Hymns for Christian Devotion

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2 They with unwearied feet shall tread
The path of life divine,
With growing ardor onward move,
With growing brightness shine.

3 On eagles' wings they mount, they soar;
Their wings are faith and love;
Till, past the cloudy regions here,
They rise to heaven above.

406. C. M. Watts.

Hidden Life of the Christian.

1 O happy soul that lives on high,
While men lie grovelling here!
His hopes are fixed above the sky,
And faith forbids his fear.

2 His conscience knows no secret stings,
While grace and joy combine
To form a life whose holy springs
Are hidden and divine.

3 He waits in secret on his God;
His God in secret sees;
Let earth be all in arms abroad,
He dwells in heavenly peace.

4 His pleasures rise from things unseen,
Beyond this world and time;
Where neither eyes nor ears have been,
Nor thoughts of mortals climb.

5 He wants no pomp nor royal throne
To raise his honors here;
Content and pleased to live unknown,
Till Christ, his life, appear.

407. 8s. M. C. Wesley.

"That they also may be one in us."

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 Sweetly may we all agree,
Touched with softest 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!

408. S. M. Steele.

Religion a Support in Life.

1 Religion can assuage
The tempest of the soul;
And every fear shall lose its rage
At her divine control.

2 Through life's bewildered way,
Her hand unerring leads;
And o'er the path her heavenly ray
A cheering lustre sheds.

3 When reason, tired and blind,
Sinks helpless and afraid,
Thou blest supporter of the mind,
How powerful is thine aid!

4 O, let us feel thy power,
And find thy sweet relief,
To brighten every gloomy hour
And soften every grief.

409. C. M. Tate & Brady.

The Righteous and the Wicked.

1 How blest is he, who ne'er consents
By ill advice to walk;
Nor stands in sinners' ways, nor sits
Where men profanely talk:

2 But makes the perfect law of God
His business and delight;
Devoutly reads therein by day,
And meditates by night.

3 Like some fair tree, which, fed by streams,
With timely fruit does bend,
He still shall flourish, and success
All his designs attend.

4 Ungodly men, and their attempts,
No lasting root shall find;
Untimely blasted, and dispersed
Like chaff before the wind.

410. C. M. Exeter Coll.

The Influence of Habitual Piety.

1 Blest is the man who fears the Lord!
His well established mind,
In every varying scene of life,
Shall true composure find.

2 Oft through the deep and stormy sea
The heavenly footsteps lie;
But on a glorious world beyond
His faith can fix its eye.

3 Though dark his present prospects be,
And sorrows round him dwell,
Yet hope can whisper to his soul,
That all shall issue well.

4 Full in the presence of his God,
Through every scene he goes;
And, fearing him, no other fear
His steadfast bosom knows.

411. C. M. Proud.

The Happiness of a Christian.

1 When true religion gains a place,
And lives within the mind,
The sensual life subdued by grace,
And all the soul refined:

2 The desert blooms in living green,
Where thorns and briers grew;
The barren waste is fruitful seen,
And all the prospect new.

3 O happy Christian, richly blessed!
What floods of pleasure roll!
By God and man he stands confessed,
In dignity of soul.

4 Substantial, pure, his every joy:
His Maker is his friend;
The noblest business his employ,
And happiness his end.

412. 7s. & 8s. M. Bowring.

"He that walketh uprightly, walketh surely."

1 He who walks in virtue's way,
Firm and fearless, walketh surely;
Diligent, while yet 'tis day,
On he speeds, and speeds securely.

2 Flowers of peace beneath him grow,
Suns of pleasure brighten o'er him;
Memory's joys behind him go,
Hope's sweet angels fly before him.

3 Thus he moves from stage to stage,
Smiles of earth and heaven attending;
Softly sinking down in age,
And at last to death descending.

4 Cradled in its quiet deep,
Calm as summer's loveliest even,
He shall sleep the hallowed sleep;
Sleep that is o'erwatched by Heaven.

413. C. M. Burns.

The Happiness of the Righteous.

1 The man, in life wherever placed,
Hath happiness in store,
Who walks not in the wicked's way,
Nor learns their guilty lore:

2 Nor from the seat of scornful pride
Casts forth his eyes abroad,
But with humility and awe,
Still walks before his God.

