"Tis here the tree of knowledge grows, 4 O! may thy counsels, mighty God, 1 BEHOLD the morning sun His beams through all the nations run, 2 But where the gospel comes, It spreads diviner light, It calls dead sinners from their tombs, 3 How perfect is thy word! And all thy judgments just! 4 My gracious God, how plain But find the path to heaven. 1 HOW shall the young secure their hearts, 2 'Tis like the sun-a heavenly light, And, through the dangers of the night, 3 Thy precepts make me truly wise; I hate the sinner's road; I hate my own vain thoughts that rise, 4 Thy word is everlasting truth, How pure is every page! That holy book shall guide our youth, 136 AFFLICTIONS AND DEATH. HYMN. 8's and 7's. Mourners comforted. 1 CEASE, ye mourners, cease to languish, 2 While our silent steps are straying, Lonely, through night's deep'ning shade, Sheds o'er heav'n a moment's gloom. 1 HOW bless'd the righteous when he dies! 2 So fades a summer cloud away, So sinks the gale when storms are o'er, 3 A holy quiet reigns around, A calm which life nor death destroys; Nothing disturbs that peace profound Which his unfetter'd soul enjoys. 4 Farewell, conflicting hopes and fears, Where lights and shades alternate dwell; How bright th' unchanging morn appears, Farewell, inconstant world, farewell. 138 HYMN. C. M. Dying in the Lord. 1 HEAR what the voice from heav'n proclaims, For all the pious dead; Sweet is the savour of their names, And soft their sleeping beds. 2 They die in Jesus, and are bless'd; 3 Far from this world of toil and strife, 139 HYMN. C. M. Mourning with Hope. 1 THAT once lov'd form now cold and dead, And nature weeps, her comforts fled, 2 Hope looks beyond the bounds of time; Shall rise in full immortal prime, 3 Then cease, fond nature, cease thy tears, There everlasting spring appears, 140 HYMN. C. M. "The weary are at rest." 1 HOW still and peaceful is the grave, Th' appointed house, by heav'n's decree, 2 The wicked there from troubling cease, 3 All, levell'd by the hand of death, Till God, in judgment, call them forth 1 THE grave is now a favour'd spot— They labour, sorrow, sigh no more, 1 HOW blest is our brother, bereft Of all that could burden his mind; This wearisome body behind! Whose relics with envy I see, No longer a sinner like me. 2 This earth is affected no more With sickness, or shaken with pain; The war in the members is o'er, And never shall vex him again; No anger henceforward, or shame, And passion is vanish'd away. Have strangely forgotten to weep; These fountains can yield no suppliesThese hollows from water are free; The tears are all wip'd from these eyes, And evil they never shall see. 4 To mourn and to suffer is mine, While bound in a prison I breathe, And still for deliverance pine, And press to the issues of death. What now with my tears I bedew, Oh, shall I not shortly become! My spirit created anew, Ere I am consign'd to the tomb! 1 'TIS finish'd! the conflict is past, The heav'n-born spirit is fled; Her wish is accomplish'd at last, And now she's entomb'd with the dead. The months of affliction are o'er, The days and the nights of distress; We see her in anguish no moreShe's gained her happy release. 2 No sickness, or sorrow, or pain, Shall ever disquiet her now; For death to her spirit was gain, Since Christ was her life when below. Her soul has now taken its flight To mansions of glory above, To mingle with angels of light, And dwell in the kingdom of love. s The victory now is obtain❜d; She's gone her dear Saviour to see; |