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2. If we to-day sweet peace possess,

It soon must be withdrawn ;

Some change may plunge us in distress,
Before to-morrow's dawn.

3. Disease and pain invade our health,
And find an easy prey;

And oft, when least expected, wealth
Takes wings and flies away.

4. Since sin has fill'd the world with wo,
And creatures fade and die;

Lord! wean our hearts from things below,
And fix our hopes on high!

1. WE

HYMN 466. L. M.

EARY of these low scenes of night, My fainting heart grows sick of time, Sighs for the dawn of sweet delight, Sighs for a distant happier clime. 2. 'Tis just, 'tis right: thus he ordains, Who form'd this animated clod; That needful cares, instructive pains, May bring the restless heart to God. 3. In him, my soul! behold thy rest; Nor hope for bliss below the sky. Come, resignation, to my breast, And silence ev'ry plaintive sigh. 4. Then cheerful shall my heart survey The toils and dangers of the road; And patient keep the heav'nly way, Which leads me homeward to my God.

1.G

HYMN 467. c. M.

REAT Ruler of all nature's frame,
We own thy pow'r divine;

We hear thy breath in ev'ry storm,

For all the winds are thine.

2. Wide as they sweep their sounding way,
They work thy sov'reign will;

And aw'd by thy majestic voice,
Confusion shall be still.

3. Thy mercy tempers ev'ry blast
To those who seek thy face;
And mingles, with the tempest's roar,
The whispers of thy grace.

4. Let me those gentle whispers hear,
"Till all the tumult cease;

1.

Sleep in thine arms, and wake in realms
Of everlasting peace!

HYMN 468. L. M.

MY God, my hope! if thou art mine,
Why should my soul with sorrow pine?
On thee alone I cast my care:

O leave me not in dark despair.
2. Though ev'ry comfort should depart,
And life forsake this drooping heart;
One smile from thee, one blissful ray,
Can chase the shades of death away.
3. My God, my Life! if thou appear,
Not death itself can make me fear.
Thy presence cheers the sable gloom,
And gilds the horrors of the tomb.
4. Not all its horrors can affright,
If thou appear, my God, my light!
Thy love shall all my fears control,
And glory dawn around my soul.

HYMN 469. L. M.

1. SHOULD famine o'er the mourning field Extend her desolating reign,

Nor spring her blooming beauties yield, Nor autumn swell the fruitful grain: 2. Should lowing herds, and bleating sheep, Around their famish'd master die; And hope itself despairing weep, While life deplores its last supply: 3. Amid the dark, the deathful scene, If I can say, the Lord is mine! The joy shall triumph o'er the pain, And glory dawn, though life decline.

4. The God of my salvation lives;

My nobler life he will sustain ; His word immortal vigour gives, Nor shall my glorious hopes be vain. 5. Thy presence, Lord, can cheer my heart, Though ev'ry earthly comfort die; Thy smile can bid my pains depart, And raise my sacred pleasures high. 6. O let me hear thy blissful voice, Inspiring life and joys divine.! The barren desert shall rejoice; 'Tis paradise, if thou art mine.

HYMN 470. s. M.

1. LORD, in this vale of tears,

What various woes we feel! Diseases, pains, and doubts, and fears, Surround thy children still.

2 What dangers fill the road!

What storms, and tempests roar But we march onward to our God, And trust his guardian pow'r.

3. No lasting comfort's found

Through this long wilderness:

But when we reach the heav'nly ground,
Pleasures shall never cease.

4. Support us in the way,

Lord! let our faith be strong;
Direct our footsteps, lest we stray,
And guard our souls along.

5. Death shall convey us home;
Thither our hearts aspire:
There no disease shall ever come,
But joy shall be entire.

HYMN 471. L. M.

THOU, Lord, through ev'ry changing scene, Hast to thy saints a refuge been:

Through ev'ry age, eternal God,

Their pleasing home, their safe abode.

2. Lo, we are ris'n, a feeble race,
Awhile to fill our father's place:
Our helpless state with pity view,
And let us share their refuge too.

3. Through all the thorny paths we trace
In this uncertain wilderness,

When friends desert, and foes invade,
Revive our heart and guard our head.
4. So, when this pilgrimage is o'er,
And we shall dwell in flesh no more,
To thee our sep'rate souls shall come,
And find in thee a surer home.

1.

XXVII.
DEATH.

HYMN 472. c. M.

HARK! from the tombs a doleful sound;
My ears attend the cry:

"Ye living men, come,

view the ground,

"Where you must shortly lie.

2. "Princes, this clay must be your bed, "In spite of all your tow'rs!

"The tall, the wise, the rev'rend head, "Must lie as low as our's."

3. Great God! is this our certain doom?
And are we still secure?

Still walking downward to the tomb,
And yet prepare no more!

4. Grant us the pow'r of quick'ning grace,
To fit our souls to fly :
Then, when we drop this dying flesh,
We'll rise above the sky.

HYMN 473. c. м.

1. TEACH me the measure of my days,
Thou Maker of my frame!

I would survey life's narrow space,
And learn how frail I am.

2. A span is all that we can boast
A fleeting hour of time.
Man is but vanity and dust,

In all his flow'r and prime.

;

3. See the vain race of mortals move,
Like shadows o'er the plain :

They rage and strive, desire and love,
But all the noise is vain.

4. Some walk in honour's gaudy show;
Some dig for golden ore;

They toil for heirs they know not who,
And straight are seen no more.

5. What should I wish or wait for then,
From creatures, earth and dust?
They make our expectations vain,
And disappoint our trust.

6. Now I resign my earthly hope,
My fond desires recall;
I give my mortal int'rest up,
And make my God my all.

HYMN 474. c. M.

1.THEE we adore, eternal name!
And humbly own to thee,

How feeble is our mortal frame,
What dying worms are we.

2. Our wasting lives are short'ning still,
As months and days increase;

And ev'ry beating pulse we tell
Leaves but the number less.

3. Dangers stand thick through all the ground, To push us to the tomb;

And fierce diseases wait around,

To hurry mortals home.

4. Good God! on what a slender thread,
Hang everlasting things;
Th'eternal states of all the dead,
Upon life's feeble strings.

5. Yet while a world of joy or wo
Depends on ev'ry breath,

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