Hymns for Christian Devotion

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3 Of summer, with its warbling choir
Amid the balmy leaves;
Of autumn, with its fragrant herbs
And fruits and bending sheaves:

4 Of countless mercies from our God,
Who rules the changeful years,
Both here and in the world of love,
Beyond the heavenly spheres.

859. S. M. Watts.

Blessings of Spring.

1 Good is the heavenly King,
Who makes the earth his care,
Visits the pastures every spring,
And bids the grass appear.

2 Like rivers raised on high,
The clouds, at thy command,
Pour out their blessings from the sky,
To cheer the thirsty land.

3 The hills, on every side,
Rejoice at falling showers:
The meadows, dressed in all their pride,
Perfume the air with flowers.

4 The ridges drink their fill,
And ranks of corn appear;
Thy ways abound with blessings still,
Thy goodness crowns the year.

860. C. M.

Spring.

1 When verdure clothes the fertile vale,
And blossoms deck the spray,
And fragrance breathes in every gale,
How sweet the vernal day!

2 Hark! how the feathered warblers sing!
'Tis nature's cheerful voice;
Soft music hails the lovely spring,
And woods and fields rejoice.

3 O God of nature and of grace,
Thy heavenly gifts impart;
Then shall my meditation trace
Spring blooming in my heart.

4 Inspired to praise, I then shall join
Glad nature's cheerful song,
And love and gratitude divine
Attune my joyful tongue.

861. C. M. Peabody.

Spring.

1 When brighter suns and milder skies
Proclaim the opening year,
What various sounds of joy arise!
What prospects bright appear!

2 Earth and her thousand voices give
Their thousand notes of praise;
And all, that by his mercy live,
To God their offering raise.

3 The streams, all beautiful and bright,
Reflect the morning sky;
And there, with music in his flight,
The wild bird soars on high.

4 Thus, like the morning, calm and clear,
That saw the Saviour rise,
The spring of heaven's eternal year
Shall dawn on earth and skies.

5 No winter there, no shades of night,
Obscure those mansions blest,
Where, in the happy fields of light,
The weary are at rest.

862. L. M. Fergus.

Spring-Time.

1 The spring, the joyous spring is come
With lovely flowers of early bloom;
The warbling birds, on every tree,
Fill all the air with melody.

2 Once more, unsealed, the fountains run,
Sparkling, beneath a brighter sun;
Green leaves and tender herbs arise,
Cheered by the glow of warmer skies.

3 Oh Lord, the changes of the year
At thy Almighty word appear;
And all the seasons, as they roll,
Declare thy name from pole to pole.

4 Spring showers, descending from above,
Bear down glad tidings of thy love,
And every blossom on the tree
Bespeaks our gratitude to thee.

863. S. M. Anonymous.

Summer.

1 Great God, at thy command,
Seasons in order rise:
Thy power and love in concert reign
Through earth, and seas, and skies.

2 How balmy is the air!
How warm the sun's bright beams!
While, to refresh the ground, the rains
Descend in gentle streams.

3 With grateful praise we own
Thy providential hand,
While grass, and herbs, and waving corn,
Adorn and bless the land.

4 But greater still the gift
Of thy beloved Son;
By him forgiveness, peace, and joy,
Through endless ages run.

864. C. M. T. Richardson.

"The Hymn of Summer."

1 How glad the tone when summer's sun
Wreathes the gay world with flowers,
And trees bend down with golden fruit,
And birds are in the bowers!

2 The moon sends silent music down
Upon each earthly thing;
And always, since creation's dawn,
The stars together sing.

3 Shall man remain in silence, then,
While all beneath the skies
The chorus joins? no, let us sing,
And while our voices rise,

4 O, let our lives, great God, breathe forth
A constant melody;
And every action be a tone
In that sweet hymn to thee!

865. 7s. & 6s. M. Brit. Magazine.

Autumn.

1 The leaves, around me falling,
Are preaching of decay;
The hollow winds are calling,
"Come, pilgrim, come away:"
The day, in night declining,
Says I must, too, decline;
The year its bloom resigning,
Its lot foreshadows mine.

2 The light my path surrounding,
The loves to which I cling,
The hopes within me bounding,
The joys that round me wing,--
All, all, like stars at even,
Just gleam and shoot away,
Pass on before to heaven,
And chide at my delay.

