Did not his heart within him burn, Touched by the solemn tone? Therefore, 'midst holy stream and bower, His spirit shook with dread, Oh! in each wind, each fountain's flow, Grant me, my God, thy voice to know, MRS. HEMANS. BLESSED BE THY NAME FOR EVER. LESSED be thy name for ever, Thou of life the guard and giver! Heal the heart long broke with weeping. Of the desert and the ocean, Of the mountain, rock, and river, Blessed be thy name for ever! Thou who slumberest not nor sleepest, Blest are they thou kindly keepest! God of evening's parting ray, Of midnight's gloom, and dawning day, HOGG. TRUST IN THE SAVIOUR. OT seldom, clad in radiant vest, Deceitfully goes forth the Morn; Not seldom Evening, in the west, Sinks smilingly forsworn. The smoothest seas will sometimes prove, And, if she trust the stars above, The umbrageous oak, in pomp outspread, But Thou art true, incarnate Lord, I bent before thy gracious throne, And asked for peace with suppliant knee; And peace was given,- -nor peace alone, WORDSWORTH. REDEMPTION. HOW unlike the complex works of man, Heaven's easy, artless, unencumbered plan! No meretricious graces to beguile, No clust'ring ornaments to clog the pile: From ostentation as from weakness free, It stands like the cerulean arch we see, Majestic in its own simplicity. Inscribed above the portal, from afar Legible only by the light they give, Stand the soul-quick'ning words—Believe and live. COWPER. SABBATH MORNING. HINE earthly Sabbaths, Lord, we love; From sin, from sorrow, and from pain. In thy blest klngdom we shall be No rude alarms of raging foes, O long-expected day, begin! DODDRIDGE. SABBATH MORNING. ITH silent awe hail the sacred morn, That slowly wakes while all the fields are still; A soothing calm on every breeze is borne, A graver murmur gurgles from the rill, And echo answers softer from the hill, And softer sings the linnet from the thorn; Hail, light serene! hail, sacred Sabbath Morn! The gales, that lately sighed along the grove, Have hushed their downy wings in dead repose; The hovering rack of clouds forgets to move:— So smiled the day when the first morn arose. LEYDEN. A SABBATH EVENING HYMN. ILLIONS within thy courts have met, Vows with their lips to thee they vowed : But thou, soul-searching God! hast known In spirit and truth who worshipped thee. People of many a tribe and tongue, Men of strange colours, climates, lands, Still, as the light of morning broke Thy far spread family awoke, Sabbath all round the world to keep. From east to west, the sun surveyed, From north to south, adoring throngs; And still where evening stretched her shade, The stars came forth to hear their songs. Harmonious as the winds and seas, Not angel trumpets sound more clear; Than humble prayer and humble praise. And not a prayer, a tear, a sigh, Hath failed to-day some suit to gain; Thy poor were bountifully fed, Thy chastened sons have kissed the rod; Yet one prayer more; and be it one In which both heaven and earth accord:--Fulfil thy promise to thy Son, Let all that breathe, call Jesus Lord. His throne and sovereignty advance; And earth's last bound his portion be. MONTGOMERY. |