all thy foes.
3 See! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love,
Well supply thy sons and daughters,
And all fear of want remove.
4 Who can faint while such a river
Ever flows their thirst to assuage?
Love, which, like the Lord, the giver,
Never fails from age to age.
5 Round each habitation hovering,
See the cloud and fire appear!
For a glory and a covering,
Showing that the Lord is near:
6 Thus deriving from their banner
Light by night and shade by day,
Safe they feed upon the manna
Which he gives them when they pray.
181.
L. M.
Whittier.
Christianity.
1 O fairest-born of Love and Light,
Yet bending brow and eye severe
On all which pains the holy sight,
Or wounds the pure and perfect ear,—
2 The generous feeling, pure and warm,
Which owns the rights of all divine,
The pitying heart, the helping arm,
The prompt self-sacrifice, are thine!
3 Beneath thy broad, impartial eye,
How fade the lines of caste and birth!
How equal in their sufferings lie
The groaning multitudes of earth!
4 Still to a stricken brother true,
Whatever clime hath nurtured him;
As stooped to heal the wounded Jew
The worshipper of Gerizim.
5 In holy words which cannot die,
In thoughts which angels leaned to know,
Christ gave thy message from on high,
Thy mission to a world of woe.
6 That voice’s echo hath not died;
From the blue lake of Galilee,
From Tabor’s lonely mountain-side,
It calls a struggling world to thee.
182.
C. M.
H. Martineau.
Christian Equality.
1 All men are equal in their birth,
Heirs of the earth and skies;
All men are equal, when that earth
Fails from their dying eyes.
2 God greets the throngs who pay their vows
In courts their hands have made;
And hears the worshipper who bows
Beneath the plantain shade.
3 ’Tis man alone who difference sees,
And speaks of high and low;
And worships those, and tramples these,
While the same path they go.
4 O, let man hasten to restore
To all their rights of love!
In power and wealth exult no more,
In wisdom lowly move.
5 Ye great! renounce your earth-born pride;
Ye low! your shame and fear;
Live, as ye worship, side by side;
Your brotherhood revere.
183.
C. M.
Bulfinch.
“That They May Be One.”
1 Was it in vain that Jesus prayed
For those he came to save,
When darkly o’er his path was laid
The shadow of the grave?
2 Hath Jesus loved and prayed in vain?
O doubting heart, be still!
Yet holds the Lord his glorious reign,
Despite of wrong and ill.
3 Though nations with their battle-cries
Profane the Almighty’s name,
Though bigots to the offended skies
Their own wild wrath proclaim,—
4 Thousands, in every Christian land,
Have never bowed the knee
In worship to the idol-band
Of strife and perfidy.
5 And these are one;—though some may bend
Before the Virgin’s shrine,
While others’ prayers and thanks ascend,
Father! alone at Thine,—
6 Yet they are one; if through their hearts
The soul of love be poured,
As swells some strain of various parts,
Yet all in sweet accord.
184.
S. M.
Johns.
Human Brotherhood.
1 Hush the loud cannon’s roar,
The frantic warrior’s call!
Why should the earth be drenched with gore?
Are we not brothers all?
2 Want, from the wretch depart!
Chains, from the captive fall!
Sweet mercy, melt the oppressor’s heart,—
Sufferers are brothers all.
3 Churches and sects, strike down
Each mean partition-wall!
Let love each harsher feeling drown,—
Christians are brothers all.
4 Let love and truth alone
Hold human hearts in thrall,
That heaven its work at length may own,
And men be brothers all.
185.
C. M.
Gaskell.
Peace.
1 How long, O Lord, his brother’s blood
Shall man in battle spill?
How long that mandate be withstood,
Which cries, “Thou shalt not kill?”
2 How long shall glory still be found
In scenes of cruel strife,
Where misery walks, a giant crowned,
Crushing the flowers of life?
3 O, hush, great God! the sounds of war,
And make Thy children feel
That he, with Thee, is noblest far,
Who toils for human weal;—
4 And though forgotten, he alone
Can be a Christian true
Who would his foes as brethren own,
And still their good pursue.
186.
7s. M.
Milman.
He Rebuked the Wind and the Sea.
1 Lord! thou didst arise and say
To the troubled waters, Peace!
And the tempest died away;
Down they sank, the foaming seas,
And a calm and heaving sleep
Spread o’er all the glassy deep;
All the azure lake serene
Like another heaven was seen.
