Lord, may our union form a part
Of that thrice happy whole:
Derive its pulse from Thee-the heart,
Its life from Thee-the soul.
"The Lord will bless His people with peace."
BLEST are the sons of peace,
Whose hearts and hopes are one;
Whose kind designs to serve and please
Through all their actions run.
Blest is the pious house,
Where zeal and friendship meet;
Their songs of praise, their mingled vows,
Make their communion sweet.
Thus, when on Aaron's head,
They poured the rich perfume,
The oil through all his raiment spread,
And pleasure filled the room;
Thus, on the heavenly hills,
The saints are blest above;
Where joy, like morning dew, distils,
And all the air is love.
"Come in thou blessed of the Lord.
GEN. XXIV. 31.
1 COME in thou blessed of the Lord!
Stranger nor foe art thou:
We welcome thee with warm accord,
Our friend, our brother, now.
2 The hand of fellowship, the heart
Of love, we offer thee;
Leaving the world, thou dost but part
From lies and vanity.
8 In weal or woe, in joy or care,
Thy portion shall be ours:
Christians their mutual burdens bear,
They lend their mutual powers.
4 Come with us, we will do thee good,
As God to us hath done;
Stand but in Him, as those have stood,
Whose faith the victory won.
6 And, when, by turns, we pass away,-
As star by star grows dim,
May each, translated into day,
Be lost and found in Him
"Receive ye one another."
ROM. XV. 7.
KINDRED in Christ, for His dear sake,
A hearty welcome here receive;
May we together now partake
The joys which only He can give.
2 May He by whose kind care we meet,
Send His good Spirit from above;
Make our communication sweet,
And cause our hearts to burn with love.
3 Forgotten be each worldly theme,
When Christians meet together thus;
We only wish to speak of Him
Who lived, and died, and reigns for us: 4 To talk of all He did and said,
And suffered for us, here below;
The path He marked for us to tread,
And what He's doing for us now.
6 Thus, as the moments pass away,
We'll love, and wonder, and adore;
And hasten to the glorious day,
When we shall meet to part no more.
"Ye serve the Lord Christ."
COL. iii. 24.
DEAR Jesus, whose servants we are,
Look down on our labour of love;
Drive pride and presumption afar,
And make us what Thou wilt approve;
Give hearts full of pity divine,
With eyes that look only to Thee;
Give feet that shall always incline
To walk where Thy footsteps we see;
2 Give hands that shall gladly unite
In all Thou hast called us to do;
And may we, with growing delight,
The track of our Master pursue:
That, when our short course shall be run,
And we are removed to our rest,
We may hear the glad sentence,-"Well done!"
And so be eternally blest.
"Our own God shall bless us."
PSALM Ixvii. 6.
1 GOD of union, God of love!
With Thy sanctifying power,
From the realms of light above,
Bless us in this solemn hour i
2 Holy Ghost, descend and bring
Heavenly peace, and godly fear;
And, beneath Thy guardian wing,
Shelter all before Thee here.
8 Bless our youthful charge! impart
What shall most to Thee incline;
O, reclaim each wandering heart,-
Seal them! seal them ever Thine !
4 Bless their teachers! grant to each
All our great employment needs;
May the precepts that we teach
Be enforced by holy deeds.
5 Make us faithful to the end,
While our duties we fulfil:
And the promised blessing send,
Like the dew on Hermon's hill.
"All one in Christ Jesus."
GAL. lii. 28.
ET party names no more
The Christian world o'erspread;
Gentile and Jew, and bond and free,
Are one in Christ, their Head.
Be banished far away;
Those should in strictest friendship dwell
Who the same Lord obey.
Resemble that above;
Where streams of pleasure ever flow,
And every heart is love.
"The whole body fitly joined together."
EPH. iv. 16.
1 LORD, from whom all blessings flow,
Perfecting the church below,
Steadfast may we cleave to Thee,
Love the mystic union be.
Join our faithful spirits, join
Each to each, and all to Thine;
Lead us, through the paths of peace,
On to perfect holiness.
2 Move, and actuate, and guide;
Divers gifts to each divide:
Placed according to Thy will,
Let us all our work fulfil;
Never from our office move;
Needful to each other prove;
Use the grace on each bestowed,
As a precious gift from God.
3 Sweetly may we all agree,
Touched with kindest sympathy;
There is neither bond nor free,
Great nor servile, Lord, in Thee;
Love, like death, hath all destroyed,
Rendered all distinctions void,
Names, and sects, and parties fall,-
Thou, O Christ, art All-in-All !
"Made like unto the Son of God."
WHAT grace, O Lord, and beauty shone
Around Thy steps below!
What patient love was seen in all
Thy life and death of woe !
2 For ever, on Thy burdened heart,
A weight of sorrow hung;
Yet no ungentle, murmuring word
Escaped Thy silent tongue.
3 Thy foes might hate, despise, revile,-
Thy friends unfaithful prove:
Unwearied in forgiveness still,
Thy heart could only love.
Oh! give us hearts to love like Thee,-
Like Thee, O Lord, to grieve
Far more for other's sins, than all
The wrongs that we receive.
5 One with Thyself, may every eye
In us, Thy brethren, see
That gentleness and grace that spring
From union, Lord, with Thee.
will not forsake them."
ISAIAH xli. 17.
S the sun's enlivening eye
Shines on every place the same,
So the Lord is always nigh
To the souls that love His name.
2 When they move at duty's call,
He is with them by the way;
He is ever with them all,-
Those who go, and those who stay.
8 From His holy mercy-seat
Nothing can their souls confine;
Still in spirit may they meet,
And in sweet communion join.
4 For a season called to part,
Let us then ourselves commend
To the gracious eye and heart
Of our ever-present Friend.
5 Jesus, hear our humble prayer;
Tender Shepherd of Thy sheep!
Let Thy mercy, and Thy care,
All our souls in safety keep.
6 In Thy strength may we be strong,
Sweeten every cross and pain;
Give us, if we live, ere long,
Here to meet in peace again.
7 Then, if Thou Thy help afford,
Ebenezers shall be reared;
And our souls shall praise the Lord,
Who our poor petitions heard.
"The unity of the faith."
EPH. iv. 13.
LEST be the dear uniting love
That will not let us part!
Our bodies may far off remove,
We still are one in heart.
2 Joined in one spirit to our Head,
Where He appoints we go;
And still in Jesus' footsteps tread,
And show His praise below.
8 O may we ever walk in Him,
And nothing know beside!
Nothing desire, nothing esteem,
But Jesus crucified.
4 Partakers of the Saviour's grace,
The same in mind and heart;
Nor joy, nor grief, nor time, nor place
Nor life, nor death can part.
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