2. But oft (with shame I will confess,) My privilege my burden is,
No joy, alas, have I !
When I would take my harp and sing,
I find it oft without a string,
And lay it coldly by.
3. Yet while I thus confess my shame,
'Tis right that I should praise His name
Who makes me sometimes sing.
Yes, Lord, I speak it to thy praise,
My cheerful song I sometimes raise,
And triumph in my King.
4. O let the case be always so,
My song no interruption know
Till death shall seal my tongue :
In heaven a nobler strain I'll raise,
And rest from every thing but praise;
My heaven an endless song!
CONFESSION.
(H. K. White.)
1. O LORD my God, in mercy turn, In mercy hear a sinner mourn!
To thee I call, to thee I cry,
O leave me, leave me not to die!
2. O pleasures past, what are ye now
But thorns about my bleeding brow!
Spectres that hover round my brain,
And aggravate and mock my pain.
3. For pleasure I have given my soul;
Now, justice, let thy thunders roll:
Now vengeance smile-and with a blow
Lay the rebellious ingrate low.
4. Yet Jesus, Jesus! there I'll cling,—
I'll crouch beneath his sheltering wing:
I'll clasp the cross, and, holding there,
Even me, oh bliss-His love may spare!
1. WHAT is life? 'tis but a vapour, Soon it vanishes away;
Life is like a dying taper,
O, my soul, why wish to stay?
Why not spread thy wings and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy?
2. See that glory, how resplendent,
Brighter far than fancy paints;
Where, in majesty transcendent,
Jesus reigns, the King of saints!
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy.
3. Joyful crowds, his throne surrounding,
Tell with rapture of his love;
Through high heaven his praises sounding,
Filling all the courts above.
Spread thy wings, my soul, and fly
Straight to yonder world of joy!
1. O THOU whose mercy guides my way,
Though now it seems severe,
Forbid unbelief to say
'There is no mercy here!'
2. O grant me to desire the pain
That comes in kindness down,
More than the world's supremest gain
Succeeded by Thy frown!
3. Then though Thou bend my spirit low, Love only shall I see :
The very hand that strikes the blow,
Was wounded once for me!
1. BLESSED be thy name for ever,
Thou, of life the Guard and Giver!
Thou canst guard thy creatures sleeping,
Heal the heart long broke with weeping:
God of stillness and of motion,
Of the desert and the ocean,
Of the mountain, rock, and river,
Blessed be Thy name for ever!
2. Thou, who slumberest not, nor sleepest,
Blest are they thou kindly keepest;
God of evening's parting ray,
Of midnight's gloom, and dawning day,
That rises from the azure sea
Like breathings of eternity.
God of life! that fade shall never,
Blessed be Thy name for ever.
THE POWER OF GOD.
(From Moore's Sacred Melodies. See "Sacred Poetry.”)
1. THOU art, O God, the life and light
Of all this wondrous world we see:
Its glow by day, its smile by night,
Are but reflections caught from Thee:
Where'er we turn, thy glories shine,
And all things fair and bright are Thine!
2. When day with farewell beam delays
Among the opening clouds of even;
And we can almost think we gaze
Through golden vistas into heaven;
Those hues that mark the sun's decline,
So soft, so radiant, Lord, are Thine.
3. When night, with wings of starry gloom,
O'ershadows all the earth and skies,
Like some dark beauteous bird, whose
plume
Is sparkling with a thousand eyes;
That sacred gloom, those fires divine,
So grand, so countless, Lord! are Thine.
When
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