3 That man shall flourish like the trees
Which by the streamlets grow;
The fruitful top is spread on high,
And firm the root below.

4 But he whose blossom buds in guilt
Shall to the ground be cast,
And, like the rootless stubble, tossed
Before the sweeping blast.

414. L. M. Keble.

"Not that thou wouldst take them out of the world, but keep them from its
evil."

1 Sweet is the bliss of souls serene,
When they have sworn and steadfast mean,
Counting the cost, in all t' espy
Their God, in all themselves deny.

2 O could we learn that sacrifice,
What lights would all around us rise!
How would our hearts with wisdom talk,
Along life's dullest, dreariest walk!

3 We need not bid, for cloistered cell,
Our neighbor and our work farewell,
Nor strive to wind ourselves too high
For sinful man beneath the sky:

4 The trivial round, the common task,
Would furnish all we ought to ask;
Room to deny ourselves; a road
To bring us, daily, nearer God.

415. 7s. & 6s. M. Cowper.

Joy and Peace in Believing.

1 Sometimes a light surprises
The Christian while he sings:
It is the Lord, who rises
With healing in his wings:
When comforts are declining,
He grants the soul again
A season of clear shining,
To cheer it after rain.

2 In holy contemplation,
We sweetly then pursue
The theme of God's salvation,
And find it ever new:
Set free from present sorrow,
We cheerfully can say,
"E'en let the unknown morrow
Bring with it what it may."

3 It can bring with it nothing,
But he will bear us through:
Who gives the lilies clothing,
Will clothe his people too:
Beneath the spreading heavens,
No creature but is fed;
And he who feeds the ravens,
Will give his children bread.

4 Though vine, nor fig tree neither,
Its wonted fruit should bear;
Though all the field should wither,
Nor flocks, nor herds be there:
Yet God the same abiding,
His praise shall tune my voice;
For while in him confiding,
I cannot but rejoice.

416. S. M. Anonymous.

For a Right Spirit.

1 I want a sober mind,
A self-renouncing will,
That tramples down and casts behind
The baits of pleasing ill;
A soul inured to pain,
To hardship, grief and loss,
Bold to take up, firm to sustain
The consecrated cross.

2 I want a godly fear,
A quick-discerning eye,
That looks to thee when sin is near,
And sees the tempter fly;
A spirit still prepared,
And armed with jealous care,
Forever standing on its guard,
And watching unto prayer.

3 I want a true regard,
A single, steady aim,
Unmoved by threatening or reward,
To thee and thy great name;
A zealous, just concern
For thine immortal praise;
A pure desire that all may learn
And glorify thy grace.

417. S. M. Watts.

Heavenly Joy on Earth.

1 Come, ye that love the Lord,
And let your joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.

2 The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place!
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.

3 The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.

4 The hill of Sion yields
A thousand sacred sweets,
Before we reach the heavenly fields,
Or walk the golden streets.

5 Then let our songs abound,
And every tear be dry;
We're marching through Immanuel's ground,
To fairer worlds on high.

418. S. M. Miss Fletcher.

Where is Heaven?

1 Our heaven is everywhere,
If we but love the Lord,
Unswerving tread the narrow way,
And ever shun the broad.

2 'T is where the trusting heart
Bows meekly to its grief,
Still looking up with earnest faith
For comfort and relief.

3 Where guileless infancy
In happiness doth dwell,
And where the aged one can say
"He hath done all things well."

4 Wherever truth abides
Sweet peace is ever there;
If we but love and serve the Lord,
Our heaven is everywhere.

419. 8s. & 7s. M. J. G. Adams.

Heaven Here.

1 Heaven is here; its hymns of gladness
Cheer the true believer's way,
In this world where sin and sadness
Often change to night our day.

2 Heaven is here; where misery lightened
Of its heavy load is seen,
Where the face of sorrow brightened
By the deed of love hath been:

3 Where the bound, the poor, despairing
Are set free, supplied and blest;
Where, in others' anguish sharing,
We can find our surest rest.

