Imatges de pàgina
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4 Within these walls, let holy peace,
And love and concord dwell;
Here give the troubled conscience ease,
The wounded spirit heal.

5 Here may salvation be proclaimed,
By thy most precious blood;
Let sinners know the joyful sound,
And own their Saviour, God.

6 Here may a numerous crowd arise,
To bow before thy throne;

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Here may their songs salute the skies,
To ages yet unborn.

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Those blessed who die in the Lord.

1 HEAR what the voice from heaven proclains
For all the pious dead!

Sweet is the savor of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.

2 They die in Jesus, and are blest;
How kind their slumbers are!

- From suffering and from sin released,
They're freed from every snare.

3 Far from this world of toil and strife,
They're present with the Lord;
The labors of their mortal life
End in a large reward.

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Death and Burial of Christians.

1 WHY do we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death's alarms?

"Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to his arms.

2 Are we not tending upward too,

To heaven's desired abode ?-
Why should we wish the hours more slow,
Which keep us from our God?

3 Why should we tremble to convey
Their bodies to the tomb?

'Twas there the Saviour's body lay,
And left a long perfume.

4 The graves of all his saints he blest,
And softened every bed:

Where should the dying members rest,
But with their dying Head?

5 Thence he arose, ascending high,
And showed our feet the way:
Up to the Lord his saints shall fly
At the great rising day.

mf 116 Then let the last loud trumpet sound,
And bid our kindred rise;

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Awake, ye nations under ground!
Ye saints! ascend the skies.

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1 UNVAIL thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give these sacred relics room,
To slumber in the silent dust.

2 Nor pain, nor grief, nor anxious fear
Invade thy bounds-no mortal woes
Can reach the peaceful sleeper here,
While angels watch the soft repose.
3 So Jesus slept-God's dying Son

Passed thro' the grave, and blest the bed.
Rest here, blest saint, till from his throne
The morning break, and pierce the shade.
4 Break from his throne, illustrious morn!
Attend, O earth! his sovereign word;
Restore thy trust-a glorious form
Shall then arise to meet the Lord.

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89 & 78.

Sicilian Hymn.
1 CEASE, ye mourners, cease to languish
O'er the grave of those you love;
Pain, and death, and night, and anguish,
Enter not the world above.

2 While our silent steps are straying,

Lonely, through night's deepening shade,
Glory's brightest beams are playing
Round th' immortal spirit's head.

3 Light and peace at once deriving
From the hand of God most high,
In his glorious presence living,
They shall never-never die!
4 Endless pleasure, pain excluding,
Sickness there no more can come ;

There, no fear of wo intruding,
Sheds o'er heaven a moment's gloom.
5 Now, ye mourners, cease to languish
O'er the graves of those ye love;
Far removed from pain and anguish,
They are chanting hymns above.

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C. M.

Death of a Minister.

Dundee. Collingham.

1 NOW let our mourning hearts revive,
And all our tears be dry;

Why should those eyes be drowned in grief,
That view a Saviour nigh?

2 What though the arm of conquering death
Does God's own house invade?

What though the prophet and the priest
Are numbered with the dead?

3 Though earthly shepherds.dwell in dust—
The aged and the young-

The watchful eye in darkness closed,
And mute th' instructive tongue ;—
4 Th' eternal Shepherd still survives,
New comfort to impart;

His eye still guides us-and his voice
Still animates our heart.

5 "Lo! I am with you,” saith the Lord,
"Your safeguard, and your guide;
Your Saviour still-and happy they
Who in my love confide!"

6 Through every scene of life and death,
This promise is our trust;

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And this shall be our children's song,
When we are cold in dust.

C. M.

Meditation on the Tomb.

Eastport. Burford.

1 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 towers;

The tall, the wise, the reverend head,
Must lie as low as ours!"

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

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

4 Grant us the power of quickening grace,
To fit our souls to fly;

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Then, when we drop this dying flesh,
We'll rise above the sky.

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A Warning from the Grave.

1 BENEATH our feet and o'er our head
Is equal warning given:
Beneath us lie the countless dead,
Above us is the heaven!

2 Death rides on every passing breeze,
And lurks in every flower;

Each season has its own disease,
Its peril every hour.

3 Turn, mortal, turn!-thy danger know:
Where'er thy foot can tread

The earth rings hollow from below,
And warns thee of her dead!

4 Turn, Christian, turn!—thy soul apply
To truths which hourly tell,

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That they who underneath thee lie
Shall live for heaven-or hell!

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The House appointed for all Living.

1 HOW still and peaceful is the grave,
Where, life's vain tumults past,

Th' appointed house, by heaven's decree,
Receives us all at last!

2 The wicked there from troubling cease-
Their passions rage no more;

And there the weary pilgrim rests
From all the toils he bore.

3 All, levelled by the hand of death,
Lie sleeping in the tomb,

Till God in judgment call them forth,
To meet their final doom.

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S. M.

Rapid Flight of Time.

1 MY few revolving years,

Bethany.

How swift they glide away!
How short the term of life appears,
When past-'tis but a day!-

2 A dark and cloudy day,

Made up of grief and sin;
A host of dangerous foes without,
And guilt and fear within.

3 Lord, through another year,
If thou permit my stay,
With watchful care may I pursue
The true and living way!

C. M.

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St. Mary's. Spencer.

1 BEHOLD, my soul, the narrow bound
That marks the passing year!

How swift the weeks complete their round!
How short the months appear!

2 So fast eternity comes on,

And that important day,

When all that mortal life has done,
God's judgment shall survey.

3 Yet, like an idle tale we pass
The swiftly gliding year,

And study artful ways t' increase
The speed of its career.

Aff 4 Awake, O God! each trifling heart
Its great concern to see,

That all may act the Christian part,
And give the year to thee.

5 So shall their course more grateful roll,
If future years arise;

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Or this shall bear the willing soul
To joy which never dies.

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Praise for Providential Goodness.

1 GOD of our lives, thy various praise
Our voices shall resound:

Thy hand directs our fleeting days,
And brings the seasons round.

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