Fain would my soul be praising
Amid that sinless throng,
Fain would my voice be raising
Its everlasting song.
Hark! hark! they bid me hasten
To leave the fainting clay,
Friends! Hear ye not the welcome sound
“Arise, and come away?"
Before the dawn of morning
These dark skies shall grow bright,
I shall have joined their company
Above this realm of night.
Give thanks, ye weeping loved ones,
Thanks to th' Eternal King,
Who crowns my soul with victory,
And plucks from Death his sting.
O weary hearts, to mourning homes, God's meekest angel gently comes: No power has he to banish pain, Or give us back our lost again; And yet in tenderest love, our dear And Heavenly Father sends him here.
There's quiet in that angel's glance,
There's rest in his still countenance !
He mocks no grief with idle cheer,
Nor wounds with words the mourner's ear;
But ills and woes he may not cure
He kindly trains us to endure.
Angel of Patience! sent to calm
Our feverish brows with cooling palm :
To lay the storms of hope and fear,
And reconcile life's smile and tear;
The throbs of wounded pride to still,
And make our own our Father's will!
Oh! thou who mournest on thy way,
With longings for the close of day;
He walks with thee, that angel kind,
And gently whispers, "Be resigned:
Bear up, bear on, the end shall tell
The dear Lord ordereth all things well!"
Y God, I thank thee! may no thought
E'er deem thy chastisements severe;
But may this heart, by sorrow taught,
Calm each wild wish and idle fear.
Thy mercy bids all nature bloom;
Thy sun shines bright, and man is gay ; Thine equal mercy spreads the gloom That darkens o'er his little day.
Full many a throb of grief and pain
Thy frail and erring child must know;
But not one prayer is breathed in vain,
Nor does one tear unheeded flow.
Thy various messengers employ;
Thy purposes of love fulfil;
And, mid the wreck of human joy,
May kneeling faith adore Thy will!
AINT not, poor traveller, though thy
Be rough, like that thy SAVIOUR trod;
Though cold and stormy lower the day,
This path of suffering leads to God.
Nay, sink not; though from every limb
Are starting drops of toil and pain;
Thou dost but share the lot of Him
With whom his followers are to reign.
Thy friends are gone, and thou, alone,
Must bear the sorrows that assail;
Look upward to th' eternal throne,
And know a Friend who cannot fail.
Bear firmly; yet a few more days,
And thy hard trial will be past;
Then, wrapt in glory's opening blaze,
Thy feet will rest in heaven at last.
Christian! Thy Friend, thy Master prayed
When dread and anguish shook his frame,
Then met his sufferings undismayed!
Wilt thou not strive to do the same?
O! think'st thou that his Father's love
Shone round him then with fainter rays
Than now, when, throned all height above,
Unceasing voices hymn his praise!
Go, sufferer! calmly meet the woes
Which God's own mercy bids thee bear;
Then, rising as thy SAVIOUR rose,
Go! his eternal victory share.
Put on the whole Armour of God.
¡OUNG soldier of the Cross, beware!
A watchful foe besets thy way,
His bow is ready bent to slay
Thy soul unarmed and bare :-
Gird on thine armour for the fight,
Close on the left hand and the right.
Let truth's pure girdle belt thee round,
Let Christ's own righteousness complete
Protect thy breast, and be thy feet
With Gospel fitness bound;
Thy shield be Faith's unchanging light,
Salvation's hope thy helmet bright.
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