Prepare the bride, and then return
And to thyself receive.
5 Now to thy gracious kingdom come,
(Thou hast a token given)
And when thy arms receive us home,
Recall thy pledge in heaven.
HYMN 196. P. M.
N time of tribulation,
Hear, Lord, my feeble cries;
With humble supplication,
To Thee my spirit flies;
My heart with grief is breaking,
Scarce can my voice complain;
Mine eyes with tears kept waking,
Still watch and weep in vain.
2 The days of old, in vision,
Bring vanish'd bliss to view;
The years of lost fruition
Their joys in pangs renew:
Remember'd songs of gladness,
Through night's lone silence brought,
Strike notes of deeper sadness,
And stir desponding thought.
3 Hath God cast off for ever?
Can time his truth impair?
His tender mercy, never
Shall I presume to share?
Hath He, his loving kindness
Shut up in endless wrath?
No; this is mine own blindness,
That cannot see his path.
4 I call to recollection
The years of his right hand;
And, strong in his protection,
Again through faith I stand;
Thy deeds, O Lord, are wonder;
Holy are all thy ways;
The secret place of thunder
Shall utter forth thy praise.
5 Thee, with the tribes assembled,
O God, the billows saw
They saw Thee, and they trembled,
Turn'd, and stood still, with awe;
The clouds shot hail-they lighten'd;
The earth reel'd to and fro;
The fiery pillar brighten'd
The gulf of gloom below.
6 Thy way is in great waters,
Thy footsteps are not known;
Let Adam's sons and daughters
Confide in Thee alone:
Through the wild sea Thou leddest
Thy chosen flocks of yore,
Still on the waves Thou treadest,
And thy redeem'd pass o'er.
HYMN 197. P. M.
1 HOW beautiful the sight
Of brethren who agree,
In friendship to unite,
And bond of charity;
'Tis like the precious ointment, shed O'er all his robes, from Aaron's head. 2 "Tis like the dews that fill
The cups of Hermon's flowers;
Or Zion's fruitfe! hill,
Bright with the drops of showers,
When mingling odours breathe around,
And glory rests on all the ground.
3 For there the Lord commands
Blessings, a boundless store,
From his unsparing hands,
Yea, life for evermore:
Thrice happy they who meet above
To spend eternity in love!
Prayer for unconverted Relatives.
ORD our ransom'd souls adore thee,
Thou our joy and portion art: -
Day and night we plead before thee-
Answer Lord-thy grace impart,
Send thy Spirit,
Pierce, O pierce the stubborn heart.
2 Ah! dear Lord, they're bound for ruin,
Hast'ning down to endless wo:
While their danger we are viewing,
Streams of briny sorrow flow.
Lord, alarm them,
Or to ruin they must go!
3 See, dear Lord, our near connexions,
Dear companions all around,
Brothers, sisters, children, parents,
Down to desperation bound.
Jesus, save them,
Let the lost again be found.
4 Prayers and tears, alas! we've vented. Shall we weep and pray in vain? Yet, alas! they seem contented!
Nought but scoffs and frowns we gain,
Jesus, save them,
Save them, Lord, from endless pain
5 Death, it may be, now is near them,
Soon they'll feel his cold embrace:
Gracious heaven shall we hear them
Mourn thy long rejected grace?
Lord, constrain them
Now to seek a Saviour's face.
6 Lord, we view the separation
At thy great tremendous bar;
Mourning, weeping, lamentation,
Must be their employment there.
Must we see them
Stand their awful doom to hear?
7 Must we there be separated,
Never, never more to meet?
Mournful scene, long contemplated!
Lord, and is there mercy yet?
Lay them prostrate,
Precious Jesus, at thy feet.
8 Lord, display thy matchless power,
Pierce their stubborn hearts of stone
Make them dread that awful hour-
Bow them, lord, before thy throne.
Save them Jesus,
Save them, save them for thine own
HYMN 199. P. M.
Weeping Mary.
WHEN weeping Mary came to seek
Her loving Lord and Saviour,
'Twas early as the morning broke,
With tears to gain his favour;
The guardian soldiers wait around,
The tomb that held the body;
Of him whom she thought under ground,
With wicked hands all bloody.
But how her mournful heart was torn,
To find the grave was empty;
In solemn silence she did mourn,
While onward she did venture:
Two Angels in bright rainient shone,
T'anticipate her sorrow;
And say why does this creature moan,
And why this gloomy horror.
3 Why weep ye Mary, they did say,
Why are you thus in mourning?
Because they've ta'en my Lord away,
Whom I thought to've seen this morning
I'll sigh and weep, poor Mary said,
Till I know where they've laid him!
Then quickly turning round her head,
Began for to upbraid them.
4 As Jesus by her stood unknown,
She thought he was the gard'ner: In flowing tears she made her moan, Not knowing 'twas her pard'ner: Come tell me where youv'e laid my Lord, Exclaimed poor weeping Mary; Some comfort to my mind afford, So much oppress'd and wearied. 5 O weeping Mary! said the man ;She then perceived her Saviour; And to his feet she weeping ran Not fearing harm or danger. And now like Mary let us go, And kiss the feet of Jesus, e'll banish all our grief and wo, From sorrow he'll relieve us.
HYMN 200. P. M.
Birth of Christ.
HE long expected morn
Has dawn'd upon the earth;
The Saviour, Christ, is born,
And angels sing his birth:
We'll join the bright seraphic throng, And share their joys, and swell their song. 2" Good will and peace divine
To highly favour'd man :"
No wisdom, Lord, but thine
TCould form the gracious plan,
To save the guilty and the lost,
Thyself remaining true and just.
3 Praise then the Lord most high,
On earth he deigns to dwell;
Incarnate to destroy
The works of death and hell: Hosanna in the highest strain,"Great peace on earth-Good will to men.
HYMN 201. P. M.
1 TTIS mercies in Jesus renew'd,
Each morning I wake to adore,
A fountain of infinite good,
A sea without bottom or shore.
2 My Lord's unexpressibly kind,
O when shall I thank him above,
To Jesus eternally join'd
Absorb'd in the depths of his love.
HYMN 202. C. M.
AROM whence these direful omens round.
Which heaven and earth amaz?
Wherefore do earthquakes cleave the grouni, Why hides the sun his rays?
2 Well may the earth astonish'd shake,
And nature sympathise!
The sun as darkest nig't be black!
Their Maker, Jesus, nies.
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