4 Where we heed the voice of duty
Rather than man's praise, or rod;
This is heaven,--its peace, its beauty,
Radiant with the smile of God.

420. L. M. 6l. Mrs. Case.

God's Kingdom Here.

1 Oh, where, our Saviour! sweeps the line
That marks thy kingdom's holy reign?
Is it where northern meteors shine
Or gilds the cross the southern main?
Where breaks the dawn o'er spicy lands?
Or twilight sleeps on desert sands?

2 Is it where sunny skies grow dim
With smoke of heathen sacrifice?
Or where, in costly domes, the hymn
Is taught on incense clouds to rise?
Nay, nay, thy blessed word has shown
Thy kingdom is the heart alone!

3 That solemn world, whose bounds between
Life's mysteries of birth and death,
Are filled with warring hosts unseen,
Beings of power, though not of breath--
The spirit realm, where'er it be,
Is the dominion swayed by thee.

4 Wild, phantom shapes of gloom and fear,
Roam dimly through the haunted spot,
And earth holds not a land so drear
As the sad heart that owns thee not,
Where sorrows wound and pleasures pall,
And death's dread shadow darkens all.

5 But lift thy sceptre there, its bowers
Shall be serene and sweet and fair,
And, as in time's primeval hours,
The holy ones shall gather there,
And heaven's own peace the soul o'erflow,
E'en while it lingers here below.

421. 7s. M. Beaumont.

The Heaven Within.

1 As earth's pageant passes by,
Let reflection turn thine eye
Inward, and observe thy breast;
There alone dwells solid rest.

2 That's a close immured tower,
Which can mock all hostile power;
To thyself a tenant be,
And inhabit safe and free.

3 Say not that this house is small,
Girt up in a narrow wall;
In a cleanly, sober mind,
Heaven itself full room doth find.

4 The infinite Creator can
Dwell in it; and may not man?
Here, content, make thy abode
With thyself and with thy God.

DEVOUT EXERCISES.

422. C. M. H. M. Williams.

Habitual Devotion.

1 While thee I seek, protecting Power!
Be my vain wishes stilled;
And may this consecrated hour
With better hopes be filled.

2 Thy love the power of thought bestowed;
To thee my thoughts would soar;
Thy mercy o'er my life has flowed--
That mercy I adore!

3 In each event of life, how clear
Thy ruling hand I see!
Each blessing to my soul more dear,
Because conferred by thee.

4 In every joy that crowns my days,
In every pain I bear,
My heart shall find delight in praise,
Or seek relief in prayer.

5 When gladness wings my favored hour,
Thy love my thoughts shall fill;
Resigned, when storms of sorrow lower,
My soul shall meet thy will.

6 My lifted eye, without a tear,
The gathering storm shall see;
My steadfast heart shall know no fear;--
That heart shall rest on thee!

423. L. M. Bowring.

Perpetual Praise.

1 When, wakened by thy voice of power,
The hour of morning beams in light,
My voice shall sing that morning hour,
And thee, who mad'st that hour so bright.

2 The morning strengthens into noon;
Earth's fairest beauties shine more fair;
And noon and morning shall attune
My grateful heart to praise and prayer.

3 When 'neath the evening western gate
The sun's retiring rays are hid,
My joy shall be to meditate,
E'en as the pious patriarch did.

4 As twilight wears a darker hue,
And gathering night creation dims,
The twilight and the midnight, too,
Shall have their harmonies and hymns.

5 So shall sweet thoughts, and thoughts sublime,
My constant inspirations be;
And every shifting scene of time
Reflect, my God, a light from thee.

424. C. M. Mrs. Brown.

Secret Prayer.

1 I love to steal awhile away
From every cumbering care,
And spend the hours of setting day
In humble, grateful prayer.

2 I love to think on mercies past,
And future good implore,
And all my cares and sorrows cast
On him whom I adore.

3 I love by faith to take a view
Of brighter scenes in heaven;
The prospect doth my strength renew,
While here by tempests driven.

4 Thus, when life's toilsome day is o'er,
May its departing ray
Be calm as this impressive hour,
And lead to endless day.

425. S. M. C. Wesley.

Prayer for Self-Consecration.

