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2-How long, O gracious Master,

Wilt Thou Thy household leave?
So long hast Thou now tarried,
Few Thy return believe :
Immersed in sloth and folly,
Thy servants, Lord, we see ;
And few of them stand ready
With joy to welcome Thee.

3-How long, O Heavenly Bridegroom, How long wilt Thou delay ?

And yet how few are grieving

That Thou dost absent stay;

Thy very bride her portion
And calling hath forgot,
And seeks for ease and glory,

Where Thou, her Lord, art not.

4-Oh! wake Thy slumbering virgins;

Send forth the solemn cry,

Let all Thy saints repeat it,

"The Bridegroom draweth nigh!"

May all our lamps be burning,
Our loins all girded be,

Each longing heart preparing

With joy Thy face to see!

205

Psalm lxiii. 6.

P.M.

1-In the still silence of the voiceless night, When, chased by airy dreams, the slumbers flee,

Whom in the darkness doth my spirit seek,
O God, but Thee?

2—And if there be a weight upon my breast, Some vague impression of the day foregone, Scarce knowing what it is, I fly to Thee,

And lay it down.

3-Or if it be the heaviness that comes In token of anticipated ill,

My bosom takes no heed of what it is,

Since 'tis Thy will.

4-Often in spite of present care,
Or anything beside, how joyfully
Passes that almost solitary hour,

My God, with Thee!

5-For what is there on earth that I desire,
Of all that it can give or take from me,
Or whom in heaven doth my spirit seek,
O God, but Thee?

206

Psalm lxix. 18.

P.M.

1-Come nearer, nearer still,

Let not Thy light depart ;
Bend, break this stubborn will,
Dissolve this iron heart.

2-Less wayward let me be,
More pliable and mild;
In glad simplicity,

More like a truthful child.

3-Less, less of self each day,

And more, my God of Thee ;-
O keep me in the way,
However rough it be.

4-Less of the flesh each day,
Less of the world and sin;

More of Thy Son, I pray,
More of Thyself within.

5-Riper and riper now,

Each hour let me become,
Less fond of things below,
More fit for such a home.

6-More moulded to Thy will,
Lord, let Thy servant be,
Higher and higher still,

Liker and liker Thee.

7-Leave nought that is unmeet;
Of all that is mine own,

Strip me; and so complete
My training for Thy throne.

BONAR.

207

Psalm cxlviii. 2.

1-Ye angels, who stand round the throne, And view my Immanuel's face,

In rapturous songs make Him known,

Tune, tune your soft harps to His praise.
He formed you, the spirits ye are,
So happy, so noble, so good;
When others sunk down to despair,
Confirmed by His power ye stood.

2-Ye saints, who stand nearer than they,

And cast your bright crowns at His feet,

His grace and His glory display ;

Oh! tell of His love as is meet.

He saved from hell and the grave

you

He ransomed from death and despair,

For you He was mighty to save,
Almighty to bring you safe there.

8.

3-Oh! when will the period appear,
When I shall unite in your song?
I'm weary of lingering here;

And I to your Saviour belong.
I'm fettered and chained up in clay,
I struggle and pant to be free;
I long to be soaring away,

My God and my Saviour to see!

4-I want to put on my attire,

?

Wash'd white in the blood of the Lamb;

I want to be one of

your choir,

And tune my sweet harp to His name.
I want, oh! I want to be there,
Where sorrow and sin bid adieu,
Your joy and your friendship to share,
To wonder and worship with you.

208

1 John iii. 2.

P.M.

1-What shall we be, and whither shall we go, When the last conflict of our life is o'er, And we return from wandering to and fro, To our dear home thro' heaven's eternal door?

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