3 The time is short!-ye saints, rejoice→→
The Lord will quickly come:
Soon shall you hear the Saviour's voice,
To call you to your home.
4 The time is short!-it swiftly flies-
The hour is just at hand,
When we shall mount above the skies,
And reach the wished-for land.
5 The time is short!-the moment near,
When we shall dwell above;
And be forever happy there,
With Jesus, whom we love.
597 Time the Period to prepare for Eternity.
THEE we adore, Eternal Name!
And humbly own to thee
How feeble is our mortal frame,
What dying worms are we!
2 The year rolls round, and steals away
The breath that first it gave;
Whate'er we do-where'er we be,
We're travelling to the grave.
Aff 3 Great God! on what a slender thread
Hang everlasting things!
Th' eternal state of all the dead
Upon life's feeble strings!
4 Eternal joy-or endless wo
Attends on every breath!
And yet how unconcerned we go
Upon the brink of death!
Aff 5 Awake, O Lord, our drowsy sense,
To walk this dangerous road;
And if our souls are hurried hence,
May they be found with God.
LIFE is the time to serve the Lord,
The time t' insure the great reward';
And while the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return.
2 Life is the hour that God hath given
T'escape from hell, and fly to heaven;
The day of grace-and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.
3 Then, what my thoughts design to do,
My hands, with all your might, pursue;
Since no device, nor work is found,
Nor faith, nor hope, beneath the ground.
4 There are no acts of pardon passed
In the cold grave to which we haste;
But darkness, death, and long despair
Len Reign in eternal silence there.
TO-MORROW, Lord, is thine,
Lodged in thy sovereign hand;
And if its sun arise and shine,
It shines by thy command.
2 The present moment flies,
And bears our life away;
Oh make thy servants truly wise,
That they may live to-day.
3 Since on this fleeting hour
Eternity is hung,
Awake, by thine almighty power,
The aged and the young.
4 One thing demands our care;
Oh! be that still pursued!
Lest, slighted once, the season fair
Should never be renewed.
5 To Jesus may we fly,
Swift as the morning light,
Lest life's young, golden beams should die
In sudden, endless night.
Reflections on past Generations.
HOW swift the torrent rolls,
That bears us to the sea!
The tide which hurries thoughtless souls
To vast eternity!
2 Our fathers! where are they,
With all they called their own?---
Their joys and griefs-and hopes and cares,
And wealth and honor-gone!
3 But joy or grief succeeds
Beyond our mortal thought,
While still the remnant of their dust
Lies in the grave forgot.
4 There, where the fathers lie,
Must all the children dwell;
Nor other heritage possess,
But such a gloomy cell.
5 God of our fathers, hear,
Thou everlasting Friend!
While we, as on life's utmost verge,
Our souls to thee commend.
6 Of all the pious dead
May we the footsteps trace,
Till with them, in the land of light,
We dwell before thy face.
601 Exhortation to work while it is Day.
THE swift-declining day,
How fast its moments fly!
While evening's broad and gloomy shade
Gains on the western sky.
2 Ye mortals, mark its pace,
And use the hours of light;
For know, its Maker can command
An instant, endless night.
3 Give glory to the Lord,
Who rules the rolling sphere;
Submissive, at his footstool bow,
And seek salvation there.
4 Then shall new lustre break
Through all the horrid gloom,
And lead you to unchanging light,
In your celestial home.
AWAKE-awake! each sluggish soul,
Awake-and view the setting sun!
See how the shades of death advance,
Ere half the task of life is done!
mp 2 Soon will he close our drowsy eyes,
Nor shall we hear these warnings more:
Soon will the mighty Judge approach;
Ev'n now he stands before the door!
mf 3 To-day, attend his gracious voice!
And hear the summons which he sends-
"Awake! for on this passing hour,
Thy long eternity depends!"
Aff 4 O Saviour! let these awful scenes
Be ever present to our view:
Teach us to gird our loins about,
And trim our dying lamps anew.
5 Then, when the king of terror comes,
Our souls shali hail the happy day:
mf Haste, then, O Saviour, from above,
Nor let thy chariot wheels delay!
Trust in God in Old Age.
ALMIGHTY Father of mankind,
On thee my hopes remain;
And when the day of trouble comes,
I shall not trust in vain.
2 In early years thou wast my guide,
And of my youth the friend;
And as my days began with thee,
With thee my days shall end.
3 Thou wilt not cast me off, when age
And evil days descend;
Thou wilt not leave me in despair,
To mourn my latter end.
4 Therefore in life I'll trust to thee,
In death I will adore;
And after death will sing thy praise,
When time shall be no more.
STOOP down, my thoughts, that used to rise,
Converse awhile with death;
Think how a gasping mortal lies,
And pants away his breath.
2 But oh, the soul!-that never dies!
At once it leaves the clay !-
Ye thoughts, pursue it where it flies-
And track its wondrous way.
3 And must my body faint and die?
And must my soul remove?
Oh! for some guardian angel nigh,
To bear it safe above!
4 Jesus, to thine almighty hand
My naked soul I trust;
And waits my flesh for thy command,
To drop into the dust.
Death and Judgment appointed to all.
HEAVEN has confirmed the dread decree,
That Adam's race must die:
One general ruin sweeps them down,
And low in dust they lie.
2 Ye living men, the tomb survey,
Where you must shortly dwell;
Hark! how the awful summons sounds,
In every funeral knell !
3 Once you must die-and once for all-
The solemn purport weigh:
For know, that heaven or hell is hung
On that important day!
4 Those eyes, so long in darkness vailed,
Must wake, the Judge to see;
And every word-and every thought-
Must pass his scrutiny.
5 Oh may I in the Judge behold
My Saviour and my Friend;
And, far beyond the reach of death,
With all his saints ascend.
Admonition to prepare for Death.
LIFE is a span-a fleeting hour-
How soon the vapor flies!
Man is a tender, transient flower,
That ev'n in blooming-dies.
2 The once loved form, now cold and dead,
Each mournful thought employs;
And nature weeps her comforts fled,
And withered all her joys.
3 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time,
When what we now deplore
mf Shall rise in full, immortal prime,
And bloom to fade no more.
4 Cease then, fond nature, cease thy tears→
Thy Saviour dwells on high;
There everlasting spring appears→→
There joys shall never die..
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