3 The friends gone there before me
Are calling from on high,
And happy angels o'er me
Tempt sweetly to the sky:
"Why wait," they say, "and wither,
'Mid scenes of death and sin?
O, rise to glory, hither,
And find true life begin."

866. C. M. Watts.

Winter.

1 The hoary frost, the fleecy snow,
Descend, and clothe the ground;
The liquid streams forbear to flow,
In icy fetters bound.

2 When, from his dreadful stores on high,
God pours the sounding hail,
The man that does his power defy
Shall find his courage fail.

3 God sends his word and melts the snow;
The fields no longer mourn;
He calls the warmer gales to blow,
And bids the spring return.

4 The changing wind, the flying cloud,
Obey his mighty word;
With songs and honors sounding loud,
Praise ye the sovereign Lord.

867. H. M. Freeman.

The Same.

1 Lord of the worlds below!
On earth thy glories shine;
The changing seasons show
Thy skill and power divine.
The rolling years
Are full of thee;
In all we see
A God appears.

2 In winter, awful thou!
With storms around thee cast;
The leafless forests bow
Beneath thy northern blast.
While tempests lower,
To thee, dread King,
We homage bring,
And own thy power.

868. L. M. H. Ballou.

The Acceptable Fast.

1 This is the fast the Lord doth choose;
Each heavy burden to undo,
The bands of wickedness to loose,
And bid the captive freely go.

2 Let every vile and sinful yoke
Of servile bondage and of fear,
By mercy, love and truth be broke;
And from each eye wipe every tear.

3 Yes, to the hungry deal thy bread;
Bring to thine house the outcast poor;
There let the fainting soul be fed,
Nor spurn the needy from thy door.

4 And when thou seest the naked, spare
The raiment that his wants demand;
Since all mankind thy kindred are,
To all thy charity expand.

5 Thus did the Saviour of our race:
Himself, the Bread of Life, he gave;
He clothed us with his righteousness,
And broke the fetters from the slave.

869. C. M. S. Streeter.

Humiliation and Prayer.

1 Here in thy temple, Lord, we meet,
And bow before thy throne;
Abased and guilty, at thy feet
We seek thy grace alone.

2 Our sins rise up in dread array,
And fill our hearts with fear;
Our trembling spirits melt away,
But find no helper near.

3 O, send thy pity from on high
With pardon all-divine;
Bring now thy gracious spirit nigh,
And make us wholly thine.

4 We humbly mourn our follies past,
Each guilty path deplore;
Resolved, while feeble life shall last,
To tread those paths no more.

870. C. M. Anonymous.

The Same.

1 Now let our prayers ascend to thee,
Thou great and holy One;
Above the world raise thou our hearts;
In us, thy will be done.

2 O, let us feel how frail we are,
How much we need thy grace;
O, strengthen, Lord, our fainting souls,
While here we seek thy face.

3 Our sins, alas! before thee rise;
Thou knowest all our guilt;
Let not our faith, our hope, our trust,
On earthly things be built.

4 Forgive our sins, thy spirit grant,
Let love our souls refine,
And heavenly peace and holy hope
Assure that we are thine.

871. S. M. Drummond.

"Is it such a fast that I have chosen?"

1 "Is this a fast for me?"--
Thus saith the Lord our God;--
"A day for man to vex his soul,
And feel affliction's rod?--

2 "Like bulrush low to bow
His sorrow-stricken head,
With sackcloth for his inner vest,
And ashes round him spread?

3 "Shall day like this have power
To stay th' avenging hand,
Efface transgression, or avert
My judgments from the land?

4 "No; is not this alone
The sacred fast I choose,--
Oppression's yoke be burst in twain,
The bands of guilt unloose?--

5 "To nakedness and want
Your food and raiment deal,
To dwell your kindred race among,
And all their sufferings heal?

6 "Then, like the morning ray,
Shall spring your health and light;
Before you, righteousness shall shine,
Behind, my glory bright!"

872. L. M. Dyer.

Public Humiliation.

1 Great Maker of unnumbered worlds,
And whom unnumbered worlds adore,--
Whose goodness all thy creatures share,
While nature trembles at thy power,--

2 Thine is the hand that moves the spheres,
That wakes the wind, and lifts the sea;
And man, who moves the lord of earth,
Acts but the part assigned by thee.

3 While suppliant crowds implore thine aid,
To thee we raise the humble cry;
Thine altar is the contrite heart,
Thine incense the repentant sigh.