1 O God, my strength, my hope,
On thee I cast my care,
With humble confidence look up,
And know thou hearest prayer.

2 O, for a godly fear,
A quick-discerning eye,
That looks to thee when sin is near,
And sees the tempter fly!--

3 A spirit still prepared,
And armed with jealous care,
Forever standing on its guard,
And watching unto prayer!

4 Lord, let me still abide,
Nor from my hope remove,
Till thou my patient spirit guide
To better worlds above.

426. L. M. Moore.

Breathings of Grace.

1 Like morning, when her early breeze
Breaks up the surface of the seas,
That, in their furrows, dark with night,
Her hand may sow the seeds of light;

2 Thy grace can send its breathings o'er
The spirit, dark and lost before;
And freshening all its depths, prepare
For truth divine to enter there!

3 Till David touched his sacred lyre,
In silence lay the unbreathing wire;
But when he swept its chords along,
E'en angels stooped to hear the song.

4 So sleeps the soul, till thou, O Lord,
Shall deign to touch its lifeless chord;
Till, waked by thee, its breath shall rise
In music worthy of the skies.

427. S. M. Cowper.

Dependence on God.

1 To keep the lamp alive,
With oil we fill the bowl;
'T is water makes the willow thrive,
And grace that feeds the soul.

2 The Lord's unsparing hand
Supplies the living stream;
It is not at our own command,
But still derived from him.

3 Man's wisdom is to seek
His strength in God alone;
And e'en an angel would be weak,
Who trusted in his own.

4 Retreat beneath his wings,
And in his grace confide;
This more exalts the King of kings
Than all your works beside.

5 In God is all our store,
Grace issues from his throne;
Whoever says, "I want no more,"
Confesses he has none.

428. 7s. M. 6l. Montgomery.

The Soul panting for God.

1 As the hart, with eager looks,
Panteth for the water-brooks,
So my soul, athirst for thee,
Pants the living God to see;
When, O when, with filial fear,
Lord, shall I to thee draw near?

2 Why art thou cast down, my soul?
God, thy God, shall make thee whole:
Why art thou disquieted?
God shall lift thy fallen head,
And his countenance benign
Be the saving health of thine.

429. L. M. Henry Moore.

Wisdom and Virtue sought from God.

1 Supreme and universal Light!
Fountain of reason! Judge of right!
Parent of good! whose blessings flow
On all above, and all below:

2 Assist us, Lord, to act, to be,
What nature and thy laws decree;
Worthy that intellectual flame,
Which from thy breathing spirit came!

3 May our expanded souls disclaim
The narrow view, the selfish aim;
But with a Christian zeal embrace
Whate'er is friendly to our race.

4 O Father, grace and virtue grant!
No more we wish, no more we want:
To know, to serve thee, and to love,
Is peace below,--is bliss above.

430. C. M. Merrick.

Holy Resignation.

1 Author of good, to thee we turn:
Thine ever wakeful eye
Alone can all our wants discern,
Thy hand alone supply.

2 O, let thy love within us dwell,
Thy fear our footsteps guide;
That love shall vainer loves expel,
That fear all fears beside.

3 And, O, by error's force subdued,
Since oft, with stubborn will,
We blindly shun the latent good,
And grasp the specious ill,--

4 Not what we wish, but what we want,
Let mercy still supply:
The good we ask not; Father, grant;
The ill we ask, deny.

431. L. M. 6l. C. Wesley.

Prayer for the Comforter.

1 I want the spirit of power within,
Of love, and of a healthful mind;
Of power to conquer every sin,
Of love to God and all mankind;
Of health that pain and death defies,
Most vigorous when the body dies.

2 O that the Comforter would come,
Nor visit as a transient guest,
But fix in me his constant home,
And keep possession of my breast;
And make my soul his loved abode,
The temple of indwelling God!

432. L. M. Cotton.

A Peaceful Conscience.

1 While some in folly's pleasures roll,
And court the joys that hurt the soul,
Be mine that silent, calm repast,
A conscience peaceful to the last.

2 With this companion in the shade,
My soul no more shall be dismayed;
But fearless meet life's dreariest gloom,
And the pale monarch of the tomb.

