Hymn 2:39.
The shortness and misery of life.
1 Our days, alas! our mortal days
Are short and wretched too;
"Evil and few," the patriarch says, [1]
And well the patriarch knew.
2 'Tis but at best a narrow bound
That heaven allows to men,
And pains and sins run thro' the round
Of threescore years and ten.
3 Well, if ye must be sad and few,
Run on, my days, in haste;
Moments of sin, and months of woe,
Ye cannot fly too fast.
4 Let heavenly love prepare my soul,
And call her to the skies,
Where years of long salvation roll,
And glory never dies.
[1] Genesis 47:9.
Hymn 2:40.
Our comfort in the covenant made with Christ.
1 Our God, how firm his promise stands,
E'en when he hides his face!
He trusts in our Redeemer's hands
His glory and his grace.
2 Then why, my soul, these sad complaints,
Since Christ and we are one;
Thy God is faithful to his saints,
Is faithful to his Son.
3 Beneath his smiles my heart has liv'd,
And part of heaven possess'd;
I praise his Name for grace receiv'd,
And trust him for the rest.