ENCOURAGEMENT.
"STILL this one thing I do,"
The great apostle cried,
"The things unseen pursue,
Forgetting all beside."
O thou dost teach us still,
And we would learn of thee;
Till on the heavenly hill,
Thy God, and ours, we see.
Forget the things behind-
Press on to things before;
Whatever thou dost find,
Leave it, and ask for more.
And what dost thou receive ?
Light, truth, and grace, and bliss!
And yet, canst thou believe,
Thou shalt have more than this.
Thou shalt see greater things,
Than yet have bless'd thine eye;
And faith must raise her wings
Far, far above the sky.
The fairest fruits that grow,
Highest on life's fair tree,
Believe, rejoice, and know,
That they grow there for thee.
O, use the grace thou hast,
In asking yet for more;
And all thy burden cast
On him the cross who bore.
Ask, and thou shalt obtain
Peace on a battle field;
Loss shall be changed to gain,
And fear to hope shall yield.
The sea of love divine,
However deep it be,
Believe that it is thine,
And trust that boundless sea.
Then press towards the mark
Of thy high calling's prize;
Beyond death's valley dark
The full fruition lies.
ON HEARING TWO YOUNG LADIES
SING A SONG CALLED THE
"ROSE OF THE DESERT."
KIND maidens, if the sweetness of your strain
Can for a moment still the throb of pain,
If "desert roses' such a bloom supply,
As kindles sparkling hope in care's dim eye;
How sweetly shall their grateful song resound,
Who painless rest, and endless joy have found!
How bright the Amaranth of Eden's glades,
Which springs to form the crown that never fades.
R. W. KYLE.
A TOILSOME life is mine,
And troubles mark my way-
Lord, let thy tender mercy shine,
And turn the night to day.
My wants and woes abound,
I sink in helpless fear-
Oh Father! ever gracious found,
I pray thee still be near!
Look down with pitying eye,
My Saviour and my God!
And hear my spirit's humble cry,
O'er burdened with its load!
Thou seest, gracious Lord,
The trouble of my soul!
Shew me the comforts of thy word,
And murmuring thoughts controul.
Let me confiding turn,
In all my griefs to thee;
The lowly thou wilt never spurn,-
Defend and comfort me.
Guard me from thoughts of ill,
Increase my faith and love,
And through life's gloom conduct me still,
To endless joys above!
CHRIST THE WAY.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the father but by me."-John xiv. 6.
THERE is one only path to mortals given,
By which they may ascend to heaven.
Thou art the way-O may I walk therein,
And leave the varied paths of woe and sin!
Thou art the truth, blest Son! send out thy light,
And dissipate the shades of deathful night;
Thou art the life-be thou the Fount in me,
Whose living stream flows through eternity.
"Tis Jesus! by thy spirit and thy blood,
The fallen race of man is brought to God.
Thou art the way to heaven, the living way,
By which we mount to realms of endless day:
Thou art the truth, by whose enlight'ning ray
Alone, we find the one appointed way;
Thou art the life by which we gain the strength To tread the way when found, and reach our heaven at length.
REFLECTION ON THE PAST.
'Tis greatly wise to talk with our past hours, And ask them what report they bore to heaven; And how they might have borne more welcome
Their answers form what men experience call; If wisdom's friend, her best: if not, worst foe.
HYMN OF THE MOUNTAIN
CHRISTIANS.
FOR the strength of the hills, we bless thee,
Our God, our father's God!
Thou hast made our children mighty,
By the touch of the mountain sod.
Thou hast fixed our place of refuge
Where the spoiler's foot ne'er trod;
For the strength of the hills, we bless thee,
Our God, our father's God!
We are watchers of a beacon
Whose light must never die;
We are guardians of an altar
'Midst the silence of the sky:
The rock yields founts of courage,
Struck forth as by thy rod,
For the strength of the hills, we bless thee,
Our God, our father's God.
For the dark resounding heavens,
Where thy stil small voice is heard,
For the strong pines of the forests
That by thy breath are stirr'd;
For the storms on whose free pinions
Thy spirit walks abroad;
For the strength of the hills, we bless thee,
Our God, our father's God.
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