2 Lord! thy gracious word repeat
To the billows of the proud!
Quell the tyrant’s martial heat,
Quell the fierce and changing crowd!
Then the earth shall find repose
From oppressions, and from woes;
And an imaged heaven appear
In the world of darkness here.
187.
L. M.
*
The Hope of Man.
1 The Past is dark with sin and shame,
The Future dim with doubt and fear;
But, Father, yet we praise Thy name,
Whose guardian love is always near.
2 For man has striven, ages long,
With faltering steps to come to Thee,
And in each purpose high and strong
The influence of Thy grace could see.
3 He could not breathe an earnest prayer,
But Thou wast kinder than he dreamed,
As age by age brought hopes more fair,
And nearer still Thy kingdom seemed.
4 But never rose within his breast
A trust so calm and deep as now;—
Shall not the weary find a rest?
Father, Preserver, answer Thou!
5 ’Tis dark around, ’tis dark above,
But through the shadow streams the sun;
We cannot doubt Thy certain love;
And Man’s true aim shall yet be won!
188.
6s. M.
Anonymous.
Behold, He Cometh.
1 Hark! through the waking earth,
Hark! through the echoing sky,
Herald of freedom’s birth,
There comes a glorious cry.
2 The triple chains that bind
Fall from the weary limb,
And from the down-crushed mind,
As soundeth that high hymn.
3 Unto man’s waiting heart
It saith,—“Arise, be strong!
Bear thou an earnest part
Against all forms of wrong.
4 “Wouldst live in earth as lives
The glorious One above?
He for thy model gives
Himself, and he is Love.
5 “Love in each brother man
The God who loveth him;
Revere the stamp of heaven,
However marred and dim.
6 “Bid fear give place to love;
Bid doubt and passion cease;
Be every word of hate
Forever hushed in peace.”
7 Sound, sound through all the earth!
Sound through the echoing sky!
Proclaim the world’s new birth;
Proclaim the Lord is nigh!
189.
7s. M.
*Montgomery.
The Liberty of the Sons of God.
1 God made all his creatures free;
Life itself is liberty;
God ordained no other bands
Than united hearts and hands.
2 Sin the primal charter broke,—
Sin, itself earth’s heaviest yoke;
Tyranny with sin began,
Man o’er brute, and man o’er man.
3 But a better day shall be,
Life again be liberty,
And the wide world’s only bands
Love-knit hearts and love-linked hands.
4 So shall every slavery cease,
All God’s children dwell in peace,
And the new-born earth record
Love, and Love alone, is Lord.
190.
P. M.
H. Ware.
Freedom.
1 Oppression shall not always reign;
There comes a brighter day,
When freedom, burst from every chain,
Shall have triumphant way.
Then right shall over might prevail,
And truth, like hero armed in mail,
The hosts of tyrant wrong assail,
And hold eternal sway.
2 What voice shall bid the progress stay
Of truth’s victorious car?
What arm arrest the growing day,
Or quench the solar star?
What reckless soul, though stout and strong,
Shall dare bring back the ancient wrong,
Oppression’s guilty night prolong,
And freedom’s morning bar?
191.
C. M.
*Whittier.
The Reformers.
1 O pure Reformers! not in vain
Your trust in human kind;
The good which bloodshed could not gain,
Your peaceful zeal shall find.
2 The truths ye urge are borne abroad
By every wind and tide;
The voice of nature and of God
Speaks out upon your side.
3 The weapons which your hands have found
Are those which Heaven hath wrought,
Light, Truth, and Love,—your battle-ground,
The free, broad field of Thought.
4 O, may no selfish purpose break
The beauty of your plan,
Nor lie from throne or altar shake
Your steady faith in man.
5 Press on! and if we may not share
The glory of your fight,
We’ll ask at least, in earnest prayer,
God’s blessing on the Right.
192.
8 & 7s. M.
Cowper.
The Kingdom of Heaven.
1 Hear what God, the Lord, hath spoken;
O my people, faint and few,
Comfortless, afflicted, broken,
Fair abodes I build for you;
Scenes of heartfelt tribulation
Shall no more perplex your ways;
You shall name your walls salvation,
And your gates shall all be praise.
2 There, in undisturbed possession,
Peace and righteousness shall reign;
Never shall you feel oppression,
Never hear of war again;
God shall rise, and, shining o’er you,
Change to day the gloom of night;
He, the Lord, shall be your glory,
God your everlasting light.