Thence eat thy bread; and there once more Become the dust thou wert before."
"Serpent!" again JEHOVAH said,
"The woman's seed shall bruise thy head; Yet in the strife thy fury feel,
For thou shalt turn, and bruise his heel."
Hail to Immanuel's promised birth!
He brings the blessing back to earth:
In Adam died the race of men,
In Christ they all shall live again.
Hail to our dying, rising LORD!
By Him is Paradise restored;
Not Eden only, but the Tree
Of Life and Immortality.
HEAVEN is a place of rest from sin;
But all who hope to enter there
Must here that holy course begin,
Which shall their souls for rest prepare.
Clean hearts, O GOD! in us create;
Right spirits, LORD, in us renew:
Commence we now that higher state,
Now do Thy will as angels do.
A life in heaven !-Oh, what is this?-
The sum of all that faith believed,
Fulness of joy and depths of bliss,
Unseen, unfathomed, unconceived.
While thrones, dominions, princedoms, powers, And saints made perfect triumph thus,
A goodly heritage is ours;
There is a heaven on earth for us.
The Church of Christ, the means of grace,
The Spirit teaching through the Word,—
In those our Saviour's steps we trace,-
By this His living voice is heard.
Firm in His footsteps may we tread,
Learn every lesson of His love,
And be from grace to glory led,
From heaven below to heaven above.
JESUS, our best belovéd Friend,
Draw out our souls in pure desire;
Jesus, in love to us descend,
Baptize us with Thy Spirit's fire.
On Thy redeeming name we call ;
Poor and unworthy though we be,
Pardon and sanctify us all :
Let each Thy full salvation see.
Our souls and bodies we resign,
To fear and follow Thy commands:
Oh, take our hearts,-our hearts are Thine:
Accept the service of our hands.
Firm, faithful, watching unto prayer,
May we Thy blesséd will obey,
Toil in Thy vineyard here, and bear
The heat and burden of the day.
Yet, LORD, for us a resting-place
In heaven, at Thy right hand, prepare,
And till we see Thee face to face,
Be all our conversation there!
THE WORLD LOST AND REDEEMED.
THE world in condemnation lay;
And death from Adam reigning,
O'er man maintained remorseless sway;
While sin, his soul enchaining,
Foredoomed the second death to all
That shared the ruin of the fall;
But Christ's triumphant mission
Redeemed us from perdition.
Then round His manger let us throng,
Attend Him in temptation,
Carry our cross with joy along
His path of tribulation;
With Him to Olivet retire,
On Calvary see our LORD expire;
Then in His glory seated,
Behold His work completed.
THE GOD OF PROVIDENCE AND GRACE.
GOD over all! the sun by day
Reveals Thy glory in his light;
The moon and stars Thy voice obey,
And show Thy presence through the night.
GOD over all! the earth, that yields
Her flowers and fruits at Thy command,
From mountains, rivers, woods, and fields,
Pours the rich bounties of Thine hand.
Yea, to the humble and the poor,
High as Thou art, Thy gifts descend,
Their bread is given, their water sure,
Thou art their Father, Thou their Friend.
Bowed at Thy footstool, we confess,
With grief and shame, our sin and guilt:
Oh, turn from our unrighteousness,
And look on Him whose blood was spilt ;
On Him who bore thy chastening rod,
That we might by His stripes be healed;
He died for us-1
-the Lamb of GOD!
He rose-and our redemption sealed.
And shall we, dare we, can we still
Resist Thy fear, Thy love despise?
No, take us, soul, affection, will,
A free and living sacrifice.
GOD WORTHY OF ALL PRAISE.
SONGS of praise the angels sang;
Heaven with hallelujahs rang,
When JEHOVAH'S work begun,
When He spake, and it was done.
Songs of praise awoke the morn
When the Prince of Peace was born;
Songs of praise arose when He
Captive led captivity.
Heaven and earth must pass away; Songs of praise shall crown that day: GOD will make new heavens and earth; Songs of praise shall hail their birth.
And shall man alone be dumb
Till that glorious kingdom come?
No;--the Church delights to raise
Psalms and hymns, and songs of praise.
Saints below, with heart and voice,
Still in songs of praise rejoice;
Learning here, by faith and love,
Songs of praise to sing above.
Borne upon their latest breath,
Songs of praise shall conquer death;
Then, amidst eternal joy,
Songs of praise their powers employ.
FOR UNITY AND BROTHERLY LOVE.
OUR Souls shall magnify the LORD;
In Him our spirit shall rejoice:
Assembled here with one accord,
Our hearts shall praise Him with our voice.
GOD of our hope! to Thee we bow,
Thou art our refuge in distress:
The husband of the widow Thou;
The Father of the fatherless.
May we the law of love fulfil;
Lighten each other's burdens here,
Suffer and do Thy righteous will,
And walk in all Thy faith and fear.
Then grant our union, here begun,
May last for ever firm and free;
Around Thy throne may we be one,-
One with each other and with Thee.
FOR THE IMAGE OF GOD.
FATHER of eternal grace!
May we all resemble Thee;
Meekly beaming in our face,
Let the world Thine image see.
Happy only in Thy love,
Poor, unfriended, and unknown,
Fix our thoughts on things above,
Stay our hearts on Thee alone.
Humble, holy, all resigned
To Thy will,-Thy will be done!
Give us, LORD, the perfect mind
Of Thy well-belovéd Son.
Counting gain and glory loss,
May we tread the path He trod,
Bear with Him on earth our cross,
Rise with Him to Thee our GOD.
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