HYMN 348. C. M.

Sick-bed Reflections.
M Y soul would fain indulge a hope

M To reach the heav'nly shore ;
And when I drop this dying flesh,

That I shall sin no more :
2 That then I shall behold the Lamb,

Who once for sin was slain,
But rose triumphing o'er the grave,

And on his throne doth reign.
3 I hope to hear, and join the song,

That saints and angels raise ; And while eternal ages roll,

To sing eternal praise..
4 But, Oh, this dreadful heart of sin !

It may deceive me still ;
And while I look for joys above,

May plunge me down to hell.
5 The scene must then for ever close,

Probation at an end ;
No gospel grace can reach me there,

No pardon there descend.
6 Come then, O blessed Jesus, come,

To me thy Spirit give;
Shine through a dark, benighted soul,
And bid a sinner live.

HYMN 349. C. M.

For a time of general Sickness. n EATH with his dread commission scald,

Now hastens to his arms ; In awful state he takes the field,

And sounds his dire alarms.

2 Attendant plagues around him stand,

And wait his dread command ; And pains and dying groans obey

The signal of his hand.
3 With cruel force, he scatters round

His shafts of deadly pow'r ;
While the grave waits its destin'd prey,

Impatient to devour.
4 Look up, ye heirs of endless joy,

Nor let your fears prevail; Eternal life is your reward,

When life on earth shall fail. 5 What though his darts, promiscuous hurld,

Deal fatal plagues around; And heaps of putrid carcases

O’erload the cumber'd ground : 6 The arrows, that shal] wound your flesh,

Were giv'n him from above,
Dipt in the great Redeemer's blood,

And feather'd all with love.
7 These, with a gentle hand he throws,

And saints lie gasping too :
But heav'nly strength supports their souls,
And bears them conqʼrors through.

HYMN 350. C. M.
Complaint and Hope under great Pain.
TORD, I am pain’d, but I resign

L. My body to thy will; 'Tis grace, 'tis wisdom all divine,

Appoints the pains I feel. 2 Dark are the ways of Providence,

While they who love thee groan ;

Thy reasons lie conceald from sense,

Mysterious and unknown. 3 Yet nature may have leave to speak,

And plead before her God, Lest the o'erburden'd heart should break

Beneath thine heavy rod. 4 These mournful groans and flowing tears,

Give my poor spirit ease ;
While ev'ry groan my Father hears,

And ev'ry tear he sees.
5 (How shall I glorify my God,

In bonds of grief confin'd ? Damp'd is my vigor, while this clod

Hangs heavy on my mind.]
6 Is not some smiling hour at hand,

With peace upon its wings?
Give it, o God, thy swift command,
With all the joys it brings.

HYMN 351. C. M.
Praise for Recovery from Sicknsss.

Psalm cxviii. 18, 19.
COVÄREIGN of life, I own thy hand

In ev'ry chast'ning stroke;
And while I smart beneath thy rod,

Thy presence l invoke.
2 To thee in my distress I cry'd,

And thou hast bow'd thine ear ;
Thy pow'rful word my life prolong'd,

And brought salvation near.
3 Unfold, ye gates of righteousness,

That, with the pious throng, I may record my soleinn vows,

And tane my grateful song.

4 Praise to the Lord, whose gentle hand

Renews our lab’ring breath ;
Praise to the Lord, who makes his saints

Triumphant e'en in death.
5 My God, in thine appointed hour,

Those heav'nly gates display,
Where pain and sin, and fear and death,

For ever fee away.
6 There, while the nations of the blessid,

With raptures bow around, My anthems to deliv’ring grace, in sweeter strains shall sound.

HYMN 352. C. M.
Longing after unseen Pleasure.

2 Cor. iv. 18.
nh, could our thoughts and wishes fly,
U Above these gloomy shades,
To those bright worlds beyond the sky,

Which sorrow ne'er invades!
2 There, joys unseen by mortal eyes,

Or reason's feeble ray,
In ever blooming prospects rise,

Unconscious of decay.
3 Lord, send a beam of light divine,

To guide our upward aim: With one reviving touch of thine,

Our languid hearts inflame. 4 Then shall, on faith's sublimest wing,

Our ardent wishes rise, To those bright scenes, where pleasures spring,

Immortal in the skies,

HYMN 353. L. M.
The Shortness of Time, and Frailty of Man

Psalm xxxix.
ALMIGHTY Maker of my frame,
A Teach me the measure of my days!
Teach me to know how frail I am,
And spend the remnant to thy praise.
2 My days are shorter than a span,
A little point of life appears;
How frail at best is dying man!
How vain are all his hopes and fears !
3 Vain his ambition, noise and show !
Vain are the cares which rack his mind !
He heaps up treasures mix'd with woe,
And dies, and leaves them all behind.
4. Oh, be a nobler portion mine;
My God, I bow before thy throne ;
Earth's fleeting treasures I resign,
And fix my hopes on thee alone.

HYMN 354. C. M.
Death and Judgment appointed to ad.

Heb. ix. 27.
LEAV'N has confirm'd the great decree,

I That Adam's race inust die; One gen’ral ruin sweeps them down,

And low in dust they lie. 2 Ye living men, the tomb survey,

Where you must quickly dwell;
Hark! how the awful summons sounds

In ev'ry fun’ral knell !
3 Once you must die, and once for all ;

The solemn purport weighi ;
For know, that heav'n or hell depends

On that important day.