Ear hath not heard, nor eye beheld,
What to the saints is there revealed;
Blissful experience only knows
The glories of the upper house.
Far, far from all distress removed,
They know the God whom here they loved:
Temptation, sickness, grief, and care,
Shall never gain admission there.
Then let us seek, in steadfast faith,
A city that foundations hath;
Our bright, immovable abode,
Whose glorious Architect is God.
There we shall all our pain forget;
And only songs of praise repeat;
In knowledge, happiness, and love,
To all eternity improve.
There we shall as the angels shine,
The martyrs' noble army join;
And see the Lamb (thrice-blissful sight!)
Encompassed with His saints in light.
When shall we to our joy be given?
Oh, when exchange this earth for heaven?
And cast our crowns before the throne,
And worship Him that sits thereon?
When shall we hear the inviting word,
And be for ever with the Lord?
A day with Christ, in glory there,
Is better than a thousand here.
Holy and true, call in thine own,
Accomplish, Lord, their number soon;
Us to thy second coming seal,
And with thyself for ever fill!
A MORNING HYMN.
CHRIST, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
Triumph o'er the shades of night;
Day-spring from on high, be near,
Day-star, in my heart appear!
Dark and cheerless is the morn,
Unaccompanied by thee;
Joyless is the day's return
Till thy mercy's beams I see,
Till they inward light impart,
Glad my eyes and warm my heart.
Visit, then, this soul of mine,
Pierce the gloom of sin and grief;
Fill me, radiancy Divine.
Scatter all my unbelief;
More and more thyself display,
Shining to the perfect day.
AN EVENING HYMN.
WHAT though my frail eyelids refuse
Continual watching to keep,
And punctual as midnight renews,
Demand the refreshment of sleep;
A'sovereign Protector I have,
Unseen, yet for ever at hand,
Unchangeably faithful to save,
Almighty to rule and command. ·
From evil secure and its dread
I rest, if my Saviour is nigh,
And songs His kind Presence, indeed,
Shall in the night-season supply;
He smiles, and my comforts abound,
His grace as the dew shall descend,
And walls of Salvation surround
The soul He delights to defend.
Kind Author and ground of my hope,
Thee, thee for my God I avow,
My glad Ebenezer set up,
And own thou hast helped me till now.
I muse on the years that are past,
Wherein my defence thou hast proved,
Nor wilt thou relinquish at last
A sinner so signally loved.
Inspirer and hearer of prayer,
Thou Feeder and Guardian of thine,
My all to thy covenant care
I, sleeping and waking, resign.
If thou art my
The night is no darkness to me,
And fast as my moments roll on,
They bring me but nearer to thee.
Thy ministering spirits descend,
To watch while thy saints are asleep,
By day and by night they attend,
The heirs of salvation to keep.
Bright seraphs, despatched from the throne,
Repair to the stations assigned,
And angels elect are sent down.
To guard the elect of mankind.
Thy worship no interval knows,
Their fervour is still on the wing;
And while they protect my repose,
They chant to the praise of my King.
I, too, at the season ordained,
Their chorus for ever will join ;
And love and adore without end
Their faithful Creator and mine.
EPITAPH ON MR. G. WALTON.
THE debt of nature I have paid,
Which thou must shortly pay;
To learn instruction from the dead,
Thou breathing taper, stay.
Swifter than thought thy years depart,
My verse proclaims their haste;
A moment nearer death thou art
Than when you read the last.
Soon must thy earth to earth be given,
Soon must thou disappear;
Say, reader, is thy heart in heaven?
And is thy treasure there?
Like thee, the prostrate dead I viewed,
While in the flesh detained:
How differ we? Thou art on the road,
I've reached my journey's end.
DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY.
THE daring worm, who lifts his puny arm
Against Jehovah's sovereignty, attempts
No less than that which hurled from heaven above
Apostate angels to the lowest hell!
A King, and not to reign! preposterous thought!
A God, and not a King! strange Deity!
Such are the pagan gods! such is not mine!
I own, adore, and love the mighty God
Whose will controls all worlds, whose high decrees
Fix bounds to time, and destiny to souls.
He took my nature, guilt, and shame, unasked!
And gave me righteousness and life, unsought!
He bows, He melts, He hardens whom He will,
Nor of His matters gives account to man.
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