4 O may our land, in this her hour,
Confess thy hand, and bless the rod,
By penitence make thee her friend,
And find in thee a guardian God.

873. C. M. Rippon's Coll.

Public Supplication.

1 When Abrah'm, full of sacred awe,
Before Jehovah stood,
And, with an humble, fervent prayer,
For guilty Sodom sued,--

2 With what success, what wondrous grace,
Was his petition crowned!
The Lord would spare, if in this place
Ten righteous men were found.

3 And could a single pious soul
So rich a boon obtain?
Great God, and shall a nation cry,
And plead with thee in vain?

4 Are not the righteous dear to thee
Now, as in ancient times?
Or does this sinful land exceed
Gomorrah in her crimes?

5 Still we are thine; we bear thy name;
Here yet is thine abode:
Long has thy presence blessed our land:
Forsake us not, O God.

874. C. M. Rippon's Coll.

Judgments for National Sins Deprecated.

1 Almighty Lord, before thy throne
Thy mourning people bend;
'Tis on thy pardoning grace alone
Our dying hopes depend.

2 Dark judgments, from thy heavy hand,
Thy dreadful power display;
Yet mercy spares our guilty land,
And still we live to pray.

3 How changed, alas! are truths divine,
For error, guilt, and shame!
What impious numbers, bold in sin,
Disgrace the Christian name!

4 O, turn us, turn us, mighty Lord;
Convert us by thy grace;
Then shall our hearts obey thy word,
And see again thy face.

5 Then, should oppressing foes invade,
We will not yield to fear,
Secure of all-sufficient aid,
When thou, O God, art near.

875. L. M. Aikin.

In time of War.

1 While sounds of war are heard around,
And death and ruin strow the ground,
To thee we look, on thee we call,
The Parent and the Lord of all.

2 Thou, who hast stamped on human kind
The image of a heaven-born mind,
And in a Father's wide embrace
Hast cherished all the kindred race,--

3 Great God, whose powerful hand can bind
The raging waves, the furious wind,
O, bid the human tempest cease,
And hush the maddening world to peace.

4 With reverence may each hostile land
Hear and obey that high command,
Thy Son's blest errand from above,--
"My creatures, live in mutual love!"

876. 6s. & 4s. M. Montgomery.

Thanksgiving Hymn.

1 The God of harvest praise;
In loud thanksgivings raise
Hand, heart, and voice;
The valleys smile and sing,
Forests and mountains ring,
The plains their tribute bring,
The streams rejoice.

2 Yea, bless his holy name,
And purest thanks proclaim
Through all the earth;
To glory in your lot
Is duty,--but be not
God's benefits forgot,
Amidst your mirth.

3 The God of harvest praise;
Hands, hearts, and voices raise,
With sweet accord;
From field to garner throng,
Bearing your sheaves along,
And in your harvest song
Bless ye the Lord.

877. C. M. Christian Psalmist.

The Same.

1 Fountain of mercy, God of love,
How rich thy bounties are!
The rolling seasons, as they move,
Proclaim thy constant care.

2 When in the bosom of the earth
The sower hid the grain,
Thy goodness marked its secret birth,
And sent the early rain.

3 The spring's sweet influence, Lord, was thine
The plants in beauty grew;
Thou gav'st refulgent suns to shine,
And mild, refreshing dew.

4 These various mercies from above
Matured the swelling grain;
A kindly harvest crowns thy love,
And plenty fills the plain.

5 We own and bless thy gracious sway;
Thy hand all nature hails;
Seed-time nor harvest, night nor day,
Summer nor winter, fails.

878. L. M. Anonymous.

The Same.

1 Great God! as seasons disappear,
And changes mark the rolling year,
Thy favor still has crowned our days,
And we would celebrate thy praise.

2 The harvest song we would repeat;
"Thou givest us the finest wheat;"
"The joy of harvest" we have known;
The praise, O Lord! is all thine own.

3 Our tables spread, our garners stored,
O give us hearts to bless thee, Lord!
Forbid it, Source of light and love,
That hearts and lives should barren prove.

4 Another harvest comes apace;
Ripen our spirits by thy grace,
That we may calmly meet the blow
The sickle gives to lay us low.

5 That so, when angel reapers come
To gather sheaves to thy blest home,
Our spirits may be borne on high
To thy safe garner in the sky.

