8 Let the past mercies of the week
Excite a grateful frame:
Nor let my tongue refuse to speak
Some good of Jesus' name.
4 Jesus, my Saviour !-sweet and sound;
How worthy of my love;
Why is my heart so lifeless found,
Why fixed no more above?
5 Forgive my dullness, dearest Lord,
And quicken all my powers;
Prepare me to attend Thy word,
And hail these sacred hours.
6 Then if I learn to seek Thy face,-
My Guide, my living Way,
I'll praise Thee for this hour of grace,
Through an eternal day.
"The day before the Sabbath."
MARK IV. 42.
SAFELY, through another week,
God hath brought us on our way;
Let us now a blessing seek
On the approaching Sabbath-day:
Day of all the week the best,
Emblem of eternal rest.
2 Mercies multiplied each hour,
Gracious Lord, our praise demand:
Guarded by Thy mighty power,
Nourished by Thy bounteous hand,-
Now, from worldly care set free,
May we rest this night with Thee.
3 When the morn shall bid us rise,
May we feel Thy presence near ;
May Thy glory meet our eyes,
When we in Thy house appear:
Thus may all our Sabbaths prove
Foretastes of the joys above.
"Remember, how short my time is."
PSALM 1xxxix. 47.
TIME, what an empty vapour 'tis↓
And days, how swift they are!
Swift as an Indian arrow flies,
Or like a shooting star.
2 Our life is ever on the wing,
And death is ever nigh;
The moment when our lives begin,-
We all begin to die.
3 Yet, mighty God, our fleeting days
Thy lasting favours share:
Yet, with the bounties of Thy grace,
Thou load'st the rolling year.
4 Thy sovereign mercy finds us food,
And we are clothed with love:
Thy grace stands pointing out the road,
That leads our souls above:
5 Thy goodness runs an endless round;
All glory to Thee, Lord!
Thy mercy never knows a bound!
And be Thy name adored!
"The night cometh."
JOHN ix. 4.
Y life's a narrow span,-
A short, uncertain day:
And, if I reach the age of man,
It soon will pass away.
I may, for ought I know,
This hour the summons hear
That calls me where the wicked go,
Or where the saints appear.
3 Lord, teach me from the heart,
Thy mercy to embrace;
And now from every sin depart,
To seize the time of grace.
4 My soul from ruin save,
And cleanse my every stain;
Then shall I triumph o'er the grave,
And death will prove my gain.
"It is time to seek the Lord."
LORD, let us act as in Thy sight;
And, on our humble way,
Walk in the liberty of light,
As children of the day.
2 Young though we be, and in the prime
Of life's unfolding powers,
Of all the moments of our time,
This, only this, is ours.
3 We seize it, Lord, before 'tis past; We yield ourselves to Thee;
Thine be our earliest years,-our last,--
And our eternity.
"Redeeming the time."
ЕРН. У. 16.
SEE, another week is gone!
Quickly have the minutes passed;
This we enter now upon,
May to many prove their last!
Mercy, hitherto, has spared,-
But have mercies been improved?
Let us ask,-Are we prepared,
Should we be this week removed?
2 If from guilt and sin set free,
By the knowledge of Thy grace,
Welcome then the call will be,
To depart and see Thy face.
To Thy saints, while here below,
With new days, new mercies come;
But the happiest day they know,
Is their last, which leads them home.
"Boast not thyself of to-morrow."
PROV. XXVii. 1.
TO-MORROW, Lord, is Thine,
Lodged in Thy sovereign hand;
And, if its sun arise and shine,
It shines by Thy command.
2 The present moment flies,
And bears our life away;
O make Thy servants truly wise,
That they may live to-day!
Since on this winged hour
Rouse, Lord, by Thine almighty power,
The aged and the young.
One thing demands our care!
O, be it still pursued!
Lest, slighted once, the season fair
Should never be renewed.
Swift as the morning light;
Lest life's young golden beams should die
In sudden, endless night.
"Thou turnest man to destruction."
DAYS and years glide swiftly by;
Time will soon be passed with me;
Then, like all mankind, must I
Enter on-eternity.
2 What an awful thought, the grave
Will these active limbs contain,
There to moulder-none can save;
Man or angel's help, how vain!
3 But my soul will still survive,-
Death can never reach the soul;
Doomed in bliss or woe to live,
While eternal ages roll.
4 Shall I then my cares direct
To this body, formed of earth,
And my better part neglect,-
Spirit, of immortal birth?
5 Lord, forbid it :-may the past
For earth's poor delights suffice;
And may I begin at last,
Ere I leave it, to be wise!
"What is your life?"
JAMES IV. 14.
THE pure and peaceful mind,
The meek and lowly heart,
The patient will, to Thine resigned,
God of all power, impart.
Young though in years we be,
In health and spirits strong,-
What is the life of man to Thee?
The longest is not long.
A thousand years a day,
Are equal in Thy sight;
Our generations pass away
Like watches of the night.
Lord, make us timely wise,
To know our call of grace;
And, with the moment, as it flies,
Run our appointed race :-
Still keep the end in view,
Tarry, nor turn aside:
Perils, allurements, bonds, break through,
-Most faithful when most tried.
Thus, till we reach the goal,
All else we count but loss;
Nor, till we gain the prize-our soul-
Grow weary of the cross.
"Thou destroyest the hope of man."
JOB xiv. 19.
LIKE crowded forest trees we stand,
And some are marked to fall;
The axe will smite at God's command,
And soon shall smite us all.
2 Green as the bay-tree, ever green,
With its new foliage on,
The gay, the thoughtless have I seen;
I passed, and they were gone!
3 Rend, ye that run, the awful truth
With which I charge my page;
A worm is in the bud of youth,
And at the root of age!
4 No present health can health insure,
For yet an hour to come;
No medicine, though it oft may cure,
Can always balk the tomb.
Then let us fly-to Jesus fly,
Whose powerful arm can save;
So shall our hopes ascend on high,
And triumph o'er the grave.
"Teach us to number our days."
PSALM XC. 12.
S the winged arrow flies,
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts, and leaves no trace behind;
2 Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream:
Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise,
All below is but a dream.
3 Thanks, for mercies past, receive,
Pardon, for our sins renew;
Teach us, henceforth, how to live
With eternity in view.
4 Give Thy grace to young and old;
Fill us with a Saviour's love;
And, when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with Thee above.
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