3 Amidst the various scenes of ills,
Each blow some kind design fulfils;
And can I murmur at my God,
While love supreme directs the rod?

4 His hand will smooth my rugged way,
And lead me to the realms of day;
To milder skies, and brighter plains,
Where everlasting pleasure reigns.

433. L. M. Watts.

Self-knowledge, and Abstraction from Earth.

1 My God, permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and thee:
Amidst a thousand thoughts I rove,
Forgetful of my highest love.

2 Why should my passions mix with earth,
And thus debase my heavenly birth?
Why should I cleave to things below,
And let my God, my Saviour go?

3 Call me away from flesh and sense;
Thy sovereign word can draw me thence:
I would obey the voice divine,
And all inferior joys resign.

4 Be earth, with all her scenes, withdrawn,
Let noise and vanity be gone:
In secret silence of the mind,
My heaven, and there my God, I find.

434. 7s. & 6s. M. Anonymous.

Rising towards Heaven.

1 Rise, my soul, and stretch thy wings,
Thy better portion trace;
Rise from transitory things,
Towards heaven, thy native place:
Sun, and moon, and stars decay,
Time shall soon this earth remove;
Rise, my soul, and haste away
To seats prepared above.

2 Rivers to the ocean run,
Nor stay in all their course;
Fire ascending seeks the sun,--
Both speed them to their source:
So a soul that's born of God
Pants to view his glorious face,
Upward tends to his abode,
To rest in his embrace.

435. L. P. M. Anonymous.

Christ Desired.

1 Come, O thou universal good!
Balm of the wounded conscience, come!
The hungry, dying spirit's food;
The weary, wand'ring pilgrim's home;
Haven to take the shipwrecked in,
My everlasting rest from sin!

2 Come, O my comfort and delight!
My strength and health, and shield, and sun
My boast, my confidence, and might,
My joy, my glory, and my crown;
My gospel-hope, my calling's prize,
My tree of life, my paradise.

436. C. M. Newton.

"Unto you who believe he is precious."

1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.

2 It makes the wounded spirit whole,
It calms the troubled breast;
'T is manna to the hungry soul,
And, to the weary, rest.

3 Weak is the effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought,
But when I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought.

4 Till then I would thy love proclaim,
With every fleeting breath;
And may the music of thy name
Refresh my soul in death.

437. 11s. M. Mrs. Hale.

The Lord's Prayer.

1 Our Father in heaven, we hallow thy name!
May thy kingdom holy on earth be the same!
O give to us daily our portion of bread;
It is from thy bounty that all must be fed.

2 Forgive our transgressions, and teach us to know
That humble compassion which pardons each foe:
Keep us from temptation, from weakness and sin,
And thine be the glory forever--Amen.

438. C. M. T. Whittemore.

The Same.

1 Our Father, who in heaven art,
All hallowed be thy name:
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done,
On earth, in heaven the same.

2 Give us this day our daily bread,
Our debts, O Lord, forgive,
As we forgive our enemies
And thus obedient live.

3 Into temptation lead us not,
From evil keep us clean;
Thine is the kingdom, glory, power
Forevermore, Amen.

439. S. M. Montgomery.

The Same.

1 Our heavenly Father, hear
The prayer we offer now:--
Thy name be hallowed far and near,
To thee all nations bow.

2 Thy kingdom come; thy will
On earth be done in love,
As saints and seraphim fulfil
Thy perfect law above.

3 Our daily bread supply,
While by thy word we live;
The guilt of our iniquity
Forgive, as we forgive.

4 From dark temptation's power
Our feeble hearts defend;
Deliver in the evil hour,
And guide us to the end.

5 Thine, then, forever be
Glory and power divine;
The sceptre, throne, and majesty
Of heaven and earth are thine.

440. C. M. Anonymous.

The Lord's Prayer.

1 O Thou, enthroned in worlds above,
Our Father and our Friend!
Lo, at the footstool of thy love,
Thy children humbly bend.

2 All reverence to thy name be given;
Thy kingdom wide displayed;
And, as thy will is done in heaven,
Be it on earth obeyed.

3 Our table may thy bounty spread,
From thine exhaustless store,
From day to day with daily bread,--
Nor would we ask for more.

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