879. L. M. Brettell.

Harvest Home.

1 The last full wain has come,--has come!
And brought the golden harvest home:
The labors of the year are done:
Accept our thanks, all-bounteous One!

2 For the green spring, her herbs and flowers,
For the warm summer's blooming bowers,
For all the fruits that flush the boughs,
When russet autumn decks her brows;

3 For the bright sun, whose fervid ray
Ripens the corn, and cheers the day;
For the round moon, whose yellow light
Gilds the long labors of the night;

4 For the rich sea of shining grain,
That spreads its waves o'er hill and plain,
For the cool breeze, whose light wings fan
The weary, sun-burnt husbandman;

5 For the soft herbage of the soil,
For ruddy health, the child of toil;
For all the good the year displays,
Accept, O God, our grateful praise.

880. 8s. & 7s. M. Crosse.

The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving.

1 Lord of heaven, and earth, and ocean,
Hear us from thy bright abode,
While our hearts, with true devotion,
Own their great and gracious God.

2 Health and every needful blessing
Are thy bounteous gifts alone;
Comforts undeserved possessing,
Here we bend before thy throne.

3 Thee, with humble adoration,
Lord, we praise for mercies past;
Still to this most favored nation
May those mercies ever last.

881. 7s. M. Sacred Lyrics.

Thanksgiving.

1 Swell the anthem, raise the song;
Praises to our God belong;
Saints and angels, join to sing
Praises to the Heavenly King.

2 Blessings from his liberal hand
Flow around this happy land:
Kept by him, no foes annoy;
Peace and freedom we enjoy.

3 Here, beneath a virtuous sway,
May we cheerfully obey,--
Never feel oppression's rod,--
Ever own and worship God.

4 Hark! the voice of nature sings
Praises to the King of kings;
Let us join the choral song,
And the grateful notes prolong.

882. 7s. M. Ev. Magazine.

"Thou crownest the year with goodness."

1 Praise on thee, in Zion's gates,
Daily, O Jehovah! waits;
Unto thee, O God! belong
Grateful words and holy song.

2 Thou the hope and refuge art
Of remotest lands apart,
Distant isles and tribes unknown,
'Mid the ocean-waste, and lone.

3 Thou dost visit earth, and rain
Blessings on the thirsty plain,
From the copious founts on high,
From the rivers of the sky.

4 Thus the clouds thy power confess,
And thy paths drop fruitfulness:
And the voice of song and mirth
Rises from the tribes of earth.

883. L. M. Presbyterian Coll.

Goodness of God Celebrated.

1 Join, every tongue, to praise the Lord;
All nature rests upon his word;
Mercy and truth his courts maintain,
And own his universal reign.

2 Seasons and times obey his voice;
The evening and the morn rejoice
To see the earth made soft with showers,
Enriched with fruit, and dressed in flowers.

3 Thy works pronounce thy power divine;
In all the earth thy glories shine;
Through every month thy gifts appear;
Great God, thy goodness crowns the year.

884. L. M. L. H. Sigourney.

Harvest.

1 God of the year! with songs of praise
And hearts of love, we come to bless
Thy bounteous hand, for thou hast shed
Thy manna o'er our wilderness.

2 In early spring-time thou didst fling
O'er earth its robe of blossoming;
And its sweet treasures, day by day,
Rose quickening in thy blessed ray.

3 God of the seasons! thou hast blest
The land with sunlight and with showers,
And plenty o'er its bosom smiles
To crown the sweet autumnal hours.

4 Praise,--praise to thee! Our hearts expand
To view these blessings of thy hand,
And on the incense-breath of love
Ascend to their bright home above.

885. L. P. M. Kippis.

Thanksgiving for National Prosperity.

1 How rich thy gifts, Almighty King!
From thee our public blessings spring;
Th' extended trade, the fruitful skies,
The treasures liberty bestows,
Th' eternal joys the gospel shows,--
All from thy boundless goodness rise.

2 Here commerce spreads the wealthy store,
Which pours from every foreign shore;
Science and art their charms display;
Religion teaches us to raise
Our voices to our Maker's praise,
As truth and conscience point the way.

3 With grateful hearts, with joyful tongues,
To God we raise united songs;
His power and mercy we proclaim;
This land through every age shall own,
Jehovah here has fixed his throne,
And triumph in his mighty name.

