4 In scenes exalted or depress'd,
Be thou our joy-and thou our rest;
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Ador'd through all our changing days.
5 When death shall close our earthly songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our helper, God, in whom we trust,
In brighter worlds our souls shall boast,
66
HYMN. L. M.
1 ETERNAL God! I bless thy name,
The same thy power-thy grace the same;
The tokens of thy friendly care
Begin, and close, and crown the year.
2 Supported by thy guardian hand,
Amid ten thousand deaths I stand,
And see, when I survey thy ways,
Ten thousand monuments of praise.
3 Thus far thine arm has led me on-
Thus far I make thy mercy known;
And while I tread this desert land,
New mercies shall new songs demand.
4 My grateful voice on Jordan's shore,
Shall raise one sacred pillar more;
Then bear, in thy bright courts above,
Inscriptions of immortal love.
67
HYMN. 7's.
1 WHILE with ceaseless course the sun
Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here:
Fixed in an eternal state,
They have done with all below;
We a little longer wait,
But how little-none can know.
2 Spared to see another year,
Let thy blessing meet us here; Come, thy dying work revive,
Bid thy drooping garden thrive;
Sun of righteousness, arise!
Warm our hearts, and bless our eyes:
Let our prayer thy pity move;
Make this year a time of love.
3 Thanks for mercies past receive,
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us, henceforth, how to live
With eternity in view;
Bless thy word to old and young,
Fill us with a Saviour's love;
When our life's short race is run,
May we dwell with thee above.
FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR.
HYMN. 5's and 11's.
A New Year.
COME, let us anew
Our journey pursue,
Roll round with the year,
And never stand still, till the Master appear.
Our life is a dream,
Our time as a stream
Glides swiftly away;
And the fugitive moment refuses to stay.
The arrow is flown,
The moment is gone;
The millennial year
Rushes on to our view, and eternity's here.
O that each in the day
Of his coming may say,
"I've fought my way through,
I've finish'd the work thou did'st give me to do!"
O that each from his Lord
May receive the good word,
"Well and faithfully done!
Enter into my joy, and sit down on my throne!"
2 B
FOR THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.
HYMN. C. M.
Reflections at the End of the Year.
69
I AND now, my soul, another year
Of thy short life is past;
I cannot long continue here,
And this may be my last.
2 Much of my dubious life is gone, Nor will return again;
And swift my passing moments run,
The few that yet remain.
3 Awake, my soul-with utmost care Thy true condition learn:
What are thy hopes?-how sure? how fair? What is thy great concern?
4 Behold, another year begins!
Set out afresh for heaven;
Seek pardon for thy former sins,
In Christ so freely given.
5 Devoutly yield thyself to God,
And on his grace depend;
With zeal pursue the heav'nly road,
Nor doubt a happy end.
HYMN. S. M.
Rapid flight of Time.
70
MY few revolving years,
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 dang'rous 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!
71
HYMN. C. M.
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.
2 To thee shall grateful songs arise,
Our Father and our Friend;
Whose constant mercies from the skies,
In genial streams descend.
3 In ev'ry scene of life, thy care,
In ev'ry age, we see:
And, constant as thy favours are,
So let our praises be.
4 Still may thy love, in every scene,
To ev'ry age, appear;
And let the same compassion deign
To bless the opening year.
HYMN. C. M.
72
The House appointed for all living.
1 HOW still and peaceful is the grave,
Where, life's vain tumults past,
Th' appointed house, by heav'n's decree,
Receives us all at last!
2 The wicked there from troubling ceaseTheir passions rage no more;
And there the weary pilgrim rests
From all the toils he bore.
3 All, levell'd by the hand of death,
Lie sleeping in the tomb,
Till God in judgment calls them forth,
To meet their final doom.
THE SEASONS.
HYMN. H. M.
73
HOW pleasing is the voice
Of God, our heav'nly King,
Who bids the frosts retire,
And wakes the lovely spring!
Bright suns arise,
The mild wind blows,
And beauty glows,
Thro' earth and skies.
2 The morn, with glory crown'd,
His hand arrays in smiles:
He bids the eve decline,
Rejoicing o'er the hills:
The ev'ning breeze
His breath perfumes;
His beauty blooms
In flow'rs and trees.
3 With life he clothes the spring,
The earth with summer warms:
He spreads th' autumnal feast,
And rides on wintry storms:
His gifts divine
Thro' all appear;
And round the year
His glories shine.
74
HYMN. L. M.
THE flow'ry spring, at God's command,
Perfumes the air, and paints the land:
The summer rays with vigour shine,
To raise the corn and cheer the vine.
2 His hand in autumn richly pours,
Through all her coasts, redundant stores;
And winters, soften'd by his care,
No more the face of horror wear.
3 The changing seasons, months and days
Demand successive songs of praise;
And be the cheerful homage paid,
With morning light, and ev'ning shade.
4 And oh, may each harmonious tongue
In worlds unknown the praise prolong,
And in those brighter courts adore,
Where days and years revolve no more.
HYMN. C. M.
75
Spring.
1 WHEN verdure clothes the fertile vale, And blossoms deck the spray,
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