XXXVII.

I WOULD NOT LIVE ALWAY.

JOB Vii. 16.

I.

I WOULD not live alway: 'tis said in the hour

When pleasure hath sated, or sorrow opprest: The heart scarcely knowing what thing hath the power

To yield what it seeketh, yet seeketh for rest.

II.

I would not live alway: 'tis said in the night
By the sufferer tossing, and wearied, and worn
With pain to which darkness seems worse than the
light;

And yet he looks hopelessly onward to morn.

III.

I would not live alway: O listen, ye gay!

And listen, ye victims of sorrow and pain!

'Tis the calm voice of faith and of love which can

say,

I am happy in Christ, yet to die will be gain.

IV.

Would ye too as peacefully rest in the Lord?

Oh, call ye upon Him while yet He is nigh! Confess Him, adore Him, confide in His word :

It will then be a blessing to live or to die.

V.

To live will be alway to love Him below,

And to see Him by faith from morning till even; To die will but be to soar upward and go

To love Him, and see Him for ever in heaven.

N

XXXVIII.

THE THUNDER-STORM.

"He bowed the heavens also, and came down and darkness was under his feet..... The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice."-Psalm xviii. 9, 13.

I.

HEAR ye the thunder pealing through the sky,
As it would rend the dun dark vault above?
Be still!-and listen to that voice on high,
Speaking, though solemnly, a Father's love!

It warns his wandering children to return,
And dread the wrath which they are wont to spurn :
It tells his loving ones no ill to fear;

That mighty voice denotes an arm Almighty near.

11.

An arm engaged to bless them and defend,

And guide them safely on their heavenward

way;

Nor leave them ever, till their journey end

Amid the joys of that celestial day,

Before whose brightness even the forked gleam, That ever and anon outshines the beam

Of noon, were lost; as are the stars of night, When rises day's bright Lord with his surpassing light.

III.

How blest the gospel promise from the skies!
Which, while it sheds a hue on every flower,
And decks each lovely scene with lovelier dyes,
As the bright bow adorns the welcome shower,
Can soften nature in her sternest form,
And robe with beauty even the thunder-storm;
That else, whatever vaunting lips may say,
Can thrill the stoutest heart, if godless, with
dismay.

IV.

A louder voice, and one more dread, is nigh!
A gleam more vivid than the lightning's glare
Shall flash ere long on every mortal eye,

And speak the Lord of glory “in the air!' Oh! if thou dread the pealing tempest now, Let its great voice awake thee !-humbly bow Before the boundless power that it tells,

Ere on thy startled ear the last loud trumpet swells!

V.

Hear, while the thunder rolls above thine head,
And viewless fingers write upon the cloud
What needs no heaven-taught skill ere it be read-
Thy fears interpret the dread words aloud:-

They tell thee, thou art weighed, and wanting found!

But, hark!-the peal hath ceased-a still small sound

Breathes through the air, and would thine ear

arrest

"Come trembler unto me, and I will give thee rest."