heard my infant prayer;
T Thy love, with all a parent's care,
Sustain'd my childish days:
Thy goodness watch'd my ripening youth And form'd my heart to love Thy truth, And fill'd my lips with praise.
2 Then e'en in age and grief, Thy name
Shall still my languid heart inflame,
And bow my faltering knee:
Oh! yet this bosom feels the fire,
This trembling hand and tuneless lyre
Have yet a strain for Thee!
3 Yes! broken, tuneless, still, O Lord,
This voice transported shall record
Thy goodness tried so long;
Till sinking slow, with calm decay,
Its feeble murmurs melt away
Into a seraph's song.
ESUS' hour is not yet come :
Let this word thine answer be,
Pilgrim, asking for thy home,
Longing to be blest and free;
Yet a season tarry on;
Nobly borne is nobly done.
2 While oppressing pains and fears,
Night and day thy spirit grieve,
Still prolong'd through many years,
None to help thee or relieve;
Hold the word of promise fast,
Till deliverance come at last.
3 Dost thou ask, When comes His hour?
Then, when it shall aid thee best;
Trust His faithfulness and power,
Trust in Him and calmly rest;
Suffer on, and hope, and wait;
Jesus never comes too late.
4 Blessed day which hastens fast,
End of conflict and of sin!
Death itself shall die at last,
Heaven's eternal joys begin:
Then eternity shall prove,
God is Light, and God is Love.
In suffering and distress;
The mind which still on Thee is stay'd,
Is kept in perfect peace.
2 The soul by faith reclined
On the Redeemer's breast,
'Mid raging storms, exults to find
An everlasting rest.
3 It hallows every cross;
It sweetly comforts me;
Makes me forget my every loss,
And find my all in Thee.
4 Jesus, to whom I fly,
Doth all my wishes fill;
What though created streams are dry,
I have the fountain still.
5 Stripp'd of each earthly friend,
I find them all in one;
And peace and joy which never end,
And heaven, in Christ, begun.
AVIOUR! once to Thee presented,
At Thy footstool I was laid :
In life's bloom, my heart consented
To the vows my sponsors made;
Thine in infancy and youth,
Should I not have kept Thy truth?
2 Thine by right, as my Creator,
Who my two-fold life bestow'd,
Saved by Thee, my Mediator,
Ransom'd with Thy precious blood;
Thine by my baptismal vow,
Shall my heart forsake Thee now?
3 No! not far then let me wander,
Thou hast stricken to reclaim;
O'er the guilty past I ponder,
Overwhelm'd with grief and shame;
Still that Lord whose seal I wear,
Pours for me th' availing prayer.
4 Welcome the severest token,
That God "lets me not alone;"
Though His cov'nant I have broken,
He reclaims me as His own;
Saviour, now my soul restore,
Bid me " Go and sin no more.'
ESUS, I my cross have taken,
All to leave and follow Thee;
Naked, poor, despised, forsaken,
Thou, from hence, my all shalt be.
Perish every fond ambition,
All I've sought, or hoped, or known;
Yet how rich is my condition!
God and heaven are still my own.
2 Let the world despise and leave me, They have left my Saviour, too; Human hearts and looks deceive me, Thou art not, like them, untrue : And while Thou shalt smile upon me, God of wisdom, love, and might, Foes may hate, and friends disown me; Show Thy face, and all is bright.
3 Men may trouble and distress me,
"Twill but drive me to Thy breast;
Life with trials hard may press me,
Heaven will bring me sweeter rest.
Oh! 'tis not in grief to harm me,
While Thy love is left to me;
Oh! 'twere not in joy to charm me,
Were that joy unmix'd with Thee.
4 Soul, then know thy full salvation,
Rise o'er sin, and fear, and care;
Joy to find in every station
Something still to do or bear.
Think what Spirit dwells within thee;
Think what Father's smiles are thine;
Think that Jesus died to win thee;
Child of heaven, canst thou repine?
5 Haste thee on from grace to glory,
Arm'd by faith, and wing'd by prayer;
Heaven's eternal gates before thee,
God's own hand shall guide thee there.
Soon shall close thy earthly mission,
Soon shall pass thy pilgrim days;
Hope shall change to glad fruition.
Faith to sight, and prayer to praise.
M I called? and can it be?
Has the Saviour pitied me?
Guilty, wretched as I am,
Has He named my worthless name?
Vilest of the vile am I;
Dare I raise my hopes so high?
|