4 Long as the moon her course shall run,
Or man behold the circling sun,
O, still may God amidst us reign;
Crown our just counsels with success,
With peace and joy our borders bless,
And all our sacred rights maintain.

886. L. M. Doddridge.

New Year's Day.

1 Great God, we sing that mighty hand,
By which, supported still, we stand:
The opening year thy mercy shows;
Let mercy crown it till it close.

2 By day, by night, at home, abroad,
Still we are guarded by our God;
By his incessant bounty fed,
By his unerring counsel led.

3 With grateful hearts the past we own:
The future, all to us unknown,
We to thy guardian care commit,
And peaceful leave before thy feet,

4 In scenes exalted or depressed,
Be thou our joy, and thou our rest:
Thy goodness all our hopes shall raise,
Adored through all our changing days.

5 When death shall interrupt these songs,
And seal in silence mortal tongues,
Our Helper, God, in whom we trust,
In better worlds our souls shall boast.

887. C. M. Doddridge.

Reflections for a New Year.

1 Remark, my soul, the narrow bounds
Of the revolving year;
How swift the weeks complete their rounds!
How short the months appear!

2 Yet like an idle tale we pass
The swift advancing year;
And study artful ways t' increase
The speed of its career.

3 Waken, O God, my trifling heart,
Its great concerns to see;
That I may act the Christian part,
And give the year to thee.

4 Thus shall their course more grateful roll,
If future years arise;
Or this shall bear my peaceful soul
To joy that never dies.

888. 7s. M. Newton.

New Year's Day.

1 While, with ceaseless course, the sun
Hasted through the former year,
Many souls their race have run,
Never more to meet us here:
Fixed in an eternal state,
They have done with all below:
We a little longer wait,
But how little none can know.

2 As the winged arrow flies,
Speedily the mark to find;
As the lightning from the skies
Darts and leaves no trace behind;--
Swiftly thus our fleeting days
Bear us down life's rapid stream:
Upward, Lord, our spirits raise;
All below is but a dream.

3 Thanks for mercies past receive;
Pardon of our sins renew;
Teach us, henceforth, how to live,
With eternity in view;
Bless thy word to old and young;
Fill us with a Saviour's love;
When our life's short race is run,
May we dwell with thee above.

889. L. M. Doddridge.

The Same.

1 My helper, God, I bless his name;
The same his power, his grace the same;
The tokens of his friendly care
Open, and crown, and close, the year.

2 I 'midst ten thousand dangers stand,
Supported by his guardian hand,
And see, when I survey my ways,
Ten thousand monuments of praise.

3 Thus far his arm hath led me on;
Thus far I make his mercy known;
And, while I tread this mortal land,
New mercies shall new songs demand.

890. C. M. Heginbotham.

New Year. Providential Goodness.

1 God of our lives, thy various praise
Our voices shall resound:
Thy hand directs our fleeting days,
And brings the seasons round.

2 To thee shall grateful songs arise,
Our Father and our Friend,
Whose constant mercies from the skies
In genial streams descend.

3 In every scene of life, thy care,
In every age, we see;
And constant as thy favors are,
So let our praises be.

4 Still may thy love, in every scene,
In every age, appear;
And let the same compassion deign
To bless the opening year.

5 If mercy smile, let mercy bring
Our wandering souls to God:
In our affliction we shall sing,
If thou wilt bless the rod.

891. L. M. John Fawcett.

"He holdeth our soul in life."

1 O God, my helper, ever near!
Crown with thy smile the present year;
Preserve me by thy favor still,
And fit me for thy sacred will.

2 My safety, each succeeding hour,
Depends on thy supporting power:
Accept my thanks for mercies past,
And be my guard, while life shall last.

3 My moments move with winged haste,
Nor know I which shall be the last:
Danger and death are ever nigh,
And I this year perhaps may die.

4 Prepare me for the trying day;
Then call my willing soul away:
I'll quit the world at thy command,
And trust my spirit to thy hand.

892. C. M. Newton.

New Year. Prayer for a Blessing.

1 Now, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal,
And make thy glory known;
Now let us all thy presence feel,
And soften hearts of stone.

2 From all the guilt of former sin
May mercy set us free;
And let the year we now begin,
Begin and end with thee.

3 Send down thy spirit from above,
That saints may love thee more,
And sinners now may learn to love,
Who never loved before.

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