In darkest shades, if he
My dawning is begun;
He is my soul's sweet morning star, And he my rising sun.
The op'ning heav'ns around me shine With beams of sacred bliss,
While Jesus shews his heart is mine, And whispers, I am nis!'
My soul would leave this heavy clay
At that transporting word,
Run up with joy the shining way
Tembrace my dearest Lord.
Fearless of hell and ghastly death,
I'd break thro' ev'ry foe;
The wings of love and arms of faith
Should bear me conqu'ror through.
My God, my life, my love,
To thee, to thee I call;
I cannot live if thou remove,
For thou art all in all.
Thy shining grace can cheer
This dungeon where I dwell;
'Tis paradise when thou art here;
If thou depart, 'tis hell.
The smilings of thy face,
How amiable they are!
'Tis heaven to rest in thine embrace, And no where else but there.
To thee, and thee alone,
The angels owe their bliss;
They sit around thy gracious throne,
And dwell where Jesus is.
Not all the harps above
Can make a heav'nly place,
If God his residence remove,
Or but conceal his face.
Nor earth, nor all the sky,
Can one delight afford;
No, not a drop of real joy,
Without thy presence, Lord.
Thou art the sea of love
Where all my pleasures roll;
The circle where my passions move,
And centre of my soul.
To thee my spirits fly
With infinite desire:
And yet, how far from thee I lie!
Dear Jesus, raise me higher.
17. God our only Happiness.
My God, my portion and my love,
My everlasting all,
I've none but thee in heav'n above,
Or on this earthly ball.
What empty things are all the skies,
And this inferior clod!
There's nothing here deserves my joys,
There's nothing like my God.
In vain the bright, the burning sun,
Scatters his feeble light:
'Tis thy sweet beams create my noon; If thou withdraw, 'tis night.
And whilst upon my restless bed,
Amongst the shades I roll,
If my Redeemer shews his head,
'Tis morning with my soul.
To thee we owe our wealth and friends,
And health, and safe abode :
Thanks to thy name for meaner things,
But they are not my God.
How vain a toy is glitt'ring wealth,
If once compar'd to thee;
Or what's my safety or my health,
Or all my friends to me?
Were I possessor of the earth,
And call'd the stars my own;
Without thy graces, and thyself,
I were a wretch undone.
Let others stretch their arms like seas,
And grasp in all the shore:
Grant me the visits of thy face,
And I desire no more,
18. Address to God.
My God, permit me not to be
A stranger to myself and thee;
Amidst a thousand thoughts I rove
Forgetful of my highest love.
Why should my passion mix with earth,
And thus debase my heav'nly birth?
Why should I cleave to things below,
And let my God, my Saviour go?
Call me away from flesh and sense;
One sov'reign word can draw me thence;
I would obey the voice divine,
And all inferior joys resign.
Be earth with all her scene withdrawn ;
Let noise and vanity be gone;
In secret silence of the mind,
My heav'n, and there my God, I find.
19. God faithful.
YE humble saints, proclaim abroad
The honours of a faithful God;
How just and true are all his ways,
How much above your highest praise!
The words his sacred lips declare
Of his own mind the image bear;
What should him tempt, from frailty free,
Blest in his self-sufficiency.
He will not his great self deny :
A God all truth can never lie:
As well might he his being quit
As break his oath, or word forget.
Let frighten'd rivers change their course,
Or backward hasten to their source;
Swift thro' the air, let rocks be hurl'd,
And mountains like the chaff be whirl'd;
Let sun and stars forget to rise,
Or quit their stations in the skies;
Let heav'n and earth both pass away,
Eternal truth shall ne'er decay.
True to his word, God gave his Son,
To die for crimes which men had done;
Biest pledge! he never will revoke
A single promise he has spoke,
20. Address to the Trinity.
FATHER of glory, to thy name
Immortal praise we give,
Who dost an act of grace proclaim,
And bid us rebels live.
Immortal honour to the Son,
Who makes thine anger cease; Our lives he ransom'd with his own,
And dy'd to make our peace.
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